The main difference between traditional polo and elephant polo is that, in elephant polo, the players ride elephants instead of horses. Additonally, there are two riders per elephant, most likely (in this writer's opinion) due to the fact that elephants are generally larger than horses and (in this writer's experience) more difficult to control. One rider is in charge of hitting the ball and giving directional commands. The other, known as a mahout ("The word mahout comes from the Hindi words mahaut and mahavat, derivatives of the Sanskrit word mahamatra, meaning "[one] having great measure"), heeds the first rider's commands and directs/drives the elephant. All the mahouts must speak Nepali, as that is the only language the elephants understand.
According to the World Elephant Polo Association (the largest international elephant polo governing body), an offical match consists of two ten-minute chukkers (halves) played on a 120x70 meter pitch, 3/4 the length of a horse-polo pitch. The game is played by two teams of four (not including the mahouts) using a regular polo ball. Early incarnations of elepolo were played with soccer balls, but it was discovered that the elephants liked to smash them. There are no restrictions as to the height, weight, or sex of the elephants. However, only female players may swing the mallets with both hands. Elephants may not pick up the ball with their trunks. "Sugar cane or rice balls packed with vitamins (molasses and rock salt) shall be given to the elephants at the end of the match; and a cold beer, or soft drinks, to the elephant drivers, but not vice versa."
Though the elephants are generally docile, they can occasionally get out of control. “We had an elephant in Nepal, actually, who didn’t like the mahout of another elephant,” said Jim Edwards, co-founder of WEPA and captain of the PricewaterhouseCoopers team. “The mahout had treated him badly, and the elephant killed him the first chance he got—hit him in the back with his trunk. So we haven’t completely worked out the human-elephant dynamic yet. I own 25 of them, and they continue to surprise me.”
Many elepolo teams have sought out high-profile corporate sponsors--including Chivas Regal, American Express, and Mercedes-Benz--in their quest to win the most coveted prize in all of elephant sports: the King's Cup. [editor's note: you should really click on the team names to see the player profiles.] Chivas has won for the last two years.
Among the most popular elepolo teams is the Screwless Tuskers, a team made up entirely of Thai ladyboys. According to their website, the Screwless Tuskers have several unique advantages on the elepolo pitch: "The Screwless Tuskers will come on to the field with three things going for them: (a) male muscle (admittedly the least of the three advantages), (b) female rules (the two-hand rule in elephant polo applies to all females, not just to those born that way), and (c) the ability to talk Thai to the Mahouts." Is this strategy suspect? "This is a gentleman's game," says Peter Prentice, captain of the Chivas Regal team and a WEPA board member. "If Alf Erickson says they're ladies... they're ladies." Alf Leif Erickson owns and manages the Screwless Tuskers. He is a retired American lawyer and bread-fortune heir. He owns the world's largest collection of corkscrews.
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