Reviving polo at Princeton

After a decades-long absence, polo has returned to Princeton University. The sport’s history at the Ivy League school is illustrious, but only time will tell if its future can be the same, writes Nikolas T Weissmueller

Opposite The 2016 Princeton polo team This page The Princeton men’s team playing arena polo against Harvard

Polo is back at Princeton University after a 50-year hiatus, but a return to the programme’s heyday remains a distant prospect. In order to recreate a top-notch collegiate club, the newly revived programme must build on lessons learnt – from the driving factors behind the club’s beginnings and its meteoric rise on campus to the causes of its eventual extinction. While many of these challenges and obstacles have already been overcome, work must still be done in order to realise the club’s vision of a self-sustaining, competitive and socially purposeful polo programme.

Polo in New Jersey is dying. Over the past 10 years, multiple clubs have closed their doors, including the revered Hillsborough and Colts Neck clubs. Both were regular venues for the national polo circuit. Their owners were too old, too ill, or both, to continue operations. And the few remaining New Jersey clubs are ageing rapidly. Hesham El-Gharby, club manager at Tinicum Polo Club, addressed me jokingly at our last board meeting: ‘With you on the pitch, we’re averaging less than 60 years old.’ The sport needs to attract and retain the younger generations, and it’s the nation’s high schools and universities that must lead the charge.

When I arrived in Princeton in 2014, I had no idea how to start or manage a polo club. In the depths of the university’s archives, I stumbled upon time-worn handwritten notes composed by the founders of Princeton’s polo club. It was fascinating to unearth, contextualise and link documents to reveal a detailed picture of how my current goal of building a polo club at Princeton had been accomplished 100 years ago. As the first-ever collegiate champion, Princeton was once a driving force in the fabric of US polo. So what led to its 20th-century success and ultimate demise?

The original Princeton University Polo Club founders were students of the game since childhood. Brothers Walter Bourchier Devereux Jr and William Gregory Devereux were coached by Hervey A Lyle, an Irishman who learnt polo while on tour of duty in Her Majesty’s Army in India in the 1860s. In 1902, as college sophomores, ‘Busher’ and ‘Bill’, together with a few classmates, organised a series of polo matches, the first documented games at Princeton. The sport’s popularity

This page, from left Princeton’s National Indoor Polo Champions in 1934; the 1920 university polo team celebrate as the first-ever National Intercollegiate Champions Opposite Post-World War II Princeton polo revivalists bring the sport back to campus

spread and, by the following spring, Princeton was the first college in the US to officially adopt polo as a collegiate sport. In May 1904, at Van Cortlandt Park in New York, Princeton and Yale clashed in America’s first intercollegiate polo match. Led by captain Bill Devereux, Princeton won seven goals to two. But sadly, the event was marred by tragedy: Yale player Henry Babcock Jr was accidentally struck in the head by Devereux’s mallet. At the time, Babcock brushed aside the possibility of an injury, but the next day, he fell unconscious and died. The Princeton team disbanded. ‘The players [felt] too keenly the death of Babcock to continue the game,’ The New York Times reported. Upon graduation, the players and their ponies disappeared from Princeton’s campus.

The sport returned in 1919 with a vastly different organisational structure. At the end of World War I, the US Army began expanding its Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on college campuses, and polo was one of its best recruiting tools. The sport’s meteoric rise at Princeton was further catalysed by the formation of the Princeton Polo Association (PPA), a university- independent entity directed by alumnus Walter B Devereux Jr and financially supported by about 160 members. The PPA was dedicated to expanding facilities and enabling undergraduate participation. Soon, the team was practising on three outdoor fields, with two on lease from the university, and eventually, in the nation’s second-largest indoor riding hall.

Bolstered by its pivotal partnerships, Princeton polo thrived, and by 1944, the team had won six national championships. With the rise of machines, however, the military relevance of the game faded. What use was a horse against Hitler’s tank-driven blitzkrieg? The ROTC Princeton Field Artillery removed horses from its exercises and switched to cars and other machinery. Responding to an acute national housing shortage, the university commissioned barracks for returning veterans to be built on W B Devereux Jr Memorial field. The golden age of polo at Princeton was over.

