Beach boys

A highlight of the south coast’s summer season, the Asahi British Beach Polo Championships will return for its sixth year on 12 and 13 July. Supported by some of the sport’s top arena polo players, the popular annual festival offers a unique and accessible introduction for polo novices as well as plenty of entertainment and skilled play for keen enthusiasts.

Over two action-packed days, the British seaside location of Sandbanks, Poole, will see England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competing three on three at 14-goal arena polo. For those unfamiliar with arena polo, it is a spectacular, adrenaline-fuelled spectator sport – particularly when played on a picturesque Blue Flag beach.

Whether guests pay for hospitality, VIP or general-admission tickets, or just choose to sit outside the fence on the purpose-built sand viewing banks, the event is a chance for polo to show off its attributes to around 5,000 seasoned and new supporters each year. To complement the polo, the championships offer a host of other activities, including have-a-go polo, beach volleyball, a charity Audi vs polo pony race and a vibrant retail village.

Founded by Johnny Wheeler and David Heaton-Ellis, the inaugural championships in 2008 were kick-started by publicity from Piers Morgan. Despite the onset of the recession, some big-name sponsors such as Asahi, Audi and Sunseeker spotted the potential and, with a supportive local council, willing polo professionals and patrons, the event was up and running.

While sponsorship income has since been recalibrated, new ideas such as camel polo, flood-lit night beach polo and equine displays have kept the event in the media spotlight.

One of the biggest challenges for a non-tidal beach polo event – where elaborate temporary infrastructure surrounds a boarded area – is the depth of the playing surface. The game is too slow and tiring on the ponies if the sand is deeper than the fetlock, so to ensure this doesn’t happen, the sand is levelled, excavated by up to two foot and continuously watered to provide firm footing.

Polo is ‘transportable’ and taking it to a truly unique public location and making an effort to show off the game in the best possible way has proved extremely successful. The future for the event looks promising – it is recession-proof and, as last year demonstrated, waterproof! With a steady rise in the popularity of the championships it is extremely satisfying to see beach polo being enjoyed by so many people.