Following the huge success of the eighth edition of the Copa La Candelaria Junior, at Pilar, Argentina, and due to the ever-increasing evolution of polo for the young ones around the world, LivingPolo.com interviewed Jorge ?Tolo? Fernández Ocampo, the founder of the La Candelaria polo school together with Eduardo Moore, and a member of the Asociación Argentina de Polo?s Juvenile Polo Sub-Committee.
LivingPolo.com: How did you come across the idea of creating La Candelaria?
Jorge Fernández Ocampo: Well, I played polo thirty years ago and I worked and continue working within the sport. The fact is that there are many people who play polo but who do not know how to begin, so we try and help them in their initial steps and we try to give them advice on various aspects of the sport. It started off as something which was being tried out , but it later became something done more seriously.
LP: Of which year are we talking about?
JFO: I began in 1978 with Eduardo Moore in Europe, at that time he was the number one in Europe, we worked together during eight years, until 1986, and then I continued alone, I bough this place in Pilar and I did the same as I used to do with him, but now alone.
And I had my own children who wanted to play, they brought their friends, and we set up a small school which works very well, I dedicated my time to follow the careers of my children, and I?m trying to get the elder one to form another school, but it is complicated.
LP: The people who try and learn to play polo tend to be young ones or are they also elder people?
JFO: In past times, with polo being a complicated sport because it is expensive, people used to start playing when they could pay for it; when they had already reached a certain financial level, then they started playing.
Mainly abroad (he is referring to countries outside Argentina) and also to a lesser degree here (in Argentina), the families with a polo tradition start playing earlier, like our case, with the kids beginning when they are very young, and nowadays the amount continues increasing. The fact is that there is not an actual place where they are taught, the kids begin playing because they see their father playing in some club, but at times things are very complicated.
Apart from this, the fathers sometimes don?t understand the sport too well, and the things they have to purchase are expensive and they don?t last much because the kid is growing all the time, I?m referring to boots and horses for example, which have to be changed frequently, so things get complicated and nobody takes care of this. The fathers usually don?t understand about the corresponding costs and risks which polo has, so things get difficult.
LP: Are there many tournaments being organized? How many kids do you think are into polo nowadays?
JFO: Nowadays there many tournaments for the young ones, in all parts of Argentina. In what refers to the amount of kids, the fact is that we were a bit disorganized, so with the juvenile committee of the Asociación Argentina de Polo, which I form part of, we oblige the players to affiliate themselves, so that we can have a better control over things, and we also created an insurance, and I think that so far we have 300 kids registered.
LP: Speaking in sporting terms, how is the standard of the sport in what refers to the kids? Do you think there are many who can go on to achieve a high handicap?
JFO: There are going to be many of them who will end up playing important tournaments, for example Nico Pieres (this year he played the Copa de Oro Ellerstina, playing for Ellerstina, the Copa Cámara de Diputados for Polo One, and he even played one match for Chapa Uno in the Abierto Argentino) played with me, he is the first to reach the top of the most recent generation of youngsters. At present there are many outstanding kids who I think are going to make it to the top.
The fact is that the standard is very high, but there are many people who play polo nowadays that look at Cambiaso or the Pieres?, all of whom did things in a very organized way, and one has to be careful when looking at them, because it is very difficult to achieve what they have achieved. Polo for the younger ones has grown a lot, but the need for new players around the world is not the same as the amount young hopefuls which emerge. One has to be careful of a mistake in this case, a lot of kids think of Cambiaso, Pieres, Nero or Heguy, they are good players, but everyone wishes to make money and equal their achievements, and the fact is that it?s not so easy.
LP: What things can be improved in what refers to organizing the young ones? activity in a better way?
JFO: At all times, everything can be improved. Luckily I have good people who work with me, and some wonderful premises, which belong to the AAP, with 16 playing fields, an easy access, and a spectacular building, no place in Argentina can equal that.
When I go for an improvement I?m very strict with the rules: everything works well because, for example, if I say that something starts at a certain hour and ends at a certain hour, that goes ahead in that way, we don?t wait for those who arrive late, in some cases we might start a match with four players playing against two, but one has to get the kids used that because this is the way this sport works.
There is no doubt that Jorge?s intentions are the ones that will help to expand and develop the future of the younger ones in this sport, and there will undoubtedly be many that will go a long way if they follow the advice of this person who is a ?driving force? for the younger ones.
By David Cattaneo, Argentina Correspondent
