Old Polo Thread

yeh sorry ben we wont be down till 9/9:30 we have payed for the court init but we will be there after. Sheffield people dont worry polo is go

Thought it was really good to have our chat today, good to clear the air. Roll on the future of MHBPA.
Tonight based grievances shold be kept to the MCR polo thread i guess.

Right. I'm sorry but tonight was a fucking joke, and other recent sessions haven't been much better, we need to set some rules or plans for how Thursday night polo works.
I for one look forward to thursday polo all week, take the night off work, and then today I had 3 games, 2 with loads of people playing for the first time, and one against a team fo children. Polo is not a fucking nursery, I hear Chorlton on saturday is really fun, but not at the adult sessions, it's a piss take.
Can we say that Thursdays are only for people that ahve played a couple of times before? if peopel want to bring new players bring them on Sundays? I am all for expanding MCR polo, and don't wanna be harsh to anyoen in particular, but we can't get a game in these days with so many people that have never played before. If it wern't for the Sheffield guys I wouldn't have had any resmblance of a game for the whole night.
Rant over, feel free to call me a dick but it's how i feel, had a shit night tonight.
Did anyone accidnetaly take home my mallet?

Also Paul have you been collecting the $$? can you post up the list of who has been paying each week?

i agree, its difficult because we want the new people to get better but IMO i havnt had a decent game where i haven't had to hold back because of a kid or first time player since the first week of powerhouse.

I think Thursdays should be for people on the powerhouse paid list and Sheffield when they want to come.
Sunday morning for kids and beginners
Sunday afternoon for beginners and regulars

I agree with you woody and steve, im also up for making Thursdays exclusive.

Lets have a Meeting. Saturday at 5pm. Sandbar.

ffs, when i complained about the amount of games i had played people shot me down!?

Yep - good to do that face-to-face. Forums/written word can be too inflammable IMHO!

Will be ready to run that proposal by you guys any time next week - your call as to when/where (should only take 10 minutes to go through + time to make decisions/changes).

Roll on MHPA - faster, pussycat, faster!

ffs, when i complained about the amount of games i had played people shot me down!?

You were right, remember though were not against each other, need to work together and get the best for everyone

As you know - I don't disagree with the fundamental reason we've booked PH - for the existing MCR players to get better faster. It wasn't originally booked to become beginners sessions. To achieve that, the issues we have to manage are these:

1. A paid up player could also be a beginner - what 'rights' do they have?
   
2. Who and how do we decide who makes the grade? There are several borderline players that are going to be hard to call...
   
3. If we don't have enough 'senior' players to pay for the month/make enough for 3 hours of better play - what then?
   
   

Some answers lay in the following:

We're more than happy to promote the beginners sessions in Chorlton Park on Saturday mornings - will make up a flyer for that for next Thursday. Let's make it an official MHPA event (currently just Lewis and I casual) and have occasional senior players attendance for credibility (as is already happening).

Sunday Social Sessions - let's identify and promote them as such, so that people don't feel they're being excluded by an elite.

Thursdays - obviously the session was compounded by Chan/Mirek not playing; the atmosphere (now cleared); Woody having to be an emergency sparks when ASBO would have been roundly thrashed by Adam, Marek and me ;-).

Considering that we have collected money for November now, I think we have to honour those that have paid. Suggest that we start team play from 7.30 in November - so that those that cannot get on with the learning curve can arrive at that time. Why not start advising people/teams during November that come December they should be playing on Saturdays/Sundays until appropriately skilled/safe.

'Safety' is the fairest message to convey - no-one wants to hear they are a beginner/sh*t.

BTW - should we not have a helmet rule once we get into proper team play sessions??

Once we've agreed - let's start to advise of the changes and the options during November to make sure the learners transfer to the other sessions. We do not want to lose these people - there's some guys who are going to be useful players in fairly short order IMHO.

To put it in a good way woody said last night, you wouldn't turn up at a football session and expect to be able to play in the games straight away

I have spoken to my mate who does martial arts and he said the do a tired system, beginner, intermediate and advanced. This keeps people of a similar skill level together, allows the better people to improve and gives people goals to aim for.

we would only need 2 levels and i think were being to nicey nicey, use the 'safety' factor as well as a time factor, for example after a few months of people being at the beginners sessions if there upto a 'safe' standard they can play on Thursdays

it will be hard to tell people but we should say 6:30 untill 7:30 everyone can play as it is now, then if you want to play after that you have to keep practicing get to an experienced level and start paying. this will mean beginners can still play thursdays get into the sport etc but that the more experienced players still get 2 full hours of play with people of a similar skill

re helmets, i think leave it to the players discretion, personally i think we should all start wearing them tho TBH

Theres some good ideas coming out here guys. Maybe we should keep the discussion on the forum this time, so that it is transparent for any new players that might want to input their opinion?

