Luis Escobar: Legacy in the Saddle

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Luis Escobar, the heart behind Santa Clara Polo Club and a towering figure in American polo, takes us on a fascinating journey from his childhood in Costa Rica to building a lasting legacy in Wellington, Florida. Growing up with a father who embraced polo in his thirties, Luis discovered his life's passion at just seven years old, declaring with absolute certainty by age eight that professional polo would be his future.

What makes Luis's story remarkable is how he bridges generations in a sport that truly allows for family legacies to flourish. Now watching his sons Nico and Lucas rise through the ranks to 5 and 6-goal handicaps respectively, he finds his greatest joy in seeing them develop. "I can continue playing through the eyes of my kids," he shares, highlighting polo's unique ability to keep families connected through shared passion.

The conversation delves deep into the art of horsemanship, a skill Luis believes is becoming increasingly rare even at the highest levels. While many professionals simply discard horses that underperform, Luis has built his career on understanding each mount and maximizing their potential. This philosophy has taken him across the globe, proving Churchill's famous quote that "your polo handicap is your passport to the world."

Beyond technique and travel, Luis offers a refreshing perspective on polo's accessibility. Forget the stereotypes of champagne and fancy attire, real polo is about "beer and barbecue," a welcoming community where anyone can pull up with a cooler to enjoy the action. As Santa Clara Polo Club brings fall tournaments back to Wellington, Luis remains committed to growing the sport while addressing the challenges of developing more American talent in a landscape dominated by Argentine players.

Listen now to discover how this remarkable sport breaks boundaries, builds families, and creates lifelong bonds between humans and horses. Whether you're a polo en

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You are listening to the Outside the Boards podcast.
I'm Daniel Leary.
For most of my professionalcareer, I have worked in
mainstream sports for some ofthe world's leading sports
organizations and properties andblue chip brands, helping to
create award-winningomni-channel marketing campaigns
, result-driven sales strategiesand impactful brand building
initiatives.
But all that work doesn'tcompare to the fun, excitement

(00:25):
and challenges I've beenfortunate to experience working
for the king of all sports, polo.
For nearly a decade, I've putmy heart and ambition into
helping advance the sport ofpolo.
I've made lifelong friendships,met some incredible people,
traveled to memorable polodestinations and heard the
craziest stories.
My goal is to share thesepeople, places and stories with

(00:47):
you and provide a uniquebehind-the-scenes perspective of
the game that breaks all thecommon stereotypes, all while
discussing key issues affectingthe sport today and the
constructive sharing of ideas,insights, solutions and
best-case studies for thepurpose of advancing polo
globally.
Every week, I will have honestconversations with polo industry

(01:07):
leaders, enthusiasts andawe-inspiring people who make
this sport great and fun to bearound.
I hope, through their knowledgeand their unique perspectives,
they will motivate and inspireyou.
Together, we will explore waysyou can make small tweaks to
boost your polo business,whether you are a club, event,
team or player.
That will amount to big changesin revenue, participation,

(01:37):
attendance and exposure Saddleup.
Welcome to Outside the Boardswith me, daniel Leary.
Hi everyone, daniel Leary here.
Welcome to Season 5 of theOutside the Boards podcast.
First, I would like to thankall our listeners since the
inception of this podcast whohave tuned in to listen.
While my career has taken meback to mainstream sports, polo
remains a passion of mine and Iplan to continue to dedicate my

(02:03):
time to helping promote andelevate the sport, so you'll see
the return of a number ofOutside the Boards work in the
near future.
To date, this podcast hasgenerated over 23,000 listeners
in over 40 countries and 360cities worldwide.
On this episode of Outside theBoards, I'm thrilled to
introduce you to one of the mostrespected names in American
polo, luis Escobar.
A true veteran of the sport,luis has been a pillar of the US

(02:25):
polo community for decades.
Originally from Costa Rica,luis moved to the United States
at a young age and went on tobuild a lasting legacy both on
and off the field.
Luis is a season four goldprofessional and the heart
behind Santa Clara Polo Club inWellington, florida, an
operation he has grown into oneof the sport's premier training
and competitive programs.

(02:46):
Known for his strategic mind,powerful swing and sportsmanship
, luis has competed at thehighest levels, including the US
Open Polo Championship, and hasmentored some of the game's top
rising players.
His journey into polo began withhis father, francisco Escobar,
who shared a deep love forhorses and introduced Luis to
the game early on.
Over the years, luis hasmaintained that family-first

(03:09):
philosophy not only in how heruns Santa Clara, but also in
how he builds teams, developingtalent, training horses and
helping to grow the sport fromthe grassroots up Outside the
boards.
Luis is a passionate advocatefor youth polo and has played an
instrumental role in bringingyoung players into the fold
through clinics, mentorship andtraining opportunities.

(03:30):
He's also deeply invested inthe future of the sport through
his leadership and contributionsto the Wellington polo
community.
Luis's life is a true blend ofglobal perspective and hometown
loyalty, a competitive drive andcommunity commitment.
Global perspective and hometownloyalty, a competitive drive
and community commitment.
Whether he's riding down thefield in a high goal match or
helping a young player refinetheir game, luis embodies the

(03:51):
spirit of what polo can beTimeless, challenging and deeply
personal.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
So, without further ado, let's welcome Luis Escobar
Enjoy.
Hey, we're Rosanna and Alice,the co-founders of Line Up Polo
Enjoy.
And that info instantly appearsin the LineUp app, where
players, fans and organisers cansee everything in one place,
from live scoring and team entryto player stats and schedules.
We've made it easy to run andfollow Polo, whether you're
organising games or just turningup to watch.
Lineup makes Polo moreconnected, accessible and future

(04:36):
ready.
Search for LineUp Polo on theapp or Play.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
Store to get started.
Luis Escobar, how are you doingthis early afternoon?

