South London Bike Polo (Tues/Thurs/Sun) - Newington gardens SE1 / Agnes Riley gardens SW12

Why did we start 'intermediate' polo if it's for everyone then?

The point was to have sessions to improve the standard of those deemed 'intermediate' as there is a sizeable gap between those that started at the beginning and those that joined a few years later.

But at the same time, any polo session should be open to anyone. Yes, we can have an understanding if you turn up it'll be played at a certain level, it's no different to Sunday morning high octane at Downs, but I don't like the idea of actively discouraging people from coming to any session.

If that player you mentioned was dangerous, they would have been dangerous at any session.

When I started I played NE and South polo long before there was official beginners polo, that wasn't even intermediate, that was straight into the deep end. Did people get frustrated? Probably. But did anyone tell me I couldn't turn up to a session? No.

I make a point of telling all beginners to come to intermediate polo (and other sessions). People get better, some of them really fast, and you are always going to have a wide range of players who are "intermediate". We shouldn't be turning the various sessions into ghettos where players don't mix, all players can benefit from playing different levels, and should try to go to as many different sessions as possible.