Polo is a horseback game in which two teams of four players each use long, flexible mallets to propel a wooden ball down a grass field and between two goal posts. It is the most traditional equestrian activity. Polo, a game of Central Asian heritage, was first played in Iran between the 6th and 1st centuries BC. Polo began as a cavalry training game, typically for the king’s guard or other elite forces. It was a miniature fight for the warlike tribesmen who played it with up to 100 people on each side.
Polo eventually became a Persian national pastime popular among the nobility. As evidenced by allusions to the queen and her ladies engaging King Khosrow II Parvz and his courtiers in the 6th century AD, the game was played by both men and women.
Modern Polo is played on an outdoor grass field 300 yards (274.3 m) long by 160 yards wide, with lightweight goalposts 8 yards apart at each end. A score is made by hitting the ball between the goalposts. Play begins with two teams of four lined up facing each other in the centre of the field. One of the umpires (two mounted umpires on the field and a referee on the sidelines) bowls the ball between the teams.
The first international polo tournament took place in 1886, when the United States challenged the English, who were the undisputed world leaders at the time, for the Westchester Cup. England effectively defended the Cup in 1902, but the United States won in 1909. Except for 1914, the Cup was contested nine more times (the last in 1939), with the Americans winning each occasion. The next international meeting occurred in 1971, when the United States defeated England in the Coronation Cup, a one-game rather than a three-game match that was conducted annually thereafter.
