Check it out! Quite a system they have going for them. Very fair to everyone. Judged solely on skill and not by how rich they are - or how they are dressed - or what kind of car they are driving - or by how many books they have read - or by who they know - or who they don't know - or where they live.... Judged solely on skill.
Polo Player Handicap Ratings:
Polo Players are rated yearly by their peers in the United States Polo Association (USPA) on a scale of -2 to 10 goals. (yes - that is a NEGATIVE 2). So when you hear that a players handicap is 0, it is a bigger deal than it sounds, lol.
All players, male and female, are rated under the SAME handicap system.
The term "goal" does not refer to how many goals the player will score in a match but indicates the player's value to the team.
A rating of 2 goals and above usually indicates a professional player - and several of them call Aiken home (at least for part of the year!)
A rating of 10 is considered to be PERFECT ;)
Adolfo Cambiaso (New Bridge Polo Club, Aiken SC property owner) is a 10 - and considered to be the best in the world. I believe that Matias Magrini (New Bridge Polo Club) is ranked at 9.
To keep things fair - handicaps are re-evaluated every year, and final handicaps are given after a thorough review by the National Handicap Committee in October.
I hope you found this as interesting as I did when I first learned it :)
Sunset after Silver Cup Polo. Photo Credit: Tracy Colditz (my niece!)
POLO 101: A series! (AKA: Polo: So much to learn, So little time!) Provided together by Kara Casamassina and Gene Mock, The Carolina Real Estate Company, Aiken SC.
Please check the 'tags' for 'polo 101' for additional posts in this series.
Come and visit Aiken SC. You may just fall in love with it. Come & See what it is all about :)
Be on the look-out for 'joint' posts. My associate Gene Mock and I will be sharing the task of filling you in on the aspects of the game, etc. Be sure to check 
