the history of polo: A timeline 600 B.C.: The earliest form of polo is played in the Persian Empire. 1862: The world’s oldest active polo club, the Calcutta Polo Club, is established. 1868: The oldest polo club outside of India, the Malta Polo Club, is founded. 1874: The Hurlingham Rules are codified, limiting the number of players on a team to five, instituting the offside rule. 1879: The first official polo match is held in Argentina. 1876: A group of players establish the first formal club in the U.S., the Westchester Polo Club, at Jerome Park race track in New York. 1887: Myopia Polo Club, the oldest active polo club in the U.S., is founded. 1888: Handicaps and player ratings are introduced to polo in the U.S. 1900: Polo is added as an Olympic sport, until 1936. 1910: India and England add handicaps and player ratings. 1915: The Indoor Polo Association is established. 1922: The Argentine Polo Association is established. 1926: The 1926 Open pits the Hurricanes against Argentina as more than 30,000 spectators look on. 1928: More than 100,000 people witness the Cup of the Americas at Meadowbrook. 1967: The USPA moves its headquarters from New York to Oak Brook, Illinois. 1982: The Federation of International Polo is established.
and tea planters at Silchar, west of Manipur, in 1859. Just a few years later, British Army and Naval officers stopping off in Malta on their way home from India established the Malta Polo Club. Though it had captured the imaginations of horsemen for centuries, polo was now poised for global expansion. The game galloped into England atop military mounts in the mid-1800s, when
Bengal Army Lt. Joseph Ford Sherer took part in a match while in India. Referred to as “Joe Sherer, the Father of Modern Polo,” he brought a team to Calcutta known as the Band of Brothers. Another of the early British polo pioneers, John Watson, also came to the game while stationed in India. So when the first recorded polo game in England took place in 1869 at Hounslow Heath, (referred
1986: The USPA moves its national headquarters to Lexington, Kentucky. 1990: The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame is founded. 2005: The Women’s Championship Tournament is created. 2013: The National Youth Tournament Series is established. 2016: There are more than 275 polo clubs registered with the USPA, with more than 4,500 members. Myopia hosts the NYTS Championships.
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