Ball sports are human favorite sports activities, football, basketball and other popular in the world, there are some sports with high risk, such as rugby, player fractures and what is commonplace, but there was another kind of more crazy dribbling - car polo, players are simply playing with their lives.
Car polo is derived from polo, polo is a kind of high society horse riding sport from ancient times, the mainland Tang Dynasty was very popular, the competition of both sides have 4 horses and corresponding riders, riders use a long-handled wooden mallet to hit the ball into the opponent's goal to score, in 1900 to 1936 was also listed as an Olympic sport, very popular in Europe.
When cars came along, they quickly spread in Western society, and people at the top began to replace horses with cars. In 1911, an American Ford dealership in order to promote his car came up with the idea of using a car to play polo, the "big clever" in 1911 designed the details of the sport of car polo, in July 1912 to play the world's first car polo, when about 5,000 spectators visited the game. We don't know if the Dealer's Ford Model T sold well, but the audience's liking for the polo sky has skyrocketed.
The rules of car polo are also relatively simple, it requires an open field (91.4 meters × 36.6 meters) in size of 300 feet × 120 feet, 15 feet wide goals (4.6 meters) are installed at both ends of the field, and there are 2 cars on each side of the game, with a driver wearing a seat belt and a player holding a ballstick, so the two sides drive the car on the field to chase the ball and hit the ball into the opponent's goal to score.
The car used in the game is a simplified car, the vehicle does not have a roof, windshield and other equipment, so that it is convenient for players to operate, these vehicles can collide at high speed on the court, overturning is a frequent thing, so the designer installed an anti-roll frame for the car to avoid pressing on the player when overturning.
Americans are very enthusiastic about car polo, especially its demand for the field is not so large, winter can be carried out in indoor venues, New York and other cities will hold a weekly game, although the game is not as often people think that people lose their lives, but the probability of injury should be the highest of all sports, it is simply playing with life, and the spectators who are too close to the field are equally dangerous.
Unlike thrill-seeking Americans, Europeans were initially resistant to car polo, feeling that the sport was crazy and contrary to the gentlemanly demeanor of Europe's upper echelons. But car companies are interested because the race can show the reliability of the car, and the most popular car model in the sport is the Ford Model T, probably because it is a high-volume production and simple and reliable car.
According to statistics, in 1924 alone, 6 cars were completely damaged, 1564 wheels and 10 engines were scrapped, and this kind of competition is still a niche sport compared to traditional football, how many athletes, drivers are injured or even killed under such a number of damages?
Car polo declined in the 1930s, it is said that it is related to the Great Depression, the people do not have the economic strength to watch the game, and a game after the player into the hospital, racing car into the repair shop, a year down the cost is also a lot, the team and the club can not hold back, and then gradually faded out of people's vision.
However, similar polo matches were held in France later, except that the players used a tool similar to a tennis racket, which was different from the early car polo.