Uh-oh, technical, who said what?" said the grandmotherly woman sitting next to me at the sight of the umpire pulling a red kerchief from his back pocket. I found an empty seat among well over 100 retirees intently watching a Friday afternoon match at The Villages Polo Club in Florida in early April. The woman's husband turned and said, "And a 4 becomes a 3, then a 2!" And sure enough, the umpire had moved the ball on a Penalty 4 up to the 40-yard line, then to the 30 yard line. The entire crowd was as equally polo astute.

Those in the crowd were members of The Villages Polo Booster Club. Interestingly enough, the booster club predates the polo club itself. The Villages began as a small retirement community in Central Florida some 50 years ago. Sometime back in the early 80s, some new residents of The Villages were driving through the area when they came across a sign for polo. Curious, they decided to pull in and take a look.

They stumbled upon the Oxford Polo Club run by Lord Lyall and his family. The visitors enjoyed the action so much they went home and told their friends about it. After some discussion, they decided to form The Villages Polo Booster Club, initially with about 15-20 members.

Members of the Oxford Polo Club included Andy Moran and Jim Parr. The Moran family was from Maryland and Andy's father Dick Moran, also a polo player, traveled to Barbados on business. While in Barbados he saw polo being played in an army camp and eventually started playing there when he was in town. He built up a relationship with the players there and they made reciprocal visits between Maryland and Barbados to play polo. When Andy moran moved to Florida and began playing with Oxford Polo Club, he rekindled the relationship with the Barbadians and began reciprocal visits between Oxford and Barbados.

In 1996, Jim Parr was part of the Oxford group that went to Barbados to play polo. He brought along his wife Jennifer and her father Gary Morse, the developer of The Villages. Morse had such a nice time, he invited the Barbadians to come in the fall to play at The Villages Polo Club. As soon as he got back, he started working on building a polo facility and told the builders it needed to be done by the fall. And it was! The Barbadians and The Villages Polo Club still make reciprocal visits each year.

The Villages Polo Club has grown since then and now boasts three regulation-size and tournament-quality polo fields, a three-level stadium built on an elevated berm, state-of-the-art barns, turnout and an exercise track.

The booster club has grown along with The Villages, now boasting 1000 members. Dues are $10 per year, with the dues money going toward subsidizing event costs to keep them as low as possible and helping the polo club.

Vice president Jim Smith explained, "Our basic philosophy is to help the polo club and educate our members." The Booster Club organizes several classes throughout the year including Polo 101, 102, 103 and 104.

Polo 101 is taught by Lord Lyall, who goes over polo basics and the gear. Then polo club manager Stuart Campbell and player Paige Boone go out on the field to demonstrate fouls as Lyall explains them. Later, they have a question and answer session. Polo 102 is taught by Campbell and goes over polo strategies, which he and Boone demonstrate on the field.

Polo 103 focuses on the ponies. It is usually taught by Dr. Zamora, a polo player and veterinarian, who discusses the horses used for polo and sometimes demonstrates acupuncture or chiropractic and other techniques used on polo's equine athletes.

About two years ago, Polo 104 was added. Steve Lane, USPA head umpire instructor, teaches the class he calls Tips for Watching Polo. It is held in The Villages Savannah Center, which can hold several hundred people. Lane shows polo videos and explains plays and fouls.

The classes start at 11 a.m. and go until 2 p.m. Members are charged $6 to attend, and they are given a $7 lunch and all the beer and soft drinks they can drink. The booster club also holds parties at the beginning and end of the season and plans polo-related trips.

I knew about the players going to Barbados and I thought they were having way too much fun. So three years ago I put together Beach and Ponies. We have about 15-18 [booster club members] going down for the second week in February," Smith said. "We see three days of polo, we go to the beach, tour the islands and take a catamaran cruise with the players. The next year, the polo club sponsors got involved, so then we had players, sponsors and booster club members for a total of about 60 people that went to Barbados."

