PARTICIPATE
SPORTS
Photo: Lisa Davis
Polo
2013 Season
Polo was originally introduced to Barbados in the 19th century by British cavalry officers who were stationed at the Garrison. The first Barbados Polo Club was started at that location in 1884, before relocating to its present premises at Holders in St. James in 1965. Since then polo has flourished tremendously in Barbados, so much so that today the island is home to five international standard polo fields: Holders, Apes Hill Club, Clifton, Lion Castle and Buttals. The polo scene in Barbados tends to be very convivial and, like most sports on the island, it can be just as much a social occasion as a sporting event. Apart from the fact that this enjoyable ambiance has resulted in large crowds of spectators being attracted to the matches, it has also made it a lot easier to encourage international teams to come to the island to play in tournaments. And once they have been here and sampled the local polo and hospitality, they keep coming back for more! Added to this, the ensuing improvement in the standards of local players and facilities, the greater availability of thoroughbred and Argentinean polo ponies, plus increased corporate sponsorship, all combined to entice some of the world’s top professional players to come to Barbados to play in local high-handicap tournaments. The widespread international media coverage that goes with such high profile events, helped to propel Barbados even more onto the world polo stage.
The 2013 Polo Season promises to be just as exciting as ever with a full, action-packed schedule of matches starting from January 13th. A number of perennial and popular visiting teams will be returning this season, notably including The Villages from the USA, from January 30 - February 3; to be followed by the Cheshire Club from England who will repeat their annual visit with matches played between February 24 - March 3. The Ladies Tour, perhaps better known by its popular title ‘The Battle of The Sexes’, will take place between March 17 – 24. Later in the season, teams from Brazil and India will tour in April. If you have never been to a polo match, then Barbados is a wonderful place to start. You will be made very welcome and these occasions usually provide a full afternoon of entertainment in addition to the polo, ranging from sedate afternoon tea to amiable social imbibing. There is plenty of merriment on match final evenings, often rocking on well into the evening with a full bar, a delicious BBQ dinner and lively dance music to cap off a complete day of fun. As well as the high profile tournaments, the Barbados Polo Club also has several club tournaments which are more low key but where members enjoy playing some excellent polo. For a full schedule of the matches you can refer to the Calendar of Events at the front of this publication or go online to www.barbadospoloclub.com
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Ins & Outs of Barbados