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Polo
beside the Tidal Basin
Sunday
in the park with Georgetown's polo players
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By Theodore
Fischer, Washington Sidewalk
Just before
teatime on Sundays from June through September, the Georgetown
University Polo Club hosts matches at the polo
grounds in West Potomac Park. With the Washington
Monument a backdrop to the east goal, the
Potomac River behind the west goal and presidential
helicopters buzzing overhead, it is an incongruously
democratic and uncommonly charming place to witness this
graceful partnership between rider and steed.
"Horse hockey" is a characterization of polo
that might not be appreciated by its devotees but isn't
entirely inaccurate. It's a sport only jet-setters can
afford to play but that anybody can easily follow. Polo
involves teams of four riders who use long mallets in an
attempt to drive a small white ball between two posts on
opposite ends of the largest field in use by any sport
(300 by 160 yards, the equivalent of nine football
fields). For a detailed description of the game plus
information on player assignments, penalties and
strategy, click here.
Matches at Potomac Park begin at 3 p.m., weather
permitting, and consist of four seven-minute periods, or
"chukkers." Polo has no timeouts except for
injury, penalties or dangerous situations, but
intermissions between chukkers, lasting long enough for
players to change horses, extend matches to well over an
hour. About half the players in both the Georgetown
University Polo Club (301-983-5228) and competing clubs
from near and fairly far are women. An announcer
describes the action play by play as it moves between
the "river end" and "monument end"
of the field. At half time, he invites spectators onto
the field to "stomp the divots" – replace
the turf displaced by charging steeds.
It's easy to tell the difference between the two
distinct species of spectator that turn up for Potomac
Park matches: passersby and polo fans. Passersby are
empty-handed, while polo fans arrive with blankets, lawn
chairs, binoculars (absolutely essential) and elaborate
picnics. Polo fans know that, unlike their counterparts
at other polo venues we've heard about, they won't get a
Pimm's Cup or champagne and strawberries or any
concessions whatsoever at Potomac Park. They also know
that the only seating is the soft grass under a shady
willow tree. But nobody can beat the price: Admission is
free.
The Potomac Park polo grounds are located
alongside Independence Avenue between Ohio Drive and the
Tidal Basin. Street parking is free but scarce – not
because of polo so much as the nearby Franklin
Delano Roosevelt Memorial (left) and
bar-league softball games. If you can't find a space on
Ohio Drive, continue under the 14th Street Bridge to the
free lot behind the Cuban Friendship Urn, a
thank-you card to the United States for helping Cuba win
its independence from Spain. You'll have to take our
word for that – unless you speak Spanish – since the
inscription bears nary a word of English.
See also: Tidal
Basin circle cruise
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