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The rescheduling of the National Sports Festival from this year to February next year, has not affected the enthusiasm of members of the polo fraternity, as preparations are in earnest for an unforgettable sporting festival in the Niger Delta.

We confirmed that the delay in the completion of a new sports complex and concerns over preparedness by some states that are yet to complete registration formalities, necessitated the shifted date, but the polo family in the Garden City say they cannot wait for the games to begin.

Officials of the Port Harcourt Polo Club, on whose ground the polo event will be staged, say that the game will be given a befitting debut as a scoring event during the festival.

Shehu Bob-Manuel, the club’s Vice President, who confirmed their readiness to host the event, said the playing turf and the facilities at the Port Harcourt GRA Polo Ground are being given a face-lift ahead of the national sporting fiesta.

“We are proud to be part of history as the second polo club in the country to host the polo event during the festival and we are not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring a most memorable Rivers 2011 Festival,” Mr Bob-Manuel said. Port Harcourt’s polo captain, Tony Isodje added: “Port Harcourt Polo Club has for decades been hosting the best polo tournaments in the country and we are fully experienced and prepared to host the polo event that would be the talk of the festival,” he stated.

As part of the preparation, the multipurpose Lulu Briggs Gymnasium built by the club was completed last year.

Debut at the festival

Polo made its debut as a non-scoring event last year at the Kaduna Sports Festival, following efforts by officials of the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF) and the Kaduna Polo Club, who prevailed on the then Minister of Sports, Sani Ndanusa, to include the sport in the festival.

That debut at the Murtala Mohammed Polo Ground gave spectators a whiff of what to expect in Port Harcourt, when polo joins other events to light up the Niger Delta during the 17th National Sports Festival.

Under the auspices of the Nigeria Polo Federation (NPF) led by former Kaduna State governor, Lawal Kaita and its Secretary General, Mohammed Baba Kyari, that Kaduna introduction marked the first time polo would be included in the programme of the 36-year-old sports festival.

Interestingly, polo, reputed to be the oldest competitive sport in Nigeria, has been played as far back as 1904 – long before other popular sports like football, cricket, rugby, basketball, entered into our public life.

To celebrate the long-awaited arrival of the sport into the country’s sporting mainstream, a special tournament was staged by the Kaduna Polo Club under the auspices of the Nigeria Polo Federation (NPF).

The inaugural event attracted teams from nine states: Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Rivers, Oyo, Katsina,

Trophies

Nasarawa, Zamfara and the FCT, which vied for two trophies, the Governor’s Cup and the KADA Cup, during the four-day tournament.

Four states competed in the high-goal Governor’s Cup, which was eventually won by the Kano State, just as six teams jostled for the low-goal KADA Cup that saw Lagos State out pacing Zamfara in the hotly contested four chukkers final.

The Kano team, which paraded Tajudeen Dantata, Bashir Mangal, Bello Buba and Ali Birjawi defeated the quartet of Babangida Hassan, Dawule Baba, Mamudi Isyaku Rabiu and Husseini Kabir in Katsina State colours 4-3, to lift the high-goal trophy.

The elated Tournament Manager of that ground breaking event, Mohammed Babangida, who played for the FCT alongside the Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, thanked the Sports Minister for being part of the tournament and for granting polo official status as a scoring event at the national sporting fiesta.

Babangida described the introduction of polo into the National Sports Festival as the first step taken by the NPF to engrave polo into the annals of Nigerian sports, and promised polo enthusiasts the most exciting time at the next and subsequent sports festivals.

He said the plan was to see Nigeria polo represented in the 2016 Olympics when the sport makes a comeback into the Olympic realm after a 74-year absence.

“It will be a great dream if we could actually achieve that and with the kind of leadership we have presently in the NPF, the idea is to take polo beyond the shores of Nigeria and show to the world that Nigerian polo has matured,” he said.