Maryland Polo Club

a national championship to its record. 50 percent of the 2020 MPC membership currently plays interscholastic or collegiate polo. Not only were these members competitors for a Maryland interscholastic team, nearly every one of them has won an Interscholastic or Intercollegiate National title. The primary coaches responsible for creating these outstanding interscholastic teams are all members of Maryland Polo Club. Former GFS and West Shore coach, Cindy Halle (UC Davis), is an original outdoor member of MPC. Garrison Forest School is an all-girls school located in Owings Mills, Maryland and the polo program was founded in the late 70s by Dan Colhoun and was coached for years by Cindy Halle. Many of these former GFS players in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are relatives of families that belong to Maryland Polo Club. In the summer, they would join their families outdoors playing their own strings of ponies. The Colhouns were among the founding families of MPC. After establishing a strong polo program at GFS, Halle stepped away from coaching to raise her family and Kelly Wells (Cornell University), another outdoor player at MPC, came on board to coach at GFS. While coaching at GFS, Wells was constructing the Marlan Farm polo facility upcountry near the Pennsylvania state line while raising two young children. Wells eventually opened up her own interscholastic program in 2003 at Marlan Farm where she now resides and coaches as many as four interscholastic teams at any given time. West Shore Polo Club’s Open team was founded around 2010 for several male players that lived in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was not permissible to roster boys on a GFS polo team, as they did not attend the school, so West Shore’s I/I team stems from Max Hempt’s own polo team in Pennsylvania. Hempt is a board member of MPC where he plays tournament polo with his son, George, who was an original player on the West Shore interscholastic team. George went on to play collegiate polo for Roger Williams University where he led them to a National Championship victory. After returning to GFS in 2007, Halle was appointed to coach West Shore’s I/I team in the GFS arena two nights a week. More and more students that did not attend GFS learned about the West Shore team and several of these girls and younger boys joined the West Shore ranks. Tom Huber (University of Virginia), Vice President of MPC, has a son and daughter that played for West Shore and now both play collegiate polo for University of Kentucky. His son, Tommy Huber, won Interscholastic Nationals while playing for West Shore Polo and in the summer, father, son, and daughter Louisa represent the Huber’s Dovecote polo team at MPC. In 2007, GFS gained another former intercollegiate player to assist Halle, Emily Dewey (Michigan State University). Dewey assisted with instruction of the Garrison Forest and West Shore polo teams for several years before accepting a position at the USPA working in the I/I Program. During Dewey’s time in Maryland she also managed the Maryland Polo Club. Over the years, Halle and Dewey leased out GFS ponies and several of Halle’s own ponies to GFS and West Shore students to use for summer polo at MPC. These leases created an outdoor opportunity for youth players that did not have a string of their own polo ponies. As Maryland Polo Club’s youth membership was growing by leaps and bounds, intra-club youth tournaments were being added to the club’s schedule. Simultaneously, the USPA National Youth Tournament Series (NYTS) was taking off with an abundance of young players all over the United States. With so many Maryland NYTS participants, MPC has been able to form two flights of NYTS in recent years. MPC has proudly sent several NYTS All-Stars from Zone 4 to compete in NYTS and these astounding players have brought home several wins in recent NYTS Championships. There is no doubt that their summers spent playing NYTS and USPA tournaments at MPC prepared each of these individuals to become valuable team players when faced with unfamiliar teammates and different locations. As Halle began focusing more on instructional clinics and traveling to play polo all over the world, she decided to retire from coaching. A GFS I/I alumna, Jenny Schwartz (Virginia Tech), has taken the helm at GFS with assistant coach Kaycie Campbell (Michigan State University) during the academic year. While Schwartz does not play with MPC in the summer, several of her beginner students play with Posey Obrecht (University of Kentucky). Obrecht, another GFS alumna, became West Shore’s go-to coach. Obrecht has played outdoor polo with Maryland Polo Club since she was a teenager. She lives in Maryland’s Greenspring Valley and owns a gentle string of school ponies. Obrecht provides transportation for these ponies to MPC youth tournaments every summer for her GFS, West Shore, and local Pony Club students. For several years, Kelly Wells found time to manage the Maryland Polo Club’s outdoor intermediate sessions and MPC’s intermediate night, while raising her own children who also enjoyed I/I polo and outdoor polo. Her daughter, Marissa, has graduated from Texas A&M, became a Team USPA alumna, and coached the Virginia based Battlefield Polo Club’s interscholastic team. When Wells’ son, Brennan, enrolled at UVA where he plays intercollegiate polo, she decided to stay close to home and provide access to summer polo at her own facility for mostly beginners with arena lessons, outdoor lessons, intermediate camps, and outdoor pony leases with the option to play outdoor polo matches in the mid-Atlantic region. The Marlan Farm summer programs created another opportunity for students from near and far to learn polo. As Wells phased out of the MPC intermediate program, MPC was fortunate to gain leadership from a President and Club Manager that had both experienced I/I Polo. Maryland Polo Club now has a husband and wife team, Club Manager Nate Berube (University of Connecticut) and President Olivia Berube (Colorado State University) that bring cumulative years of I/I polo experience to MPC. The Berubes teach all levels of arena and grass polo in

