Page 20 - The Cormorant Issue 24 Crest Publications

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Defence Academy Polo Club: “Like playing golf on a trampoline” Lt Col Jim Luck
THE START OF ACSC 24 saw the Defence Academy Polo Club in abeyance, without legacy members and just a chairman on its committee. Following the remotely held Athletics Union
Fair, chairman Lt Col Tom Moon successfully gathered enough interest for an Academy squad to begin practise in September. Training began at the Tedworth Park Polo Club, a 45-minute drive south of the Academy, with club members drawn from all Services on ACSC, ICSC, Defence language courses and spouses. The ability range was varied but with the majority being complete novices.
Initially, training was undertaken in the arena at Tedworth due to the bad weather that added to an already highly unusual polo season. Everyone soon
appreciated the truth of the Sylvester Stallone (of all people!) quote that “playing polo is like trying to play golf during an earthquake”. Once some of the basics were grasped, the team had a brief opportunity to train on grass before its season ended. This did not mean the end of polo for the club however as, with both the team and Tedworth Polo Club keen to make up for some of the season that had been lost to Covid- 19 restrictions, the focus just shifted back to the arena, whose season continues through the winter.
While training progressed in the arena towards the aim of entering a Defence Academy team in a military tournament in December, funds were also sought
to invest in the club’s equipment and facilities. Polo sticks, new club strips and two ‘wooden horses’ that enable repeated practise without the need of ponies, akin to cricket nets, were bought. The aim of the latter was to reduce future club operating costs and make the sport cheaper to participate in, with increased accessibility and potential participation throughout the Academy. Unfortunately the Winchester Trophy, for which the team had been training, was postponed from December until January as a result of further Covid-19 restrictions; and it was delayed once again as a result of the third national lockdown. However,
it was a testament to the quality of instruction at Tedworth, the enthusiasm of the team and the accessibility of the game that we were able to have fielded a team after a few short months.
The culmination of the season was the Captains’ and Subalterns’ Trophy in July, in which we faced some 16 other teams from across Defence. Although the impact of COVID meant we were forced to disperse our team amongst others ‘on the day,’ everyone got some time playing over a gloriously hot weekend.
Lt Col Jim Luck, complete with two stitches
The remaining members of the team, in Royal Lancers and Royal Artillery colours
“Playing polo is like trying to play golf during
an earthquake