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22/5/09
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Obituary
Above: David (far left) at Kirtlington in 1995 after winning the Dent Cup with Julian Appleby, Tony Pidgley and Tim Bown. Right: in 2008 at Sandbanks, at the press launch of the British Beach Polo Championships
David heaton-ellis 1969-2009 Polo Times pays tribute to one of the game’s most gregarious personalities and popular and talented teachers avid Heaton-Ellis, who died last month aged 39, was polo manager at four UK clubs during a professional life in the game that spanned 20 years. As an exceptionally gifted and enthusiastic instructor, he passed on his love of the game to hundreds of new players. Born in 1969 to Peter and Pru Heaton-Ellis in Tidworth, Wiltshire, David was educated at the Cathedral School, Salisbury, before going on to Milton Abbey. On leaving school he continued to follow what had become his two main passions in life, polo and being the life and soul of the party. He initially based himself at Cowdray with Alan Kent and later Martin Glue, spending winters in New Zealand. He supported his income during these early years by selling water filters via pyramid marketing schemes. David’s first full-time employment in polo came in the early 1990s at Checkendon, later known as Binfield Heath. He began as assistant manager and was elevated to manager a year later. His love of all things equestrian – including hunting – grew further still and David discovered that, in running a polo club, he could combine
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10 June 2009 www.polotimes.co.uk
business with his favourite pastimes, setting the pattern for the rest of his working life. It was when he moved to Kirtlington, as polo manager, that David set up his first polo school. His encouragement as a teacher and his charm, unflinching optimism and infectious enthusiasm meant he and the school became immediately popular. Even when he had been partying all night, he was fresh-faced and cheery the next morning, ready to bring enlightenment to the pupils who came his way. Under his tenure, Kirtlington’s membership more than quadrupled. However, during this time David's older brother Mikie was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. David and his sister Charlotte supported Mikie through his illness until his death, aged 42, in August 1999. David ran the London marathon in aid of the the Motor Neurone Disease Association. After Mikie’s death David decided to follow up on his ambition to be his own boss. He left Kirtlington, married his first wife Kirsten and relaunched Ansty Polo Club in Wiltshire. The club flourished for a couple of years but ultimately died alongside the collapse of their marriage.
Undaunted, in 2003 David agreed to start Watership Down Polo Club and polo school on behalf of Andrew and Madeleine Lloyd Webber. There he met Sophie Cook and the pair hit it off at once. With a shared passion for polo, their relationship flourished and they married in July 2006. Son Geordie was born in May 2007, a moment David described as the happiest of his life. However, on a trip to Argentina later that year David noticed he was feeling weak in the saddle. On his return to the UK he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. Despite the cruelly rapid onset of his illness, the same hereditary disease that killed his brother and aunt and which threatens his young son, David continued to pursue fresh challenges. He launched beach polo on a scale and of a quality not seen before in the UK with the British Beach Polo Championships in July 2008, which brought thousands of first-time polo-goers to Sandbanks in Dorset. The tournament looks set to go from strength to strength. Last October David and Sophie set up the Heaton-Ellis trust, which seeks to raise sufficient money to fund the purchase of a new-generation DNA sequencing machine for the neurological