It's a hard thing to do, we shjould tread lightly so that we don't scare people off, it would be a shame if we lost some of our new players compeltly, suhc as our resident spaniard El Stevo. I like the idea of 7.30 onwards for experienced players etc. Maybe we should also suggest that if people want to bring new people to polo they bring them to a weekend session, not the 6.30-7.30 on a Thursday?
Also, as impressed as i was with Rufus's fearless bike skills, and I hosnetly was, I don't think we should allow chidlren at Thursday sessions, especially not after 7.30. This would then allow us to not have to let the local kids play some days either, which we can't do if we are allowing Rufus or others to play.
We need Manchester polo to grow in numbers and skill, and the new interest that people have been shwoing is great, we just ahve to make sure it is handled without meaning anyone si able to get a good game.

On the helmet debate, I think we should leave it up to individual players, but shoudl encourgae each toher to wear them, I may start wearing mine again (After Chan's accident I may even start wearing my road helmet again)

I don't really know what the best solution is for thursday nights, it's a tough one to keep everyone happy. It's still early days, i'm sure we can work something out

On a side note, i fucking rule at pulling women.

On a side note, i fucking rule at pulling women.
i heard you 'rule' even more at pulling men, must be the girly hair...;)

When's the date?

?

On a side note, i fucking rule at pulling women.

pulling women off polo bikes and on to the floor...?

oh.. hang on, that was Rich last night...... #Boooooooo

Ha!

?

Chan chased a girl down the street gave her his number on a piece of paper and got a date out of it, apparently it was the hat that did it - true story

So I have been thinking about this and I have read comments that have been written since last night with interest.

Given that I have been specifically mentioned - gracias a Woody - I thought I might throw my opinions in as a new(ish) player.

General (but random) thoughts-

Growing pains = growth. Growth is what people here all seem to want – so that is good - but the trick, as already has been pointed out, is to manage that growth in a way that works for everyone. It is encouraging seeing people on here attempting to sort this out.

I agree with Woody where he says that he thinks it is best to have the conversation here so it is transparent and everyone gets a sense of what the general consensus is and how it was reached.

From my experience of last night – for a winter night 18 mallets in the shuffle are too many and the result is too much time standing around in the cold. I am not sure that anyone really truly loved last night.

As a new player I have been acutely aware about how my current skill level affects the experience of more established players and this has felt a bit uncomfortable at times. I think that as the amount of people increase and the corresponding court time for each player decreases this becomes more of an issue. I am definitely keen on finding a way that will allow good players to become excellent and beginners to get good. If this turns out to be different sessions for different skill levels then so-be-it.

I would like to see this conversation continued until a consensus is reached and then publicity reflects the outcome clearly and consistently across the various sites that promote polo in Manchester. At the moment various info out there suggests – young, old, no-legs - turn up whenever we play and you shall be welcomed. It would be great for new players (or people who are thinking of coming along) to know how it all works right from the start and so choose their first session accordingly. Trying to find the right info on this thread isn't going to work.

More personal thoughts:

I have paid up for November in advance. I was happy to just pay and play as I had been but when it looked like Neil was going to have trouble getting the cash together for November in time I wanted to help out given that I have enjoyed polo so much to date. If it turns out that I am not ready for the new Thursdays once it is decided what the acceptable level is then so be it and I totally wont take it personally.

Unfortunately I cannot do Sundays and I am not sure that Saturdays are going to allow me any progression. So depending on the outcome on what is agreed for Thursday's I will either retire or think about other possible ways of getting polo time in. That might be organising sessions with a few others outside of established times on a casual basis or even floating the idea of another evening with lights if there are enough people who want to put in some serious training but aren't up to/keen on Thursdays for what ever reason.

Cheers

Steve (El Espa[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ñ[/FONT]ole)

well said el stevo. i agree that the number of mallets in the shuffle doesn't lend itself well to playing outdoors in the winter. i had bike trouble last night but once that was fixed i was too knackered to go out considering i'd be standing around most of the night getting cold. i also agree there should be split sessions, depending on ability (no comments about my lack of ability please!) but we need to find a time which suits all players for both, which is gonna be difficult. i for one think you've got the hang of it really quickly, especially after me you and paul beat chan woody and ste ;), so you should definately keep coming to thursday polo!

thinking about it, i don't see why we can't get money together for 2 nights a week, or should be able to pretty soon... if we could maintain 18 players a week, that's £180 a month, and paying for 2 nights a week 4 times a month may work out cheaper than 2 x £100... makes sense.

y'all need to get one of these:

This winters poloista shouldn't be seen without one.

Reminds me of Jayne from Fireflys hat. "People see you walking down the street in that hat, they know he's not afraid of anything"
http://macobbshatshoppe.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/jayne1.27854718_std.gif

especially after me you and paul beat chan woody and ste

that didnt happen, we whupped you 5-0

^^ that was chans pulling hat