INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB Matt is also constantly thinking about his long-term future in the sport. “Everybody wants to be 10 goals,” he said.“I’m working to be 8 goals and known for good horses. I want to be successful, to be known as a top American player. I’m putting in a lot of work and investments into improving my horses.” Matt almost chose a different path, because there was a time when he didn’t want anything to do with the sport. “I enjoyed it, and then I had a little bit of a fall when I was 10 or 11, and I quit for three years,” remembered Matt, who took up baseball and tennis instead.“I was deathly afraid of horses. I was playing bike polo one day and [legendary Hall of Famer] Memo [Gracida] was watching, and he told me I have to start riding again.” So Gracida had Matt come to his farm, where he put the then teenager
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on a horse, but not just any horse. “The horse was an unbroken horse, and he put me on with no saddle, no nothing, and it threw me three or four times in a little corral, and ever since then, I was never scared again,” Matt said. “I overcame the fear and started playing again.” He has been recognized off the field and is sponsored by Ona gloves and is a global brand ambassador for U.S. Polo Assn., the official apparel brand for the United States Polo Association. He is also a graduating member of Team USPA, a program developed and managed by the national organization to improve young American polo players. Seven-goaler Jeff Hall, one the few current elite U.S. players, believes Coppola can continue his rise up the ranks. “He is a talented player who just needs more time in the highgoal,” Hall said.
Polo player Matt Coppola stands behind his father, polo entrepreneur and USPA President Tony Coppola. PHOTO BY SOL DICIURCIO
Whether it’s on the polo field or in the announcer’s booth, it’s home to Tony and Matt Coppola.
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30 january 2022 | wellington the magazine
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