The fixture for the Argentine spring season has been confirmed, and with the news comes important information about rule changes that will be implemented with the aim of making the game more attractive.
Some rules will be on trial, while others have come to stay. PoloLine agrees and supports changes which aim to help the growth of the sport. The following are some of the rule changes that will be put into motion this coming season:
– Penalties: A player has 20 seconds to execute a play from the moment the umpire puts the ball in position.
-Throw-ins: If the ball goes over the boards, through fault of a player or a horse, the team that did not hit it out will restart the game with a spot hit from where the ball went over.
-Number of horses per game: Introducing a limit to the number of horses a player can take to a game is still under discussion. The limit currently stands at fourteen horses per player per game.
-Chukkas: Tortugas will maintain a 7 chukka length per game; Hurlingham matches will now be seven chukkas long, down from eight; Palermo will maintain its 8 chukka length.
-Length of a chukka: Each chukka will now be six minutes long, with an additional 30 seconds.
-Chukka after the first bell: If the ball touches the boards after the bell, play will continue as normal. If the match is tied in the final chukka, play will continue even if there is a foul or if the ball goes over the boards. The chukka will only come to an end if a goal is scored.
-Penalty 1: A goal will be given to the attacking team. That team will then restart the match with a mid-field penalty.
-Changes: In the case of an injury, that player can exit the field and a replacement can come on. Once the injured player has received medical attention, he has the option of coming back onto the field.
-General league table: Each team will receive 100 points for each game won in Hurlingham; in the case of Palermo, each win earns the team 150 points.
-General positions: Once Palermo is over, the teams in 9th and 10th position automatically lose their place in the following Triple Crown.
-Winner of the Cámara: The winner of the Cámara tournament will play the team who finished 8th in Palermo for a place in the 2018 Triple Crown. The match will be held a few days after Palermo comes to an end.
-Handicap: In the instance that the winner of the Cámara qualify for the Triple Crown, any 4 or 5-goal players in that team will automatically be put up to 6-goals, the minimum handicap currently required to play the Triple Crown or the Qualification tournament.
-Format of Palermo & Hurlingham: The groups will work on an all play all basis. The team at the top of each league will play the final.
The AAP hope to apply these changes to the largest number of tournaments possible, at every level.