Smith explained, "You see people playing the game but you never really get to spend time with them. We rented the whole catamaran so it was just players, sponsors and us talking, swimming with the turtles and having fun, so it was very good."

To include more people, the boosters hold a 50/50 raffle each week during the polo season. Five winners are selected to split half the money. The names of the weekly winners are put in a hat and at the end of the season, five names are drawn to receive round-trip airfare to Barbados and half of thier hotel stay.

Prior to The Villages spring season, the booster club takes a trip to the Sarasota Polo Club on Florida's west coast to watch Campbell and other Villages' players and get prepped for the season.

This year, there was 97 of us that went. We took two buses and spent the day there and had a catered lunch," explained Smith. "We went to Wellington and saw the 40-goal tournament a few years ago and we are also thinking of going to Aiken or some other areas."

Despite the travel, the boosters clearly belong to The Villages. "I go to other polo venues and what I've seen is a third of the people are at the bar drinking and don't even know a game is going on, a third are sitting at tables socializing and occasionally glance at the field and a third of the people are watching the game," says Smith.

"In The Villages you won't find that. We have what we call beer-and-blue-jeans polo. Prices have been kept as low as possible and there is nobody at the bar, nobody at tables, everyone is watching the game. One of the reasons is the educational programs, where the more they understand the game, the more they get into it.

There are some people who would like to see us do more social things. Our feeling is there are over 2000 clubs in The Villages and a lot of those clubs' primary purpose is social. If you want a club where the focus is having parties and drinking, there is more than ample opportunity, so we focus on polo because that is what we are—a polo booster club," said Smith.

As for helping the club, the booster club paid to renovate the horse ambulance that was rusty and aging. And its members volunteer to run the ticket gate so the club does not have to. The club was also paying about $1.25 for each daily game program it was handing out. Since so many of the fans are members of the booster club, Boone sends a PDF version to Smith to email to the booster club members to print out at their homes, cutting down on the number the club has to print. The booster club provided champagne for the polo ball and when a sponsor held a raffle, the boosters took care of printing everything and running it. "It is very important in polo to have the merger of those three groups: players, sponsors and boosters," says Smith.

When heavy rain was forecasted for the area and games were scheduled to be played, Campbell called Smith to let him know the game times would be moved up and ask if he could get the word out.

I was driving back from Kentucky and was at Exit 16 in Georgia when I got the call from Stuart," Smith said. "I looked up and there was a Hampton Inn sign, so I pulled right off, got out my computer, went into the hotel, and set it up. Five minutes later emails were going out. That is the type of relationship we have with them and they turn around and help us."

After all the polo Smith has gotten to watch, he had an opportunity to try it first hand. He was given a one-hour polo lesson for his 70th birthday. It turned into quite an event, with 85 members of the booster club coming to watch and Campbell, who taught the lesson, wearing a microphone so everyone could hear. "I didn't fall off and I hit the ball so it was a success," exclaimed Smith. "After, my wife said 'if you ever get on a horse again, I'm going to kill you!'"

So, he settled for flagging when he challenged the club sponsors to the Tournament of the Century. Played on half the field, three sponsors and three booster club members, all with some riding experience but no polo experience, were each paired with a pro. It was all in fun and everyone had a good laugh.

What Campbell and Smith have tried to build is a family. The club invites booster club members and sponsors to its polo ball and some other social events, and the booster club invites the players and sponsors to its events. The booster club board meets once a month and Campbell is invited to attend. He usually comes to the board meeting at the close of the season when things are still fresh on his mind. He and the booster club discuss how they can help each other.

The Villages has done an amazing job fostering polo. ... It takes a lot to run polo and the Morse family is very gracious in providing this for the people in the area," Smith said. "I never thought I would get involved with polo. I never saw a polo game before I came here and now it is a major part of our lives, which is nice."

–– By Gwen Rizzo