Carrasco Polo Club
 | |
| Full name | Carrasco Polo Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1933 |
| Ground | Cno. Brig. Gral. Servando Gómez 2749 |
| Location |
Carrasco, Montevideo, Uruguay |
| League(s) | Campeonato Uruguayo (Rugby) |
| Affiliations | URU (Rugby) |
| Activities | Equitation, field hockey, football, polo, rugby union, tennis |
President | Santiago Slinger [1] |
| Colors | |
| Website |
www |
Carrasco Polo Club is an Uruguayan sports club from the Carrasco neighbourhood of Montevideo. Its name references directly the polo team and the fact that Carrasco has one of Uruguay's leading equestrian centres. Apart from polo, the club hosts a large variety of sports, such as equitation, field hockey, football, rugby union and tennis.[2]
The rugby union team currently competes in Campeonato Uruguayo, the first division of Uruguayan league system. Carrasco Polo is the most successful rugby club of Uruguay, with 26 championships won.[3]
The club's main rivals are Old Christians and Old Boys.
History
Carrasco Polo Club was founded as an equestrian club in 1933 by 40 former members of recently dissolved Montevideo Polo Club, that had been established 3 years ago. The first president designed by an assembly was Pedro Barcia, who led the club until 1944. Between 1949 and 1952 Carrasco Polo built its new facilities and polo fields.[4]
Rugby union
In 1949, "rugby criollo" was introduced into the Carrasco Polo Club, which not unlike the Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC), would become more renowned for rugby than the sport it was named for.[5]
In 1950, the first edition of Campeonato Uruguayo was held, being contested by Old Boys, Colonia Rugby, and multisport clubs such as the MVCC and Carrasco Polo (which supplied two XVs).[5]
Carrasco Polo Club was transformed by the coaching of Amarillo Washington, who used scientific methods to replace the earlier habits of "training hard, but then after matches going to the bar to eat and drink everything."[6] Carrasco's leading player Diego Ormaechea had been introduced to the sport as a fifteen-year-old in 1976 and was still playing for club and country more than twenty years later.[6]
In 1993, Carrasco Polo Club beat a Buenos Aires squad which included 14 national team players.[6] The 2003 Rugby World Cup finals squad had 12 players from Carrasco Polo Club. Diego Ormaechea, considered the best Uruguayan rugby union player of all time, played all his career at Carrasco. He's currently the head coach of the rugby union team.
Honours
- Rugby union
- Campeonato Uruguayo (27): 1952, 1961, 1966, 1981, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014
Bibliography
- Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-255-5)
References
- ↑ Directiva del Club on CPC website, 19 Oct 2014
- ↑ "Deportes competitivos" at club website
- ↑ Campeones at URU website Archived October 9, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Institucional - Historia at club website
- 1 2 Richards, p164, Chapter 9 From Muller to Mias
- 1 2 3 Richards, Chapter 13, Resisting the Inevitable, p236