Polo does not discriminate: Rowena Stichbury

The Sangai Express *

9th Manipur Polo International at Mapal Kangjeibung on November 23 2015 :: Pix - Daniel Chabungbam

"Polo is perhaps the only game in which there is no discrimination between the sexes where the female of the species plays on equal footing with their male counterparts"' said Rowena Stichbury, the only lady polo player taking part in the 10th Manipur Polo International, 2016.

This being so, Rowena does not believe in giving any quarters while on the polo field nor does she expect any from her male team-mates or opponents. A dictum she passes on to her daughter Izzy, all of 14 years, who is also a polo player, " do not expect any special treatment just because you are a girl".

Rowena, a zero handicap player, 45 years of age who is half-Scottish and half-French, started riding horses from the age of eight and took up the game of polo some 15 years back. But during those fifteen years she had to take breaks in between as she was giving birth to five children. Three of them have followed in their mother's footstep and are playing the game.

A former horse safari guide in Botswana, Rowena took to the game of polo for the sheer thrill, the speed and the rush of adrenaline. The other thing which attracted her to polo is the camaraderie among the players. "Playing polo, one ends up making friends all over the world, also it is a game where an eight year old child can play together with a 75 year old man" said Rowena.

Talking about the Manipuri ponies, she feels they are very tough, have a lot of staying power and very giving to the rider. According to her, the Manipuri pony being smaller, the player is much closer to the ground making it easier to hit the ball.

Queried on her impression about the place and the people, she found Manipur very beautiful and dramatic, the people here very friendly and welcoming.

The captain of the Kenyan team Lorenzo Soriano, surprise of surprise, is a Spaniard, who incidentally has also lived and represented Philippines in Polo. A first generation player, Lorenzo has a handicap of 2. Only last year, Lorenzo had a handicap of 0 and he is looking forward to enhancing his handicap to 3 or 4 in the coming years.

Lorenzo feels Kenya provides a nice environment for beginners in the game of polo. Altogether there are around 12 polo tournaments in the country with around eight to ten teams taking part. As far as Spain is concerned, the game of polo is very popular in the south of the country, Lorenzo informed.

Taking about the place, he found the landscape amazing, and the people nice and warm steeped in tradition. Coming here, Lorenzo revealed, has been a unique experience, playing in the oldest living polo ground, the birthplace of modern game of polo, the massive crowd who turn out to watch the matches, among other things.

Geoff Morley, 23 years hails from a polo playing family in Nairobi, Kenya. His grandfather, grandmother, uncles and cousins played the game but interestingly not his parents.

A one handicap player, he has been playing the game for the last ten years and has been riding since the age of 4 years. Geoff Morley plays for Kakira Nile Polo club in Uganda and The North Kenya Polo club in Kenya reputed to be the best club in the country. He likes training horses and teaching them how to play polo. It is the horsemanship above everything else which attracted him to polo in the first place.

Talking about the tournament, even though Kenya finds itself in a tough group comprising of the host team, India B (Manipur) and Australia, he is in the least disheartened, on the contrary he declares "we are here to win".

The fourth member of the Kenyan team, Eugene Ngumbao took to the game barely six years back in 2010 and out of which he took a break for two years. Inspite of this, he has made it to the Kenyan national team which explains his natural flair for the game. For Eugene, it was his father who forced him to take up the game. Initially he did not like playing polo but over time Eugene says he developed a strong liking for it so much so that now he feels, "this is where I belong".

Learning about the plight of Manipur pony, Eugene is willing to do his bit to preserve it, "given a chance I would like to buy a Manipuri pony and help in saving this rare species".

26 year old Kimoi Moi, a one handicap player, the fifth member of the Kenyan team was born in Nairobi. He started playing in the year 2004. Polo runs in the family as both his father Gideon and younger brother Kikgen play the game. Kimoi plays for the Manyatta Polo club and has represented Kenya on four different occasions including this 10th Manipur Polo international tournament.

Kimoi found the atmosphere here fantastic and coming to Manipur he came to appreciate the history of the game. Playing in the oldest living polo ground Kimoi confided has been a humbling experience and given a chance he would like to come back again.

Talking about the tournament, Kimoi says he plans to play the final and during the course of the tournament gives all the teams a tough fight and make them remember Kenya.