After last Saturday’s controversy on a Prince of Wales Trophy where 3 players of Valiente played their game using their original helmets -instead the new ones ordered by the HPA, a communicatio was expected by the HPA, something that never happened. Also, everybody was expecting the decision by Valiente regarding the use of their helmets on their Prince of Wales match on Wednesday 16 against Emlor.
At the end, the decision taken by Valiente was that the 3 players (Magoo Laprida, Adolfo Cambiaso and Rob Jornayvaz) will be playing with the new helmets, after being warned by the HPA of not letting them play in case they use their original ones. People from Valiente stated that this is because they want to follow the rules, although they argue that “they can’t force us to use something which is not proved to be safe unless we receive some guarantee or insurance.”
During Tuesday, the complaint by the players from Valiente -which was supported by many high goal players as it was published on this article on Pololine on Saturday-, was also supported with much consternation by the AAJP (Argentine Polo Players Association) through a letter sent by the AAJP President, Marcos Di Paola, to HPA’s David Wood. In the letter, the AAJP, among other things, says that they are in favour of all measures taken in respect of increasing the safety measures to minimise the risk of this sport but they request “verification that the new helmets fulfil or indeed exceed that vital function over and above those that players currently choose to wear.”
Also on Tuesday, during a 2:30hs call conference between the HPA and a group of lawyers, one of the members of the HPA acknowledged that the new helmets failed a couple of times. Despite this, the HPA supported its position and also said that the letter presented last Saturday, where many top players asked for a guarantee or an insurance by the HPA and/or the club to use the new helmets, will never be signed nor anything.
Lastly, Cristian Laprida, Adolfo Cambiaso and Rob Jornayvaz will be using the new helmets on Wednesday against Emlor, but the situation really concerns many of the players, the Argentine Polo Players Association (AAJP) and many other polo players who are parents and have showed concern and insecurity regarding the use of the new helmets by their children.
To be continued.