Cyber Max

The sport of Kings - well Princes and Kings-in-waiting. The public image of polo gives you the impression that it’s for ‘other’ people, the people you read about in glossy publications, that upper-circle, that higher etalon, the one that is all about class. The public image does not reflect the facts - although the image is used by the sport to ensure sponsorship of the big events. The USA has led the charge towards polo for people - opening it’s arms to anyone with the passion - and it is a passion bordering on obsession - that afflicts those who slip into it’s gravitational pull. In the US there are clubs dotted all around the country, ranging from country club to just plain country! There is even a special variety of polo that only requires a single pony in order to participate, reducing the initial financial outlay. Unfortunately, the UK still suffers outwardly from the old perceptions. If you go to the world-famous Cartier Match at Guards Polo club, you would be forgiven for thinking that the old guard, old money and celebrity still rule the roost. The truth is, a lot of the grass roots polo players forego the Cartier in favour of the Queens Cup or the Gold Cup at Cowdray, as the polo played at these other tournaments tends to be for the polo purist. The Cartier is good for meeting old friends, but the polo can feel a little like a display match put on for people more interested in seeing and being seen - assuming they actually venture outside of the corporate hospitality tent.

If you are interested in playing polo in the UK, let me just give you a word of warning - they do say that you only get out of polo broke or in a box - from my experience, being broke rarely stops anybody, though a persistent spouse has been known to break the spell. If you want to learn polo, may I suggest Kirtlington Park Polo club, one of the biggest in the UK. Set in classically beautiful English countryside and run by an Australian, Will Keen. Located in Oxfordshire, this is a probably one of the friendliest polo club in the UK, so don’t hover around the edges feeling embarrassed, march right into the bar and chat with someone, tell them you are interested in playing or just watching, they’re quite human really! The club is aimed at the starter to middle ability polo players - which covers all but the most talented players. There are lots of low goal (beginner) tournaments and the club encourages senior members to share their experience with the newbie’s. Polo is unique in that a beginner has the potential to play in a team with a world-class player. The community is relatively small. The top players travel around the world, following the summer and are available to play in teams made up for a single weekend or weeklong tournament, at a price of course! This is the equivalent to a Sunday league soccer player, running out with David Beckham. Another interesting thing about polo, aside from the high goal, teams are not static; players can find themselves playing for one team, one week and the opposition the next. The team of four is commonly made up of an amateur patron, a professional and another two amateur players usually friends or a fellow club members. A patron is generally the person who pays the tournament entry fee and picks up the professional’s fees. Not all tournaments require the involvement of a paid professional, some UK clubs like Kirtlington, run tournaments to encourage all levels of competition, with minimal financial outlay. The club encourages local businesses, like Kirtlington’s web site sponsor, Life Pro Life Insurance to sponsor tournaments or fun events for the mutual benefit of club, business and of course, local charities.

So you have decided you wish to give polo a try. Start by contacting one of the many polo schools attached to the club of choice. Feel free to try a couple of different schools, it’s important you like your teacher, have a confidence-giving pony and get good value for money. Be wary of those schools that appear unwilling to disclose prices! Many are surprised to learn that an existing ability to ride is not necessary, in fact it has often been said that knowing how to ride can be a handicap. Whilst this is not strictly true, experienced non-polo riders can find the change in riding style quite challenging. In those early days, a standard riding hat and rubber boots will suffice - don’t be tempted to rush out and buy all the specialised polo equipment until your first chukkas are looming. Pupils can progress quickly to Instructional Chukkas within a very few lessons. When you engage in your first “live” chukkas, I would suggest you advise the other players at the throw in/line up of your limited experience. This should ensure that the other players cut you some slack. To impress your fellow players, be courteous, avoid any kind of dangerous play and don’t chase the ball!

