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POLO PEOPLE
Youth Polo
The 2016 MIGUEL TORRES/WORLD GYM
For two Saturdays each summer, the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is given over to the youth of polo for the MIGUEL TORRES/WORLD GYM YOUTH TOURNAMENT and the LINFOOT MEMORIAL tournaments. On these days, the club donates the fields and logistical support to the Uretz and Linfoot families to provide a chance for youth players in California to experience polo with their peers on the fields where the legends play. In these tournaments, the kids of high-goal professionals from Argentina and Chile play on the same teams as the children of the grooms who so carefully watch over the high-goal horses. Corky and Kathy Linfoot started the Linfoot Memorial in 1988 to honor Corky’s father, Dr. Billy Linfoot, a 9-goal player in his prime, who was president of the club in the 1960s. The tournament started with just a few kids and now draws more than 40. “We are so appreciative of the club supporting the tournament and youth polo,” says Kathy. Claudia and Mike Uretz are players and parents of four polo-playing boys. In 2000, they were playing polo with Miguel and Kelly Torres and Alfonso Giannico at what was then called Meeker’s Field when the idea for a youth tournament was born. The tournament continued at Meeker’s until Miguel Torres’s passing in 2007, when they were invited to bring it to the SBPRC and the name was modified to Miguel Torres/World Gym Youth Tournament. “We wanted the kids to have an opportunity to play against their peers,” says Claudia. Many of the players who started in these tournaments have gone on to compete in higher-goal polo. The success of the youth tournaments inspired the club to start full-time programs such as the coaching league to help all beginning players young in age and young at heart grow as polo players. M . J .
YOUTH TOURNAMENT is scheduled for SATURDAY, JULY 16,
and the 2016 LINFOOT MEMORIAL takes
place on SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 .
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One to Watch
PHOTOGRAPHS: BOTTOM, KILHO PARK
GRANT PALMER is just 14 years
old, but he has been playing at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club for many years. He played in the coaching league to start and then progressed to the pro pool tournaments; this spring season, he’s competing in the pro pool, and will play the same pro this winter at Eldorado Polo Club. Grant’s father, Geoff Palmer, has enjoyed a very successful career in polo over the years and is noted for his sportsmanship and love of the game. Grant shows every sign of following in his father’s footsteps. M . J .
Grant with his parents, Geoff and Anne.
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED TO PLAY POLO? I started playing polo when I was 3
but didn’t really get into it until I was 7.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT THE SPORT?
What I love most about polo is the thrill and adrenaline you get from running up and down the field on a horse, breakaways, and scoring goals. WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT SBPRC? That it has perfect polo weather—not too hot, not too cold. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE HORSES AND CAN YOU TELL ME A BIT ABOUT THEM? My favorite
horse’s name is Delfina. She can get me in and out of plays easily and does everything you want her to do. I recently got another horse, Cherokee, from my dad—an “old campaigner” as he likes to call her. My dad played her in the 12-goal for years and I’m having a lot of fun with her as well. WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AS YOU PROGRESS?
I just want to become the best that I possibly can.