G U T T E R C R E D I T I N H E R E
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A C T I O N
Opposite, from left:
Rob Jornayvaz, Juan Martin Zubía,
Jero del Carril and Adolfo Cambiaso with WPL
co-founder Bob Jornayvaz of J5 Equestrian.
Above:
David Paradice
a heck of a splash in their debuts. Each was
guaranteed one of the top players in the
world as a teammate. David Paradice of
Australia drew Juan Martin Nero; Sayyu
Dantata of Nigeria got Adolfo Cambiaso.
Teams drew the name of a 9- or 10-goal
player (including all four members of
Argentine Open winner La Dolfina) from
a hat. Grand Champions drew Cambiaso;
Scone (Nero); Audi (Pelon Stirling); Colorado
(Rodrigo Andrade); Flexjet (Diego Cavanagh),
and Valiente (Pablo MacDonough, who rarely
plays in North America). Valiente defeated
Colorado 10-9 in the final in overtime.
Team owners and players voted on the
rules of play for all tournaments. Of 14
rules, most passed unanimously says WPL
commissioner Dale Smicklas. Three had the
greatest effect on the game: not calling
every foul there is a rule for; not calling
a foul out of the throw-in except for
dangerous use of the mallet; and not
having a yellow-card system.
‘People call this a new concept, but
to me it’s really a resurrection of an old
concept,’ says Smicklas. He said the WPL
rules replicate the way polo was played
30 years ago, when there were 30-goal
tournaments in the US. ‘Polo was a much
simpler sport then,’ he said, noting that most
WPL games concluded within 90 minutes.
As for 2020, the WPL anticipates having
10 teams or more. The goal level will be
26, perhaps even higher. ‘If someone
wants to bring a 28-goal team, we’ll try
to accommodate that,’ he says. ‘We don’t
want to tell anyone that they can’t do what
they want to do.’
