Blog: "As I struck the ball in polo for the first time I was hooked"
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
In 2016 we’ll be taking a look at an A-Z of accessible sporting and fitness opportunities available to disabled people. This week it’s P for polo, and Elaine Corner discusses how the sport has aided her rehabilitation from injury.
Elaine’s blog:
Polo requires 100 per cent concentration. It’s all about you and your pony, where the ball’s going, where other players are and hitting the ball.
It’s a total escape from all other stuff that might be happening in your life. That’s what makes it such a fantastic sport. If you go for a run or a cycle or a swim it frees up your mind to think about any problems or issues you might be experiencing. So polo is a fantastic escape.
I had never played polo before I tried it in August 2013. I thought I’d give it a go – why not?
When I’m on a horse my disability is just not a factor. People who watch me playing polo don’t know that I actually don’t have a leg.
I was in the army for 25 years, involving tours to Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq. I had a motorbike accident in 2011 and lost my left leg below the knee, as well as injuring my back.
I had ridden horses regularly as a child, but then hadn’t got on a horse for 15 years before my accident.
But through Help for Heroes I got to enjoy a week riding horse at Sandhurst, and quickly discovered that it did wonders for my back injury. The movement on horseback was essentially like a physio massaging my lower back.
It was all about the motion of the horse, so I switched from paying for sessions with a physio to joining a riding club, so I could enjoy the rehabilitation while it was happening.
I was then offered polo as a method of sports recovery. A club in Berkshire offered their ponies, instructors and equipment for soldiers to go along and give polo a go.
We actually progressed a lot further than anyone had thought would be possible, to the stage that we weren’t just trotting around but the ponies were tired out at the end of each session.
A year ago we relocated to Tidworth Polo Club in Wiltshire, which is a combined services club, and have continued to train there. We now play chukkas [matches, or periods of play] against non-disabled polo players on what’s essentially a level playing field.
Playing polo, a team sport, is fantastic. After I was injured I looked at football and hockey and thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, because I felt team sports were not going to be accessible. But polo is a sport where the pony does the hard work. It’s fast, a team effort, playing with and against non-disabled people.
Sport gives you the freedom not to be perceived as disabled. That’s the best thing, for me. There is a bloke I’ve played against who cannot walk because of serious pelvis problems he suffered in Afghanistan. But put him on a polo pony and you wouldn’t know. It’s a great leveller.
Sport gets you out doing things, meeting new people and helping you to realise that you can actually do more than you might think.
Give sport a go – try it and see what happens. As soon as I tried polo I knew it was for me – as soon as I struck the ball for the first time I was hooked.
