After a couple of years absence due to family commitments and land lease hassles, Polocrosse is alive and well in Port Vila.
This return to the fold is largely due to the enormous positivity and drive of the 'Club Hippique Riding School' who provided us with an endless supply of children and horses to help get us back into the saddle.
The manager of Club Hippique, Catherine Contant, wanted her pupils to experience the fun and the rush of the Polocrosse game and found it may help to financially benefit the riding school as well. So, with this satisfactory staus quo in place, we went for it!!
We have been operating at our old Polocrosse base close to the riding school and about 5 km from Port Vila town. This field is of a particularly good standard and has beautiful lagoon views and good grazing and water facilities for the agisted horses there.
Unfortunately we lost our clubhouse following several cyclones in the last couple of years but we have plenty of shade under the rain-forest trees and a plentiful supply of cold beer to keep us cool!!!
We started the 2001 season off with a series of clinics for the beginner players. These clinics were held at the Club Hippique riding school whilst we prepared the field for play. Our Polocrosse coach, Claude Nicholls, drove the players forward to a good enough standard to have a fairly decent game and then there was no stopping us!!
Fortunately our club is blessed with the arrival of two Polocrosse players from Victoria who have cattle interests here in the country. From both a playing and spectating point of view, we are treated to a jolly decent show of play from our "Top" Team and a great time is indeed had by all. (Helped along by delicious BBQ's and Bundaberg Rum at half time!)
We find Polocrosse to be a terrific source of entertainment for our younger players who show no fear as they zoom around the field, racquets waving around and exuding a relatively high decibel level! The Umpires work is cut out trying to contain the excitement but the kids love the sport and love their horses.
In 2002 we look forward to several challenges. We hope to have a couple of Carnivals with the Santo Club, we hope to have a couple of visits from overseas players both from Australia and beyond, we hope to have a decent clubhouse in place and we hope for kind weather that will allow us to play on our day off!!
Our Aim? To keep Polcrosse alive and thriving in Port Vila. We want to encourage the inter-island matches between us and the booming Santo Club, who are our good friends as well. We want to encourage overseas players to visit this fantastic country and reap the rewards and friendship from both venues. We want to encourage a high level of horse and rider skills so that more riders can enjoy more out of their mounts. We want to provide a fun environment for spectators, with good BBQ's and cold beer!!
But most of all, we love the game and want to play it!!!!!
Anyone interested in knowing more about Port Vila Polocrosse can contact me at the following address...
Clare Sulis Po. Box 359 Port Vila VANUATU. Tel: (678) 23773 Fax: 678) 23564 or E-mail at this address