Aiken and together they coach the Virginia Tech polo Mary were a driving force behind Brennan and Parker’s team. A Maryland native, Olivia, was a youth member of decisions to play polo for UVA. MPC and an interscholastic player under Wells throughout As these same high school students move outdoors in the high school. The Berubes have built upon the Intermediate summer to Maryland Polo Club, they are surrounded by a Program in membership of place and well-educated expanded working it by professionals incorporating with claims to their own intercollegiate string of National Berube Titles. MPC Polo School has another ponies which husband and they lease to wife team that intermediate were both players and inducted into utilize to Cornell’s Polo give private Wall of Honor, instruction PJ and Sara to outdoor Orthwein. enthusiasts. PJ currently They have Max Hempt, Jacob Brown (Brandywine/CSU), Tom Huber (UVA), Laura Brown (GFS/CSU), Liv Berube serves on the added even more (Baltimore/CSU), Sarah Orthwein (GFS/Cornell), Nate Berube (UCONN), PJ Orthwein (Cornell), and Cindy Halle (UC Davis). board of MPC as Treasurer. intermediate tournaments to MPC’s schedule. Year after Mentors such as these from Ivy League and State year, youth players interested in outdoor polo have had Universities on the field provide positive reinforcement that the continuing support of coaches willing to provide an education and polo can be achieved simultaneously. ponies and their time to developing players in Maryland. Quite a few of Maryland Polo Club’s present and former Naturally, the next step for a high school player in Maryland collegiate players have connected with other players from is to play polo while attending college. Often interscholastic MPC to compete in prestigious tournaments outside of the teams in Maryland find themselves searching for stiffer club and college parameters. Notably in 2018, the USPA competition to prep for the southeastern regionals with Women’s Arena Open was won by Kelly Wells, Marissa the hope of advancing to the National Championship. Wells and Sophie Grant. That same year the Grant sisters, Fortunately, these interscholastic coaches have Maddie, Abbie and Sophie competed as a team to win the maintained their relationships with college polo programs USPA Women’ Arena Handicap. In 2019, Maddie Grant and utilize this resource to travel to universities like Cornell, returned to win the U.S. Women’s Arena Handicap® UVA, and Texas A&M for matches. What better way for a with another Maryland friend, Demitra Hajimihalis. The polo-crazed student to take a college tour than to visit a following month Marissa Wells secured the 2019 USPA campus and compete against current college players? US Open Women’s Handicap outdoors in Texas. There Over the past few years, several interscholastic teams is no question that their I/I exposure and summers at from MPC were able to play against college mentors like Maryland Polo prepped these talented women for victory. Anna Winslow Palacios, a college national champion at The accomplishments of Maryland’s I/I players are Cornell, former Team USPA member, and MPC member; also recognized time and time again by the Polo Training and Marissa Wells and her Texas A&M back-to-back Foundation. Since 1986 (Intercollegiate) and 1989 National Championship winning team. The TAMU team (Interscholastic), the Polo Training Foundation has given hosted Marlan Farm’s varsity women’s team in Houston on out (19) Player of the Year Awards to members of the several occasions and even traveled to Maryland to prep Maryland Polo Club who originated from a Maryland I/I both of the Marlan Farm teams for their Interscholastic program. The Polo Training Foundation seeks individuals Nationals. The Marlan Farm Open team which won back- that display excellent playing ability, team effort contribution to-back Interscholastic Nationals in 2017 and 2018 with in a match, and above all sportsmanship. Repeat awards teammates and MPC members Brennan Wells and Parker were given to Trevor Wells, Lizzie Wisner, and Marissa Pearce traveled on many occasions to play against UVA Wells as they were awarded in high school and again men’s and women’s teams. Another MPC member, Mary in college. In 2019, Coach Kelly Wells almost produced Collins, was the captain of Virginia Women’s team at the a clean sweep of PTF Players of the Year: three of the time and was a mentor for Brennan and Parker as she four players that were presented with Player of the Year shared her skill, sportsmanship, and tactical college plays awards were all her students: Abbie Grant, Parker Pearce, with them. These valuable interactions with players like and Marissa Wells.

The University of Virginia leads the way with the most current and past Maryland Polo Club collegiate polo players. Cornell University is a close second and University of Kentucky is gaining more and more of our junior members each year. Among the other collegiate programs on record with MPC members are: Texas A&M, Colorado State University, UCDavis, Roger Williams, University of Connecticut, University of Santa Barbara, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, Texas Tech, University of St. Andrews-Scotland. Even if your child does not live in Maryland, it is highly probable that by joining an interscholastic polo program they will embark on a journey with peers that will lead them toward the global world of outdoor polo. The sport of polo is progressive, the USPA provides the resources, coaches teach the skills, and the friendships formed will guide them!