At Kirtlington, as with many of the country polo clubs in the UK, you are likely to run into players from all walks of life; maybe a landed gent, a nurse, a pilot, an OAP, a farmer, a student, a life insurance broker, a computer geek, a famous musician (for some reason drummers excel at the sport), a cosmetic surgeon, a journalist well you get the picture, it’s a real melting pot - the thread that runs through them all though, is the love of polo - that’s the real entry qualification. To quote a sentiment I once heard expressed by one of the senior members. “..if they turn up in a fur coat and a Porsche, we try to discourage them..”

General Polo Information & UK polo club listing http://www.uk-polo.co.uk/

Kirtlington Park Polo Club http://www.kirtlingtonparkpolo.co.uk

Club Web Site Sponsors: http://www.lifepro.co.uk/lifeinsuranceuk.php

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It’s hard to go out with a girl who is better at a sport than you are. Unlike most girls who grew up playing with dolls or dressing up in their mother’s clothes and shoes, my girlfriend Cindy’s favorite recreation is ping pong. She had been playing the game since she was five years old and is now a member of her school’s ping pong team. Yes, she’s that good.

I also know a thing or two about ping pong and actually considered myself quite handy at the game. That is, until I started playing against Cindy. She humiliates me at ping pong quite regularly, as a matter of fact. And because of this, I have become an ardent student of the game. I even know the history of ping pong.

Ping pong, which is also known as table tennis, actually has its origins in merry old England where it was a popular after-dinner recreation for the upper class Victorians during the 1880s. The game started as a table imitation of tennis, particularly in an indoor environment and, in the beginning, normal household objects were used as equipment in the game. For instance, a row of books would serve as the net, the rounded top of a champagne cork or some string would serve as the ball and the paddle would simply be the lid of a cigar box.

However, the game became popular and a number of enterprising manufacturers began to sell ping pong equipment commercially. For paddles. they used pieces of parchment paper that were secured around a frame which produced a sound like “ping pong” which is how the game came to be known by that name.

In 1901, an English enthusiast of the game named James Gibb produced the next major innovation when he discovered novelty celluloid balls while vacationing in the United States. He quickly adopted these balls to the game.

By 1903, E.C. Goode had invented the modern version of the racket by combining a sheet of pimpled rubber to a wooden blade. By 1901, ping pong tournaments were sprouting up everywhere and by 1902, the first unofficial world championship of ping pong was staged.

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Recreation, Cooking, and Travel

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Valentino Rossi the 7 times world champion on a motorbike has completed his first public showing in a F1 car in Valencia Spain. He has signed for Ferrari, who looks upon him as a possible replacement for Schumacher when he retires. If his first showing is to go by, he looks certain to prove any sceptics wrong. He delivered lap times very similar to what Schumacher had recorded in previous times in a similar car at Valencia last year.

The testing was done in the Ferrari f2004 car with a restricted V10 engine, but when you compensate for this, times were very similar to the great Michael Schumacher. It would be quite astonishing for someone to dominate motorcycling and then switch to a F1 car and then dominate this sport as well, especially with the standards so high now. Ferrari the biggest name in F1 needs some injection of optimism after by Ferraris standards a poor 2005 season. Then with Michael Schumacher now the oldest driver on the grid with possibly only one season left before he retires, it is some relief that a new Italian hero may appear, although in this instance, he is already a hero.

The other drivers were all suitably impressed, commenting whether they could possible get on to a bike and do the same thing in reverse. The truth will come however in the racing. A F1 car does not handle like a bike and its one thing to go fast with no other cars in the way, than starting from the grid with another 21 cars all there around you, fighting for position. Personally he must be under more pressure than some of the drivers. If he gets this wrong he could go from hero to zero, even being second could be a disappointment at his level. I know certainly the Italians will be expecting the world. However can you imaging what it would like to live in Italy if this famous Italian won the championship in a Ferrari car? I think we would here the celebrations in France. It’s a shame we all have to wait until the 2007 championship where all will be revealed!

Mark is webmaster for Driving Experience and Breakdown Cover and Mobile Phone Deals

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