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Polo handicap

{{Short description|Field sport handicapping system}}

A polo handicap is a system created by Henry Lloyd Herbert, the first president of the United States Polo Association, at the founding of the USPA in 1890 so teams could be more evenly matched when using players with varying abilities.{{cite book|last1=Laffaye|first1=Horace A.|title=The Evolution of Polo|date=2009|publisher=McFarland & C|page=99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9i-bgOjaVysC&q=Herbert+polo+association&pg=PA99|isbn=978-0-7864-3814-3}}

The players are rated on a scale from minus-2 to 10. Minus-2 indicates a novice player, while a player rated at 10 goals has the highest handicap possible. It is so difficult to attain a 10-goal handicap that there are fewer than two dozen in the world, and about two-thirds of all players handicapped are rated at two goals or less. Currently, most living ten-goal players are Argentine, with few exceptions.{{Fact|date=January 2025}}

Handicaps of five goals and above generally belong to professional players. It is not (nor has it ever been) an estimate of the number of goals a player might score in a game, but rather of the player's worth to their team. It is the overall rating of a player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy, and horses. At one time, polo was the only sport in the world that considered sportsmanship when rating a player.{{cite web |url=http://www.us-polo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=124 |title=Polo 101 |access-date=2011-04-14 |publisher=US Polo Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721021128/http://www.us-polo.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=124 |archive-date=2011-07-21 }}

In matches played by "handicapped" players (as opposed to open competition, where handicaps are not considered), the handicaps of all four players are totaled. If the total handicap of a team is more than that of the team against which they are playing, the difference is added to the scoreboard. For example, if the Mounties polo team has a total handicap of six goals and the Tayto team has a handicap of four goals, Tayto would begin the match with a two-goal advantage.

A player's handicap is usually assessed by a committee at the authorizing club of his country. A professional player may be assigned an equivalent rating in countries where he competes.

Though standards are similar, the ratings may be expressed differently. e.g.:

Argentina: 0 to 10

USA: C (-2), B (-1), B+ (-0.5), A (0), A+ (0.5), 1.0, 1.5, 2 to 10

England: -2 to 10.{{cite web|title=The Polo Handicap|url=http://www.poloplus10.com/the-polo-handicap-53889/|website=POLO+10 The Polo Magazine|access-date=28 October 2017}}

{{anchor|10 goal players}}Ten-goal players, highest handicap achieved in outdoor polo

