Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Lack of Insurance Doesn't Halt Polo Players
Aired February 23, 2004 - 05:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Polo's big stars and fans were hanging out in Florida this weekend. But it wasn't just fun and games.
Our John Zarrella explains the mission behind the match.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm going to be holding up...
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up until 18 months ago, Justin Pimsner was a professional polo player. One night in upstate New York, his truck blew a tire. Pimsner and 10 horses went over an embankment. Since then, he has undergone 20 strategies. If not for an organization called the Polo Players Support Group, he would have been bankrupt.
JUSTIN PIMSNER, INJURED POLO PLAYER: There's no way I would have been able to make it. I mean I would have lost everything that I'd ever worked for.
ZARRELLA: The support group, founded three years ago, gets a big chunk of its money from benefit polo matches. This one at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida, is the premier event.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agerie (ph), he's lost that ball. Kombiaso (ph) turns.
ZARRELLA: Eight of the game's very best players in the world donated their time. Their presence brought the fans, who brought the champagne, cigars, of course, and big hats.
(on camera): Polo has a reputation as a sport for the well- heeled, the rich and famous. But for most of the professional players, it's a tough job. They earn just enough money on the professional circuit to get by.
(voice-over): Bobby Berry, a former player and now cancer survivor, benefited from the support group. The reality of a polo player's life, he says, is very different from public perception.
BOBBY BERRY, FORMER PLAYER: Everybody's got a different story as to how they got involved in polo, but the majority of people involved in polo are just your guys making a living from month to month.
ZARRELLA: Some can't afford medical insurance. ADAM SNOW, POLO PLAYER: My first winter playing in Florida I suffered an injury, did not have health insurance and broke my collar bone, dislocated my thumb and went home and was a busboy in a restaurant in Cambridge for three months, paying off my accident, my medical bills.
ZARRELLA: Before the support group was founded, an injured player might get help from a fundraiser. Now, there's a safety net for players like Justin Pimsner, who otherwise might not have made it.
John Zarrella, CNN, Boca Raton, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 23, 2004 - 05:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Polo's big stars and fans were hanging out in Florida this weekend. But it wasn't just fun and games.
Our John Zarrella explains the mission behind the match.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm going to be holding up...
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up until 18 months ago, Justin Pimsner was a professional polo player. One night in upstate New York, his truck blew a tire. Pimsner and 10 horses went over an embankment. Since then, he has undergone 20 strategies. If not for an organization called the Polo Players Support Group, he would have been bankrupt.
JUSTIN PIMSNER, INJURED POLO PLAYER: There's no way I would have been able to make it. I mean I would have lost everything that I'd ever worked for.
ZARRELLA: The support group, founded three years ago, gets a big chunk of its money from benefit polo matches. This one at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida, is the premier event.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Agerie (ph), he's lost that ball. Kombiaso (ph) turns.
ZARRELLA: Eight of the game's very best players in the world donated their time. Their presence brought the fans, who brought the champagne, cigars, of course, and big hats.
(on camera): Polo has a reputation as a sport for the well- heeled, the rich and famous. But for most of the professional players, it's a tough job. They earn just enough money on the professional circuit to get by.
(voice-over): Bobby Berry, a former player and now cancer survivor, benefited from the support group. The reality of a polo player's life, he says, is very different from public perception.
BOBBY BERRY, FORMER PLAYER: Everybody's got a different story as to how they got involved in polo, but the majority of people involved in polo are just your guys making a living from month to month.
ZARRELLA: Some can't afford medical insurance. ADAM SNOW, POLO PLAYER: My first winter playing in Florida I suffered an injury, did not have health insurance and broke my collar bone, dislocated my thumb and went home and was a busboy in a restaurant in Cambridge for three months, paying off my accident, my medical bills.
ZARRELLA: Before the support group was founded, an injured player might get help from a fundraiser. Now, there's a safety net for players like Justin Pimsner, who otherwise might not have made it.
John Zarrella, CNN, Boca Raton, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
