POLO

ARGENTINA

1800s : Polo was first introduced to Argentina by British immigrants.

1875 : The first-ever match was played in Argentina. The British looked for potential players. Despite the fact that polo was at first for ace English players who lived in the locality of Buenos Aires, with time more clubs emerged, like the popular Hurlingham Polo Club.

1888 : It was thanks to the efforts by the English Campbell, Fortune, Ravenscroft and Robson, who after a few years would be the winners of the Argentine Polo Open Championship.

1921 : The Argentine Polo Federation came up, which made polo a household name and got people to notice it.

1924 (Paris) – 1936 (Berlin) : The Argentine players’ skills took everyone by surprise. However, the $64000 gift came once Argentina was the 1924 Olympiad winner, against two world powers--the USA and UK. Thereafter, Argentina gained its popularity in polo all around the globe. The Argentine players rewon the title in 1936.

1987 : The very first World Cup took place in 1987 in Buenos Aires, and since then it has been held in Chile, Germany, Australia, and Mexico.

Today :

In Buenos Aires every December as many as 30,000 polo fans attend the Argentine Open, the world's most prestigious tournament. In the land of the gaucho, boys growing up on estancias (estates) play polo as soon as they learn to ride ; consequently, the majority of top-ranked players are Argentines, including 27-year-old Adolfo Cambiaso, the sport's tabloid-handsome superstar and current leading goal scorer on the World Polo Tour.

With such a great legacy attached to its soil, the Argentinean polo players are considered the best in the world. Eight out of nine best Handicap players are from Argentina. These players are considered to be the best players in polo. The ability of the riders and the success of Argentine Polo is thanks to the exquisite quality of horses they use. Right now, in a sum of 1477 polo players all around the world, 711 are exclusively in Argentina.

PATO

ARGENTINA

Pato is Spanish for "duck", as early games used a live duck inside a basket instead of a ball. It combines elements from polo and basketball.

The gauchos played this game which at the starting days it included a duck, which is today replaced by a ball. It was placed in a calfskin bin with handles and left in a field between two towns. There were two teams from two different towns and the sacred duck was released and these two teams used to fight for it. The one who gets it first won the match. Lassoing your opponent or cutting his seat were allowed under the rules of the game. The focus was that you need to have a clearly defined distance between the pato, so that others have a way to get it. The game was prohibited for and the government took steps to stop any individual who played it, yet it has endured, though in subtle way with regulations.

Pato was banned several times (in 1796 a Catholic priest insisted that pato players who died in such a way should be denied Christian burial) during its history because of the violence — not only to the duck; many gauchos were trampled underfoot, and many more lost their lives in knife fights started in the heat of the game. The winner is the team with most goals scored after regulation time.

NATIVE AND OTHER SPORTS

CESTOBALL

The Cestoball (a kind of handball) is a sport created in Argentina in 1897

The sport is played both indoors and outdoors, and it is very common to see games being played on basketball courts. Two standalone net posts with baskets are stationed on the courts within the playing area. Players are free to move behind the net posts. The ball used is similar to that of a handball.

TEJO

The Tejo was born as a beach game on the coast of Argentina in the mid-nineteenth century. It is a sport from Argentina in which two teams throw colored metal discs to land as close as possible to a disc.

Other famous sports

Volleyball, boxing, basketball, rugby, hockey and tennis are quite popular and Argentina has produced some of the best names in sports.

References :

ECELASPANISH, Cultural Tidbit : A History of Polo in Argentina, [online], Available on : <https://ecelaspanish.com/cultural-tidbit-a-history-of-polo-in-argentina/>

ARGENTINAPOLODAY, Brief history of Polo in Argentina, [online], 2 March 2017, Available on : <https://argentinapoloday.com.ar/blog/history-of-polo-in-argentina/>

LA POLO, History of polo in Argentina, [online], F301 Third Floor (CH. Prem Singh Comp),, Himmat Singh Marg,, Nai Basti, Lado Sarai,, New Delhi, Delhi 110030, India, Available on : <https://www.lapolo.in/blog/history-polo-argentina/>

ARGENTINAPOLO.COM, History of polo, [online], Available on : <http://www.argentinapolo.com/polohistory.html>

FEDERACION ARGENTINA DE PATO Y HORSEBALL, Historia de nuestro deporte nacional : el pato, [online], Av. Arturo Illia (ex Ruta 8) y calle Avellaneda – Campo de Mayo – Km 32, Available on : <https://pato.org.ar/historia/>

TOPENDSPORTS, Sport in Argentina, [online], Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia , [11 April 2020], Available on : <https://www.topendsports.com/world/countries/argentina.htm>

BRITANNICA, , [online], 325 North La Salle Street, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60654-2682, United States, [26 October 2020], Available on : <https://www.britannica.com/place/Argentina>