  • Rodolphe Louis Agassiz (1871–1933) – USA{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bA8m29zYOU4C&q=%22Rodolphe+Louis+Agassiz%22&pg=PA53 |title=Polo in the United States |isbn=9780786480074 |access-date=2012-11-19 |last1=Laffaye |first1=Horace A. |date=10 January 2014 }}
  • Mariano Aguerre (born 1969) – Argentina / USA
  • Alejandro Diaz Alberdi - Argentina
  • Enrique Alberdi - Argentina
  • Juan ALberdi - Argentina
  • Mike Azzaro – USA
  • Miguel (Miki) Novillo Astrada – Argentina
  • Gerald Barnard Balding Sr. (1903–1957) - England's last 10 goal player.
  • Adolfo Cambiaso (born 1975) – Argentina
  • Guillermo (Sapo) Caset - Argentina
  • Bartolomé Castagnola (born 1970) – Argentina [http://www.fippolo.com/search-dir.html Polo Players Handicap], Federation of International Polo. Retrieved February 27, 2012 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217110955/http://www.fippolo.com/search-dir.html |date=December 17, 2010 }}
  • Carlos Gracida (1960–2014) – Mexico
  • Guillermo Gracida Jr. (1956) - Mexico
  • Alfredo Harriott – Argentina (born 1945){{cite book|last1=Laffaye|first1=Horace A.|title=The polo encyclopedia|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=0-7864-1724-2|page=159}}
  • Juan C. Harriott Jr. (born 1936 -2023) - Argentina [https://books.google.com/books?id=YA5eCgAAQBAJ&dq=juan+carlos+harriott+jr&pg=PA157 Profiles in Polo: The Players Who Changed the Game] Edited by Horace A. Laffaye
  • Alberto Pedro Heguy – Argentina (born 1941){{cite book|last1=Laffaye|first1=Horace A.|title=The polo encyclopedia|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=0-7864-1724-2|page=164}}
  • Bautista Heguy – Argentina / England
  • Gonzalo Heguy - Argentina
  • Horacio Heguy - Argentina
  • Ignacio Heguy – Argentina
  • Marcos Heguy – Argentina
  • Tommy Hitchcock, Jr. (1900 –1944) – USA
  • Foxhall Keene (1867–1941) - USA
  • Lewis Lacey (1887–1966) – Argentina.
  • Juan Martin Nero - Argentina.
  • Pablo Mac Donough (born 1982) – Argentina / Spain / USA
  • Agustin Merlos – Argentina / Spain / USA
  • Sebastian Merlos – Argentina
  • Lucas Monteverde (born 1976) – Argentina
  • Juan Martin Nero – Argentina / Spain
  • Alfonso Pieres - Argentina
  • Nicolas (Nico) Pieres - Argentina
  • Facundo (Facu) Pieres (born 1986) – Argentina / USA
  • Gonzalo Pieres Jr. (born 1982) – Argentina / France
  • Gonzalo Pieres Sr. - Argentina
  • Pablo (Polito) Pieres (born 1987) – Argentina {{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5db15646-dc24-11e3-8511-00144feabdc0|title=Pablo Pieres: 'It's hard work, but living a dream'|last=Mander|first=Benedict|date=13 June 2014|work=Financial Times|access-date=27 April 2017}}{{citation|url=http://www.worldpolotour.com/?sec=1&status=1&player=665|title=World Polo Tour Ranking|access-date=27 April 2017}}
  • Aidan Roark (1905–1984) – Ireland {{cite book |author=Leonard Mosley |author-link=Leonard Mosley |title=Zanuck: The rise and fall of Hollywood's last tycoon |year=1985 |publisher=McGraw-Hill | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ma0qAAAAYAAJ&q=Aidan+Roark |isbn= 9780070434653}}
  • John Sinclair-Hill (born 1934) - Australia{{cite web|title=HALL OF FAME|url=http://www.nswpolo.com.au/Assets/News/689/2013-Hall-of-Fame-Inductees.pdf|website=nswpolo.com.au|access-date=27 May 2017}}{{cite book|last1=Laffaye|first1=Horace A.|title=The polo encyclopedia|date=2004|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=0-7864-1724-2|pages=169}}
  • Bob Skene (1914–1997) - Australia
  • David Stirling (born 1981) – Uruguay {{cite web |url=http://www.poloplus10.com/de/argentine-polo-association-argentinien-aenderungen-handicaps-23508 |title=Argentinien: Änderungen der Handicaps |website=www.poloplus10.com |access-date=October 29, 2014}}
  • Louis Ezekiel Stoddard (1881–1951) – USA {{cite magazine |title=Died |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804530,00.html#ixzz1JRLtXUeJ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201160118/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804530,00.html#ixzz1JRLtXUeJ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2011 |magazine=Time |date=March 22, 1948 |access-date=2011-04-13 }}
  • John Arthur Edward Traill (1882–1958) – Argentina / Ireland {{cite book |chapter=Johnny Traill: An Irishman from the Pampas |title=Profiles in Polo:The Players Who Changed the Game |last=Laffaye |first=Horace A. |page=54 |year=2007 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-3131-1 }}
  • Ernesto Trotz - Argentina
  • Hilario Ulloa (born 1985) – Argentina{{cite web|url=http://greenwichpoloclub.com/hilario-ulloa-reach-sports-top-handicap|title=Ulloa to Reach the Sport's Top Handicap|access-date=21 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031081522/http://greenwichpoloclub.com/hilario-ulloa-reach-sports-top-handicap/|archive-date=31 October 2017|url-status=dead}}
  • Tommy Wayman (born 1946) – USA

{{anchor|9 goal players}}Nine-goal players, with a maximum 9-goal handicap achieved in outdoor polo

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

  • [https://www.pspolo.com/polo-handicap-system/ General Explanation of Handicaps]
  • [https://www.uspolo.org/sport/rules Handicaps in the USA, See handicap Section]

Category:Polo

Category:Handicapping