POOLESVILLE — It was a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon at the Congressional Polo Club, which offers a wide variety of equestrian activities ranging from polo to riding lessons to trail rides. The Sugarland Farm and the Chile polo teams, both composed of three players on horseback, took the outdoor arena in a battle for third place in the Rain and Mud Cup, ending in victory for Chile over Sugarland Farm, 8-3.
Chile, who wore blue-and-white jerseys, jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first chukka, or period of play. Sugarland Farm players, who wore yellow-and-blue jerseys, used their mallets to drive the ball into the goal twice to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Chile team soon tied it back up at 2-2.
With the score 2-2 heading into the second chukka, Chile knocked the ball into the goal three times to take a 5-2 lead at the half.
It didn’t get any better for Sugarland Farm, as their opponent scored three more goals of their own. SF scored in the third chukka, but it wasn’t quite enough as the Chile polo team won 8-3.
Chile’s Lautaro Garcia about to strike the ball on the off-side during the polo tournament Sunday. PHOTO BY GEORGE SMITH Andres Prado scored three of Chile’s eight goals, as he and his teammates Eloris Snyder and Lautaro Garcia paved the way for the victory. “It was very fun,” Prado said, “was nice tournament. The weather is nice.”
Chile’s win also grants them a third-place finish in the tournament. “It’s very fortunate for us,” Prado said.
Sid Miller served as the umpire for the Subsidiary Final, as well as the regular Final which included the teams La Barca and Aviators. “Refereeing polo is very difficult,” he said. “There’s no instant replay, and the game happens very quickly, and it’s not an easy game to read in terms of the rules. That’s part of the tournament.”
Besides the game of polo itself, Miller also described what it’s like working a tournament like the Rain and Mud Cup. “Doing a tournament, depends on any other reffing technique you would use where you have command of the players,” he said. “If you have command of the players, things will be fine. If you don’t, they’ll be very difficult.”
Miller also enjoyed refereeing the game. “It was wonderful,” he said. “The people were understanding, and I thought I made good calls, and the people were quick to implement.”