This sport is the sport of elephant polo and the association is the World Elephant Polo Association. Elephant polo is a sport that is played in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
This is definitely a very unique and unusual sport that has actually been around for the past 25 years. However, due to the fact that is participated in such a small area of the world, it is not very popular and most have never heard of it at all.
On Nov. 26, the silver jubilee of World Elephant Polo will take place. The polo event takes place every year at the Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge in southern Nepal.
There are eight different teams that participate in the competition each year. These teams originate from the United Kingdom, Nepal, India, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Thailand. There are pre-event galas that take place in these regions, and the money raised is given to local Nepalese charities.
So how is the sport of elephant polo played? Each team has four members on it. The field is 100 meters by 70 meters. There are two 10-minute quarters with a 15-minute break in between.
The game is played similarly to its horseback counterpart. The difference is that more players are needed on one team in order to control the elephant since it is so massive of a creature, which is not so easily ridden like a horse.
A trainer will ride along with the rider in order to help tame the beast per se.
The British, who originated the sport of polo, brought it over to India. Since there is a higher population of elephants than there are horses, they used the horses in India instead. In the beginning, a soccer ball was used to play the game. Now the game is played with a traditional polo ball.
There are about 16 elephants that participate in the match each year. Half of these animals are the property of the Nepal National Parks and the other half belong to the resort in which the event takes place. There are skilled polo trainers that train the elephants for years in preparation.
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