Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-09-01
POLO At KAPiOL AM PARK
WINNING NEW POPULARITY
Hundreds Who Witnessed Polo for First Tine Boost for Malet
GaneIfis Sport requires Skill and Nerve-Each Player
Must Take Chances at All lines Hawai- Has Turned Out
! Many Polo Stas-P Positions and How They Are Played

Hundreds Of athletic fans have
never Witnessed a polo match. Many
of them are under the impression that
the game is along the lines Of croquet
or crokinQle,. hut 70 those Who have
Witnessed polo, this would be the
farthest from the statement that
would be made about the mallet
game.
Polo Is one sport which requires
science, and nerve. In order to play
polo one must have more than ordin-
airy skill In horsemanship. The play
er must have q quick eye and strong
muscles. and the man with the ssyel-
low streakg never becomes proficient
in the game.
Hawaii 10 Front Rank
Polo as played at Kapiolani park
is the same SIS in the polo fields Of
the mainland, and Hawaii has always
been prominent in the polo world.
Teams from Hawaii have made sue
cesses on the mainland. and Hawai-
ian-bred polo ponies have played q
prominent part In the internationals
Strictly speaking, the game con-
sists in putting wooden ball through
q goal protected by an opposing team,
The teams usually are four each, but
may be any number desired. Asa
rule eight periods of seven and a
half minutes are played. When a
goal is made it counts one point.
Fouls and Safety
When the teams lineup ON the field
the referee throws the ball into play
and the game is on. The play is then
continued until goal is made or the
ball goes out of bounds. In case the
hall goes out of bounds at the end of
the field the team defending the goal
is entitled to knock in. Safety
strokes count IA goal against the
team score, and a foul costs the Of
tending team " point.
The mallet is an essential part of
the game, and Is as important as the
golf club in golf, the racquet in ten
MS or the cue in billiards. Polo
sticks vary in length to suit the pony
at times, while some mallets are much
different to those used by other play
ers For instance Walter Dillingham;
as rule uses a maliet that Is stiff,
and one that is certain of a. hit under
favorable conditions, while Jay Gould
likes whippy stick in his play. Nat
urally more distance can be obtained
with q whippy mallet.
Ponies BIC Factor.
Ponies play great part in the
game, and a polo pony cftimes fol-
lows the ball with human intelligence.
The best ponies know and like the
game, and Helen C, owned by Walter
Dillingham;, is considered the wisest
Ilayer in America. There Is no place
in the field for the man who is timid.
0ftimes occasions arise for a snappy
Llay which means that the rider must
take chances, and must handle the
situation in a manner which is not
foolhardy. This is not for the man
who is afraid.
In playing the game the players are
No. /, No: 2, No. and back
or No. 4 as it is sometimes called. /
These positions require different
kinds of play, and in the practise
matches the positions are lived up to
No. / must watch the
opposing back at all times. For in
stance. in the game on Saturday af-
Lernoon Walter Macfariane of Oahu |
yin watch Jay Could He must ride |
The back off and clear the way for his
nwn side when they have the ball.
The No. win leave the ball at any |
time to the care of No. or No. 8 to
devote his time to stopping the back. /
This position is often one of self sac