Doylestown Patriot Article on Tinicum Polo PA

By Katrina Homel
08/17/2006
Polo is often associated with the game's home country, Great Britain. However, many in and around Central Bucks County do not realize that they have the opportunity to take in the game almost in their own backyards.
The Tinicum Park Polo Club, sponsored by the Arby Dobb Farm, plays every Saturday, May through October, in the park from which it takes its name.
On a recent Saturday, the club played Lancaster, winning 15 to 9 after maintaining a substantial lead throughout the game.
The 35-member Tinicum Polo Club, founded by Hesham El-Gharby, a native of Egypt and a former member of his native country's international polo team, has been in operation for 14 years.
"After I played at Burnt Mills Polo Club in New Jersey, I decided that I wanted to play polo at another location, leading me to Tinicum Park," said El-Gharby, who remains the club's manager. "The club draws members from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania."
Tinicum is one of eight polo clubs registered with the United States Polo Association (USPA) in New Jersey (while the club plays its matches at Tinicum Park, which is located in Pennsylvania, it uses a Frenchtown, N.J. address as its headquarters). Only nine of such clubs exist in Pennsylvania.
The sport, played on horseback, requires tremendous skill and agility, according to Carol Stahl, a professional polo announcer who has been involved with the Tinicum club since its inception.
"The polo player must always hold the mallet in his right hand, forcing him to reach across his horse when he wants to hit the ball on his horse's left side," Stahl said.
Four players comprise the onfield team, all aiming to advance a ball about the size of a softball using mallets made of maple and bamboo. Teams score by stroking the ball between goal posts set up at either end of the field.
According to the USPA's rule book, the game is centered on the rule that a player may only cross the imaginary line drawn by the path of the ball by bumping the opposing player to the other side.
Polo games are divided into six periods, called chukkers, with four-minute breaks between each chukker. A 10-minute break occurs after chukker three, the midway point in the game.
Unlike other sports, where players are divided into leagues by ability, both amateurs and professionals play on the club teams that comprise Tinicum and its competitors.
"I have played polo professionally," El-Gharby said. "But most of the players on our team are recreational players."
Much of the sport's expense is incurred from the rule that a player can only ride a horse for a maximum of two chuckers in any given game.
All of Tinicum's club members own their own horses, including Victoria Halliday of Pipersville, who has been a member of the club since 1993.
"I look for a horse that is quick, handy and has ability to chase after the call," Halliday said. "Most importantly, I also look for a horse who loves the game - they are truly the best polo horses."
Halliday, a lifelong rider who played polo in college, also called the sport "addictive."
"I love the strong social element and strategy of polo," she said.
The club hosts several social events and parties throughout the year, including a winter black-tie gala in March, that are open to both members and non-members.
While pleased with the growth in the number of spectators, Robert Olds, a member of the Tinicum Park Polo Club Marketing Committee, said, "We've had strong support from the Doylestown and Clinton, N.J. areas, but we would really love to see more involvement from the New Hope area. Our location would seem to lend itself to strong involvement from the community and area businesses, and we haven't really seen that yet."
Exposure, Olds said, continues to be an issue for the club. He pointed optimistically, though, to such events as the club's "British Festival and Car Show" on Sept. 30 as an opportunity for the community at large to "see what we do here."
Part of the club's effort to make itself more a part of the surrounding community involves making itself accessible, even during the games. Spectators are given the opportunity to stroke the ball past Checker Charlie, a tin polo horse, during the 10-minute break.
Most, however, at the Aug. 5 match were content admiring the ability of the players.
"I've ridden horses before, but not as a sport," said Amy Wolf of Kansas, who took in the early August game while visiting her brother. "The speed of these horses is just incredible. You would think the mallets would just fly away and there would be a lot more injuries. I never thought I would have the opportunity to actually see this."
Visit www.tinicumpolo.org for information.

©Doylestown Patriot 2006