In 1947, Princeton student Ed Iglehart attempted to revive the sport, putting together a team despite the drastic lack of financial support and access to facilities. The club’s petition to use the old riding hall, now used for indoor track, was denied by the university. The team defaulted to the next best option: Newark’s Essex Troop Armory, a two-hour drive from campus. Although the team averaged eight scrimmages a year, associated logistical challenges decimated membership. In 1950, the records of this effort end. The team spearheaded by Thruston Pettus ’63, 10 years later, shared a similar fate.

Princeton polo’s 20th-century incarnations reveal a number of organisational insights. Polo programmes managed by students alone are likely ephemeral, and will disappear shortly after the enterprising students graduate. Expedited growth can be realised by partnering with external organisations with a shared purpose. However, a polo programme must partner carefully. Interdependence ought to be separable, in case one of the partners goes under. Princeton’s polo club thrived alongside the military’s ROTC programme and the Princeton Polo Association. However, the increasing irrelevance of the cavalry, along with the dwindling resources of the PPA down to a single member during World War II, crippled the operation. In addition, conveniently

accessible facilities are essential for sustaining student participation for a prolonged period.

Princeton’s 21st-century polo programme has implemented these lessons for longevity amid its rapid growth. Launched in January 2014 with zero money down, the programme enabled students to start playing immediately. In April, polo became an official Princeton University club sport. In July, the club became a member of the United States Polo Association. In September, La Martina became the official supplier. Within one year, the men’s team challenged and defeated Yale’s varsity squad. In the summer of 2015, the club competed at the International University Polo Challenge in Rome, Italy. Princeton played its first-ever match against Oxford University this past May.

The operation is lean. Student membership dues alone cover rental of ponies and facilities from Hesham El-Gharby, who serves as the team’s head coach. This provides members with access to an indoor and outdoor arena and a regulation-size outdoor grass field. All facilities are located within 30 miles of the campus. Since horses are owned and cared for by the coach, the club’s longevity doesn’t depend on individual students, nor does it require an endowment or high membership dues to defray costs that would come with owning and maintaining equity. On the other hand, most East Coast programmes own and maintain horses and facilities, self-sufficiency made possible by university- and alumni-financed support.

The three-way collaboration between Princeton’s high schools, the university club and the community’s International Polo Club (PIPC) supports mutual and sustained growth. In negotiating a partnership with local high schools, the club expands its access to new resources and talent. It fosters ‘town-andgown’ integration, and accesses revenue through shares of ticket sales, by playing opener matches at PIPC’s charitable events.

Carving out a space for polo again at Princeton entailed a number of challenges. The application for club sport status was an uphill battle that required other club sports to cut their own budgets to accommodate a new entry. While Princeton’s proud polo history was a factor, the main selling point that tipped the scales was the club’s fiscal operation, financed solely by semester fees. At present, the most pressing obstacle yet to be tackled is the lack of an alumni support structure. The club is actively pursuing outreach via its own website, social media, and official university and USPA channels to identify, inspire and recruit Princeton alumni benefactors. The lean start-up model is not without drawbacks. The patron-like arrangement removes student involvement in mucking out stalls and tacking horses – essential skills for a well-rounded polo education. Those new to equestrian sports are at risk of displaying an embarrassing lack of self-sufficiency at collegiate matches. Training is also limited by its rigid per-practice cost – three or more practices a week prove too expensive for most members. Nevertheless, some well-established Ivy League varsity polo programmes average two practices per week, yet compete successfully on the national and international stage.

The rejuvenation of polo in the US is most readily achieved by launching programmes at schools and universities. Starting and operating a club can be daunting if you plan to own and maintain facilities from the get-go. Unlike earlier club iterations, Princeton’s current model outsources the risks that make the sport a considerable time and financial commitment. Any student can launch a successful polo programme. Officials at your national governing body are eager to help. If you’re thinking of starting a polo club, do not hesitate – take the plunge. As you grow your club, remember that giving back to your community can be a fruitful catalyst for sustainable growth.