Profile: The University of Aberdeen Polo Club!
Today I will be interviewing my flatmate and fellow polo enthusiast, Lisa McCrossan!
Name: Lisa McCrossan
Age: 20.
Studying: Geology and Petroleum Geology.
From: Forres in North Scotland.
HC: So Lisa, you’re a part of the polo club here at Aberdeen, can you tell me a bit about it?
LM: The University of Aberdeen polo club is a fun and active sports club; we have lessons every Wednesday with our experienced instructor Thom Bell down at Kinross Polo Club. We attend a lot of tournaments, winning more than our fair share! We’ve been down to Winter and Summer Nationals in Warwickshire, attended The St Andrews Charity Polo Tournament as well as friendly matches between other Scottish universities. We are a small club but growing more and more each year, so I really encourage everyone to try something out of their comfort zone and become addicted to polo like I have!
HC: So, to help out anyone who may not know, what is polo?
LM: The sport originated from Persia and it’s a team sport played on horseback. We play with a stick and the aim is to score goals against the opposing team using either an inflatable ball during the winter or a small white ball in the summer. In the winter we play in an arena, and in the summer we play on a large grass pitch (which is much more fun!). There are usually about four people per team, and each game is divided into what’s called ‘chukkas’, which are seven minutes long. It’s a full-speed, full-contact sport, and although traditionally seen as something upper-class and unattainable, at Aberdeen it’s something that’s affordable and exciting, everyone is super friendly and everyone who has joined has immediately become addicted to it! Another bonus is that unlike most sports clubs, we do not require our members to come and play every week, just as and when they want to!
HC: Sounds like great fun! What made you join the polo club?
LM: I joined the club because I already knew I enjoyed horse riding, but I knew I wanted to try something different at university, therefore it was the best option to try the sport as it is much cheaper at university than in adult life!
HC: What’s the best thing you’ve done with the club so far?
The best thing I’ve done with the club so far would have to be the events, which are the highlight of club membership. I love travelling to different events such as winter nationals, it was a great tournament and everyone was really friendly. Each event is like going on holiday because Aberdeen is so far away from everywhere, but going with friends is great. We played on West Sands beach down in St Andrews recently and I loved the galloping, not that I’m a speed freak or anything!
HC: Do you have to know how to ride before attempting polo?
LM: Definitely not, you probably go faster if you know how to ride, but not knowing how to ride in some ways is an advantage as riders like myself have had to unlearn our normal riding style to adapt to riding polo. A few freshers we recruited this year had never sat on a horse before and now they’re happily playing polo! You also don’t need any equipment to play, we use Thom’s, which is a bonus!
HC: Do you have any exciting events coming up?
LM: We always have exciting events coming up, which is one of the good things about the club, there are always things going on and something to do. Next up for us is The Edinburgh Annual Tournament, the first competition of the year against other Scottish universities. We also have some social events coming up, one of which will be Welly Ball, where we will tag along with Aberdeen University Shooting Club for a fun night out in St Andrews. We also hope to attend the St Andrews White Tie Reeling Ball which should be fun, not to mention our socials, including our Tight N’ Bright night we had recently which definitely featured some weird and wonderful outfits!
HC: So if someone was interested in playing, how would they go about it?
They would contact the club, either by email (lisa.aupolo@gmail.com), the official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/AUPoloClub/), Instagram (@aupoloclub) or Twitter (@AberdeenPolo).
And finally, if you were to describe the club in one word, what would it be?
Close. We’re all really close friends and small enough that it’s definitely a close family atmosphere, and we socialise outside of polo a lot too. I’ve ended up with a flatmate and a whole load of new friends, and I don’t think you could say that about any other sport! One word just isn’t enough!
Thank you for your time Lisa!