It Takes a Villiage

Jair de la Peña - Texas Tech ‘21

Here in West Texas we have a tradition that started in 1983. It consists of always riding tough, swinging hard,and playing at battle speed. Our club has proudly hoisted one National Championship in our history under the guidance of one of our club’s greatest benefactors, Clyde Waddell. In 1999, he began letting our club use his farm to board our horses, but before long his passion for the sport lead Clyde to become the full-time club coach in 2000. Year by year under his guidance the club saw improvement culminating in the 2006 USPA Men’s National Intercollegiate Championship. Tragically, Clyde Waddell passed away in 2016 leaving a void as a coach, as well as a property owner. Luckily, our club has an amazing group of alumni and benefactors who are passionate about the game and many still play the sport we all love to this day. In particular, two alumni have promoted the club by going above and beyond the expectations of all the club members, Mr. Walker Rainey and Mrs. Ashley Owen. After Clyde’s passing, Walker assumed the position of coach for the club and his leadership has led both our men’s and women’s teams to consistent contention in well-known tournaments like Fall Fandango, USPA Intercollegiate Preliminaries, as well as the USPA Intercollegiate Regional Championship. Last year, our men’s team consisting of freshmen Anson Moore and Ricky Moore, and seniors Zach Francis, Jair de la Peña, and Hiram Gandara (captain), went all the way to the Regional Championships. At preliminaries, Jair de la Peña won the Horsemanship Award while Hiram Gandara and Anson Moore both made the All-Star team. Our women’s team consisting of junior Sydney Flynt and Casey Collins, and seniors Lexie Harlan and Amelia Fisher (captain), also experienced immense success with Amelia Fisher making the All-Star team at Preliminaries. “I am so eager to see where our club’s teams can go within these next few years!” exclaimed Fisher. “We’ve set out a name for ourselves and I think the possibilities are limitless for our club’s future. Since I joined this club four years ago, I’ve seen so much improvement not only in how we play but also in our horsemanship and horse care, and how we teach and lead incoming members. Taking home four individual awards and a Best Playing Pony award against the steep competition we face in our region shows me that Texas Tech Polo has accomplished what we once thought was unimaginable. It shouldn’t go without mention the immense amount of support that we’ve received along the way, from USPA funding and clinics, I/I tournaments and games, and also from Texas Tech and our alumni association. But none of this would’ve been possible without the inner-club leadership and the initiative taken by our many members who truly just have a love and passion for this sport”. Recently, the club facilities were purchased by Denny Yates whose daughter Ashley Owen is a former member of the club and currently part of the leadership in the Texas Tech Polo Alumni Association. “The former owner of the property was a very generous man named, Clyde Waddell, who provided the

Crosswinds Farm is the home to the Texas Tech Polo Club

Coach Clyde Waddell duing halftime at the 2009 Central Intercollegiate Regionals at Brushy Creek Texas Tech Polo Club a home for over 20 years,” remarked Owen. “After his passing, members of the club, the Alumni Association, and the Waddell family pulled together to help keep the club afloat until we were able to purchase the property this past April. I am very excited we were able to acquire the property and provide a home for Texas Tech Polo for years to come. Playing polo at Tech was the highlight of my college experience and the place where I met my husband. I am very happy to be able to provide a place for young adults to have some of the same experiences that I had. Intercollegiate polo provides an affordable opportunity to students to learn to play and there is no better experience than being part of the Texas Tech Polo Club. I am excited to partner with the USPA, PTF, and I/I program to continue to provide a great place for students of all levels of ability to learn and compete in the great sport of polo!” Ashley is an active member of the Midland Polo Club and credits Texas Tech’s Polo club for helping to ignite her passion for the sport. Her husband Ryan Owen is another alumnus of the club who also plays at the Midland Polo Club. The optimism from the new ownership has spread to the club as well. “It’s a very exciting time to be a part of this club, from talking with Ashley and her husband Ryan they are very committed to helping us out and improving our facilities,” said current club member John Wolpert. “When I joined this club, we had solid officer leadership, but there was always uncertainty because our barn was for sale. I am so grateful to Mr. Yates for his generosity in purchasing the barn and affording us a place to play polo and ride horses. The planned improvements to our arena will allow us to conduct more of our famous Friday Night Chukkars for club members, team practices to hopefully bring another championship to Lubbock, and an opportunity to get more people involved in this amazing sport. Polo has taught me discipline, given me an opportunity to fall in love with a sport, and provided me with friendships that will last a lifetime.” With the club’s future brighter than ever, here at Texas Tech we are committed to growing our club and giving everyone the ability to play polo at battle speed.

ROBERT KELLER

Where can a young athlete learn to play interscholastic arena polo, gain exposure to outdoor polo during the summer, aspire to play on a collegiate polo team, and eventually join an outdoor polo club? Dozens of adolescents growing up in Maryland have achieved these goals through an affiliation with the Maryland Polo Club (MPC). Hidden from sight just off the Jarrettsville Pike in Monkton, Maryland are two regulation polo fields situated behind Ladew Gardens, one of the most magnificent topiary gardens in the United State of America. These grass polo fields, Weber and Ladew, are the home of the Maryland Polo Club. The club is accessible by a one-way gravel entrance and hidden from site behind a hedgerow. The countryside surrounding the polo fields is Elkridge Harford Hunt Club’s bucolic fox hunting country. It is here, in this lovely rural setting, that Maryland Polo Club members ranging in age from teenagers to middle-aged players have a common bond: the majority of MPC members participated in a USPA I/I program at one time or another. In addition, most learned to play grass polo on these fields and all of them are given the opportunity to play in USPA outdoor tournaments in the summer. Established in 1986, Maryland Polo Club has several members that have been active for 34 years in some capacity whether still playing, volunteering, or coaching. Collectively, over those 34 years, 60 members have played collegiate polo representing 14 colleges in the United States and Scotland. 66 percent of these players participated on an interscholastic polo team with either Garrison Forest School Polo Club (GFS), Marlan Farm Polo Club’s Maryland and Baltimore polo teams, or West Shore Polo Club. Each of these clubs reside within a 60 mile radius of MPC. A new player’s polo journey typically starts with an arena lesson offered at one of these polo schools where coaches and school ponies are available. Once a student has accomplished basic polo skills, he or she advances to a JV or Varsity team. The GFS and Marlan Farm operations have won multiple USPA National Interscholastic Championships and West Shore also has