Elephant Polo Weligama in Colombo
Sri Lanka - Colombo - Negombo - Dambulla - Kandy
Elephant Polo, Weligama in Colombo is a famous event in Colombo and CEPA (Ceylon Elephant Polo Association) is bestowed with the responsibility of hosting the tournament. Geoffrey Dobbs is the patron of CEPA and he was also responsible for bringing the Elephant Polo to Colombo, Sri Lanka to promote and develop up-market tourism in the country and emphasize on the troubles of the Asian elephant. The popularity and success of this tournament clearly depicts the growing interest in Sri Lanka as a premier tourist destination. WEPA is the first dominant organization in the modern era to host and create elephant polo as a game with organized competitions.
The first game of elephant polo originated 26 years ago and was established by an Englishman and a Scotsman. Elephant polo was first played in India around the turn of the 20th century, by members of the Maharaja's Harem (Zenena). The first games were played with a soccer ball, but after finding that the elephants like to smash the balls, the soccer ball was replaced with a standard polo ball. The sticks are made of bamboo and have a standard polo mallet on the end. The length of the stick depends on the size of the elephant which varies anywhere from 5 to 12 feet.
The first game of elephant polo originated 26 years ago and was established by an Englishman and a Scotsman. Elephant polo was first played in India around the turn of the 20th century, by members of the Maharaja's Harem (Zenena). The first games were played with a soccer ball, but after finding that the elephants like to smash the balls, the soccer ball was replaced with a standard polo ball. The sticks are made of bamboo and have a standard polo mallet on the end. The length of the stick depends on the size of the elephant which varies anywhere from 5 to 12 feet.
CEPA is in the process of confirming team participation for 2007 Elephant Polo, Weligama in Colombo. Atleast 8 international teams are expected to be participating in this polo tournament from countries such as Australia, Sri Lanka, Scotland, Nepal, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, UK, India and Thailand.
Each team will play up to two games per day over a 3 to 4 day tournament period. The elephants are assembled from all over Sri Lanka and are specifically trained for the game and then graded based on their individual ball skill, speed and size. Three elephants and three players are used per team, for each game, which consists of two seven minute "chukkas" of playing time, with an interval of 15 minutes in between.
