Polo coaching clinic ends in Accra

A-one day coaching clinic organized by the Accra Polo club as part of a programme lined up by the Accra Polo Club to mark its centenary anniversary ended in Accra on Thursday.

The course took players through hitting and passing skills, horse ridding, hand direction, game strategies and basic safety precautions. About 12 members of the Accra Polo Club were taken through basic skills by instructors who are professional polo players from England and are in the country to engage a Ghanaian side in fund raising match for the Anphani Children's home in the northern region.

Speaking to GNA Sports Madam Lucinda De Laroque, British Airways Public Relations Manager for Africa and the only female in the British Airways team said in the past, it is only the well to do who play polo, because horses are hard to come by and are difficult to maintain. She said presently it is easy to keep and maintain horses and one does not necessarily need much money to play polo.

Mr Harold Awuah -Darko, a veteran player of the Accra Polo Club said when visiting teams are in the country such clinics are organized for them to impart their knowledge to Ghanaian teams. He said some players of visiting teams are quite advanced than the Ghanaian players hence the need for such clinics for them to improve upon their skills.

Mr Awuah-Darko said as part of their focus to demystify the game of polo as the preserve for the rich they would expose the game to as many people as they could by way organizing ridding in schools and for people who show interest in the game. He said the game of polo has developed gradually in the country because it was formally played by the British colonial masters but now it is an all Ghanaian affairs.

He said their aim is to get more people involved in the game and to get other African stares to promote the sport as well as to get sponsorship.