In addition to playing polo, Jacinto Convit is the President of the Polo Association of Venezuela, a country that is currently developing polo, with the aim to focus on the growth and improvement of the sport in Venezuel, with the sights set the international stage as well. In order to achieve it, the Caracas-based clubs, as well as all those around the country, are working on their organisations, improving their facilities to attract more and more players, Argentinian players above all and, most important, working hard on horse strings, by bringing some of the best bloodlines. This started back in the 70s, when Venezuela imported remarkable bloodlines such as Pucará, Bengalita, Sportivo, Pícaron, Claret, Durazno, El Sol, Lunático, Rengo Luisito, Clarin, Líbano, among others, to support local breeding and the growth of polo within the country.

Jacinto, an enthusiastic polo support, is doing his best from his position, with plenty of plans for the future, not only for Venezuela, but also on an international level.

What can you tell about polo in Venezuela now?

Polo in Venezuela is in a constant growth. We brought our active players back after the pandemic, improved the facilities of the many clubs in Venezuela, both private and the Club de Polo, in Caracas. There are several Venezuelans who are currently playing in many countries and are very interested to come back to play in our tournaments, at the Club de Campo as well as those tournaments we support in Tucacas.

You know, Club de Campo Polo Club is the demonstration of a remarkable management. Following the pandemic, they had to deal with a weak economy, but they were determined to bounce back and they succeed thanks to Daniel Uzcategui, who is the current President of the club and the patron of La Mamba Negra. And they achieved it thanks to a fantastic financial management that stabilized and strengthened the club. This extraordinary success is the result of his leadership and his ability to transform the adversity into victory.

Is Venezuela focusing of a return to the international scenario?

We always have our sights set on a return to international polo; but at the moment, as an Association, we are mostly focused to bring the sport back to Venezuela, first thing, and then spread all over the area; then be able to play in iconic tournaments in the United States or the Dominican Republic. And that our players reach the highest level possible.

Tell us a bit more about the tournament that is about to start now. What are your expectations?

It’s been quite a long time this tournament has been underway, and it is the most important competition on a local level. It attracts a lot of spectators and teams. At the moment, we still play at 8-goal, but our aim is to raise it at 12-goal next year, to bring more players. Polo at Club de Campo is very special for us, very competitive; the fields are smaller compared to international standards, which implies more demanding performances for the players and the horses.

What are the plans for the Polo Association in Venezuela, with regards to the promotion of the sport in the country and worldwide?

We are currently working a lot in social media, digital media, some TV coverage for national media as well. And we hope to raise the handicap of the tournament to begin a proper international coverage. Who knows, perhaps we can be able to bring Gustavo Sgalla with us! (laughs). Our goal is to reach the international scenenario; I’ll tell you more, in the 80’s we had the opportunity to play with the then Prince Of Wales, today King Charles III and the Commonwealth. From then on, polo in Caracas has been attractive mostly for tourists and players. There are a lot of history to tell!

How about players, horses and the current level of polo in Venezuela? What are the plans for the future?

Well, actually we have a remarkable horse string, which has been brought thanks to very good bloodlines that came from the five famous Ellerston mares, from Australia. We are proud of having them , they are very important to develop polo in Venezuela. Also, we have direct bloodlines from Sportivo, a lot of bloodline from mares who play the Argentine Open, like Rusita, Durazno, Peeglets, Monarch, Dry Mandril, Grappa Cleopatra – who played the Open in 2008, a daughter of the well renowned stallion, El Sol. These second-generation of foals are already demonstrating their remarkable potential for the sport. We hired a number of Venezuelan breeders, too, who often go to Argentina and to other countries. With regards of players, there are many ones from Venezuela, medium goal players who are really good and with a vast experience, and who are competing in different international tournaments. There’s good polo in Venezuela, anual 8-12 goal contests, very competitive, very hard fought played, which make each game very interesting. And we hope those teams keep growing.

About the future… we want to have more direct assistance from the Argentine Association of Polo, in order to improve our genetic developments of the Polo Argentino Bred; capture the attention of polo media, hire significant professionals in our tournaments, create an anual calendar in different venues and clubs, in order to have many teams to come. The idea is working on the sport, and all the good things that brings.