Asahi British Beach Polo Championships

Saying, “it was slightly different weather from last year, for the Beach Polo”, could be just a little bit of an understatement. I left home with just slightly greyish skies, and the radio telling me how bad the weather was in the direction I was heading. Flooding, torrential downpours, high winds, it was all happening, all we needed was a bit of pestilence and that would have covered it!

At this point, turning back home was definitely an option, but one last last weather report on the radio, saying it would be getting brighter from early evening, and as the final match was going to be on at 6pm, I thought if I could at least get some decent images of that game I’d be happy.

As I was getting nearer to Poole the weather was considerably worse, but fortunately the cafe over the road from the site was still serving breakfast, and from memory its actually quite a good one, so hiding out in there seemed a good idea.  So a few more coffees later and a damp stroll along the front watching the windsurfers, had taken me to 5pm and time to get ready for the final beach polo game. The rain had stopped and the sun shone (ok that bit’s of a lie, but the rain did sort of stop) It was still unseasonably cold especially when you’re standing around. It was still pretty windy, which overnight had worked to my advantage, as it had blown down one side of the arena and giving them no time to erect the safety net all the way around. Safety nets at arena polo are a real pain, though I can loose the net shooting wide open, it certainly doesn’t help, and it was nice not to have to worry about it, though I did need to remember it wasn’t there, and a ball may come at speed in my direction!

The final polo match was Ireland vs Wales, a closely fought game with Ireland winning 7 – 6 goals, plus one player hitting the deck and another with a stick head to the collar bone, ouch!