Mustapha Junaidu Why Abuja needs more polo grounds

Going down memory lane, how will you rate the 2014 Centenary Unity Polo Tournament organised by the Abuja Guards Polo club in May?The tournament was very successful. Considering the number and quality of teams that participated in the tournament as well as the calibre of guests that attended, I will say it is the best […]

Going down memory lane, how will you rate the 2014 Centenary Unity Polo Tournament organised by the Abuja Guards Polo club in May?
The tournament was very successful. Considering the number and quality of teams that participated in the tournament as well as the calibre of guests that attended, I will say it is the best tournament we ever had in Abuja. I don’t think there is any club that has ever had over 20 representatives of different nations at a single polo tournament at a time. We had that because the Argentines in Nigeria celebrated their national day on the 25 of May which was the day of the finals. The Argentine Ambassador invited almost all the foreign missions in Abuja to celebrate with them at the polo club. Due to that fact, we had over 20 nations represented at the club. The most interesting thing is that during the final game, the two teams had one player each from Argentina and it was very very competitive.
How did you manage to organise a hitch-free tournament?
I think we started very early. It wasn’t just me. A lot of work was done by the tournament organisers. Members of the club, particularly our chairman, Senator Hadi Sirika made tremendous contributions. I think we succeeded because we started early. We did not wait until the last minute. We started looking for sponsors early. In addition, the location of the club made things a lot easier for us.
How would you rate Abuja Guards Polo club when compared with other polo clubs in the country?
We are not doing badly but our major challenge is infrastructure. If we compare what we have on ground with other clubs that existed before us, you will discover that we have a lot of ground to cover. For example, if you talk of Port Harcourt, without doubt they have the best polo ground in this country. For us we would aspire for our ground to be as good as that of Port- Harcourt, if not better. And talking of standard club house, you have Kaduna polo club and Port-Harcourt again. They have really nice clubs which we would aspire to have in the near future. For now, we do not have a standard club house. These are things we see in other clubs that we want to emulate. We need a decent club house, standard ground, exercise track for the horses, and more stables.
How happy are you with efforts being made by other polo enthusiasts to build another polo club in Abuja?
I believe you are talking about 12 12 at Gwarinpa. I have been there. It is a wonderful place. The infrastructure is really nice and is been managed by my friend Nuhu Zango. I want to tell you that for us, it is the more the merrier. We would want to have more polo clubs. We would encourage him and support him in whatever way we can so the club can succeed. It will be to our own benefit. For now, we have only one polo field and you cannot be playing polo on one field all the time. With his field and if we are lucky some other clubs come on board, we can always be rotating. Today we play here and tomorrow, we play there. So it is a welcome development. It will help ease the pressure on our ground. We would support him in whatever way we can.
How would you rate the standard of polo in Nigeria?
I think the standard of the game in Nigeria is improving. A couple of years ago, the handicap of each and every player in Nigeria was dropped because the Nigerian national team went to Malaysia to compete in polo World Cup qualifiers and they realised that the handicap of most of our players was a bit overrated. By dropping the handicap of every player, I believe now the quality of play has improved because people are really playing their handicap now. The quality of play has improved and infrastructure has improved tremendously. You hardly see the quality of infrastructure diminishing. So I would say the game of polo is really moving forward in this country.
Are you satisfied with the number of polo tournaments in Nigeria?
I think the number of tournaments is okay. There are quite a number of them that are organised every year. However, it is not possible to play in every tournament. You just pick some and leave the other ones. You don’t have to go for all. Some people can decide to go and play in Port-Harcourt and miss the next major tournament, then go for another because if you go for each and every tournament and use the same horses, your horses wouldn’t last. So you have to spread out the tournaments. I tell you there are a number of tournaments. The Nigeria Polo Federation, NPF, have their tournaments in the calendar and then you have a lot of smaller tournaments in between. They are not NPF tournaments but they are equally important.
How true is the news that the Abuja Guards Polo club has been chosen by NPF to host a four nations tournament in October?
Yes, we are already working towards hosting the four nations tournament in Abuja in October. Although it is being organised by the NPF, they have chosen Abuja Guards Polo Club as the venue of the event. So it will be the first major international tournament to be held here.
So how far have you gone with preparations for the international tournament?
For now we just have to keep working on the ground. We are thinking of putting the grand stand and other infrastructure. But for now, the ground is our major concern. It is a priority because we are having international teams coming to participate so our polo ground must meet the minimum requirement.
Apart from being the captain of the Guards Polo Club, you are an active polo player. Considering the risks involved, why the choice of polo?
Yeah I think it’s the excitement and the thrills that come with playing the game. Being on a horse and controlling it with one hand can be an amazing experience. Before polo, I played other sports. I was into football and basketball but I tell you the moment I started polo, I just dropped every other game. I like the speed and the adrenaline rush, the control you have over that huge animal. Don’t forget polo is the fastest game in the world. There is no other team game in the world that is faster than polo. Like I said, what propels me is the adrenaline rush and being on top of the animal and then moving so fast. Sometimes horses go really fast that tears start coming out of your eyes. And then the ambience associated with the game is another motivation. In fact there is so much excitement in polo