Calcutta Polo Club is a

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

club located in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It was established in 1862 and is considered as the oldest polo club of the world in existence.

History

The modern game of polo, though formalised and popularised by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, is derived from

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

(now a state in

) who played the game known as '

Sagol Kangjei Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

', 'Kanjai-bazee', or 'Pulu'. It was the anglicised form of the latter, referring to the wooden ball which was used, that was adopted by the sport in its slow spread to the west. In 1862 the Calcutta Polo Club was established by two British soldiers, Captain Robert Stewart and (later Major General) Joe Sherer. They were inspired by the game in Manipur and later they spread the game to their peers in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The club runs the oldest and first ever Polo Trophy, the

Ezra Cup The Ezra Cup is a popular polo tournament conducted annually in India by the Calcutta Polo Club. It is claimed that it is the first official polo trophy in history. The first Ezra Cup was held in 1880. After a period of inactivity, it has now b ...

(1880), besides other old ones such as the Carmichael Cup (1910) and the Stewarts Cup (1932). In earlier days matches were played between various royal dynasties of India. After a period of inactivity, the club was rejuvenated, hosting a two-week polo tournament, the "BFL Corporation Polo Season", in December 2006.

Activities

The club provides advanced professional training in polo to aspiring professionals and amateurs. Members can keep their own horses in the club stables, or can book or use any of the horses available in the club. Students can enroll in a special subsidised student training programme in polo. Apart from training, the club organises various polo tournaments, which are mostly held in December in the Pat Williamson Ground, popularly known as Polo Grounds in Kolkata.

CPC's patronage of Ezra Cup

Ezra Cup, the first ever polo trophy in the world, is named after

Sir David Ezra Sir David Elias Ezra (1871-1947) (or simply Sir David Ezra) was a prominent member of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Calcutta, India. Early life and family David Elias Ezra was born in 1871,

Popularizing polo with masses

Very young kids are made to walk under the feet of polo ponies and mount the horses at the Calcutta Polo Club. "We do all this to familiarize the children with the horses. This has to be done so that the children lose their fear. Just after they join, we make the children pass under the horses. Once they climb the mounts, they are made to perform all kinds of exercises. They have to stretch their bodies to either side while controlling the horses. After all, they are being trained for polo where they have to learn other skills apart from riding," said Keshav Bangur in an interview to Times of India. As a part of a range of initiatives from Keshav Bangur of the CPC, which has turned 150 in 2011, a lot is being done promote the sport in the city. The sport of polo has been thrown open to the youngsters. Till recently, polo was considered a sport fit for kings because of being an expensive sport and the middle-class preferred to stay away till Keshav Bangur announced a special scheme for students. "All one needs to do is download a form from the internet, fill it up and submit it with a certificate from the school principal. The charges for the two-month course are a bare minimum that any parent can afford. From every batch that comes in, a few stay back to continue with full-fledged polo. The remaining go back trained in riding. In this way, we now have 20 boys and girls playing full-fledged polo," Keshav Bangur said. The CPC have a veteran from the 61st Cavalry of the Indian Army — the largest non-ceremonial horse-mounted cavalry unit in the world — to handle the training and stabling aspects. While the children are learning the ropes, so are the "sahis", or helpers. One of them has become a full-fledged polo player already and is eligible to earn Rs 12,500 in any tournament he participates in. "Kolkata is now again emerging as an important location for polo. Nowadays, people are coming to the city to purchase polo ponies," Bangur said.

Officials

Keshav Bangur Keshav is an South asian male given name which is a modern form of name Keshava, one of the many names of Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu. Notable people with the name include: * Keshav Bansal (born 1991), Indian entrepreneur * Keshav Vaman Bhole (1 ...

, CEO of

BFL Corporation BFL can stand for: Buy food outside for lunch, and you can always use “@ (a number)” follow for showing that the time you will arrive for lunch. For example, “BFL@1” means “I will buy food outside for lunch at 1 o’clock.” * Bat for ...

is the president of Calcutta Polo Club. He was instrumental in bringing back the club to its former glories.

References

{{Authority control Sports clubs in India Polo in India Polo clubs Culture of Kolkata Sports clubs established in 1862 Sports clubs in Kolkata 1862 establishments in India