Speaker 3 (04:53):
Hi Daniel, how are you?
I'm very good, thank you.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Good, good, I'm glad to hear man and thank you for
joining me on, I have to say,the first episode of season five
of Outside the Boards podcast.
So you have a monumental taskof kicking off this season with
a lot of excitement.
Just forewarning you.

(05:16):
Okay, a lot of pressure on me Alot of pressure, a lot of
pressure on you.
But, hey, you're a householdname in Polo, all right,
especially in Wellington,florida.
You've been there.
You come from a polo dynasty,which I am thrilled to talk
about, because having gentlemensuch as yourself to really take

(05:38):
away a lot of the stereotypes ofthis game, really dig deep into
the day-to-day operations ofthings where you've come from,
the people that work with youand so on and so forth, which I
know, as of recently, theNetflix Polo episode is trying
to break down those stereotypes.
So I'm just here trying tocontinue that narrative and
really kind of introduce peopleto the world of Polo, as to why

(06:02):
I fell in love with it andprobably why you fell in love
with it, which really doesn'thave to deal with elitism or
anything like that.
It all comes down to the horses, the camaraderie, the people,
the outdoors, um, things that Ihave grown to, to love the
places, the people and the sport.
So I'm excited to talk with youabout that man, but more or

(06:23):
less I'm, I think, more pluspeople want to really kind of
get to to know Luis Escobar andthe Escobar family and its
strong ties to polo.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Thank you, daniel.
Thank you for having me.
I'll try to do my best,explaining what we do and why
we're here.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Yeah, no, no question about it.
So you've been involved in theSanta Clara Polo Club for quite
some time.
I gotta ask you know you goback generations?

Speaker 3 (06:48):
What generation polo player are you.
I'm second generation.
My dad is the first.
He's first generation.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
Second generation.
So how did your dad get intothe game?
You know?

Speaker 3 (06:57):
he started late, started when he was 33 years old
in Costa Rica.
He's originally Colombian buthe left when he was 21 to Costa
Rica and he started working inCosta Rica and at 33 in a park
called La Sabana, which is theequivalent of Central Park in

(07:17):
New York.
At that time in the 70s, theyplayed polo in the Central Park
at La Sabana and he saw it oneday and he wanted to play.
At that time the polo in CostaRica was very closed, very elite
.
My dad.
Since he was Colombian and hedidn't come from one of the
Costa Rican families, it washard for him to get into it in

(07:40):
the environment or in the groupof polo.
He was finally accepted, butthat's how he started and a few
years later, 1978, december 1978I was seven years old my dad
decided to come to wellington toplay and try wellington out.
That was our first winter here.

(08:01):
So we came actually we cameDecember 78, which was the
winter of 79.
And we started coming aroundhere and since that day my dad
had already I don't know 10years, eight or nine years of
playing polo.
I was seven years old, my olderbrother sticking ball on my

(08:21):
sister's road and started stickand bowling here in Wellington,
and the rest is history.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
What prompted your dad to want to pick up such a
unique sport?
Was it just the city in whichhe went to in Costa Rica that
that was a popular thing to do?
Or among his colleagues, amongother families?
It was just a location ingeneral?

Speaker 3 (08:46):
That's a good question.
I have no idea.
I'm going to ask him thatquestion.
He's definitely very athletic.
He likes sports.
He played golf, he used to playbasketball, he played soccer.
He is an all-around sports,never a professional sports or
athlete.
He liked tennis Every sport youcan imagine.
He played it and to this dayhe's 80 and still plays polo and

(09:10):
loves to play polo.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
That's amazing.
It's great that you say 80years old and still playing,
because for a sport as it isdemanding physically, it really
is an ageless sport.
My boss, jim Drury, playeduntil his early 80s.
He just retired just the otheryear.
Yeah, he probably could havestill gone.
Jim huber, who was themilwaukee polo club owner, went

(09:34):
into his 90s playing.
It is really really impressive.
Just goes to show that polo andthe horse keeps you young,
that's for for sure 100%.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
On one side, I want him to quit because I don't want
to see him fall off and gethurt.
But I know, on the other hand,that if he quits he might get
older and I still need himaround.
I still want him around, Istill want him young.
So it's not easy.
You want him to quit, but youdon't want him to quit.

(10:05):
What do we do?

Speaker 1 (10:07):
now did your dad.
Was he pretty much an amateurpatrol, and was there a
particular handicap that heachieved while he was playing?

Speaker 3 (10:15):
my dad was an amateur and in the old day wellington
was a little bit different.
You could play with friends andhe got to two goals.
He was never professional.
He got to two goals and he usedto play with friends and he had
some at that time, the polo.
You would either get somehigher goal handicaps that would

(10:40):
come and play for expenses, oryou would buy some horses from
them and they would come andplay for expenses, or you would
buy some horses from them andthey would come and be part of
the package and play with theteam for that season and between
friends and that modality.
That's how we played polo atthe beginning.
Eventually he'd be sponsoredsome teams but nothing in the
high goal.

(11:00):
Everything was lower goal ormedium goal the most.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
The goal level of playing among friends, that
right correct, correct.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah, and mainly the medium goal was with family.
I think he did it to help me,or you, or to help the part to
play with me when I didn't havea job.
He said, all right, let's goplay.
He never paid, but he helpedout with the expenses and that's
it, yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:25):
Now, normally I don't think people would think Costa
Rica is a polo destination.
Is it still a polo destinationtoday?
Is there a healthy communitythere?
Do you go back and play?

Speaker 3 (11:37):
Costa Rica is normally.
Costa Rica is a great countryto visit.
It's very popular today fortourism.
But the Polo side of it is thepeople are fun.
It's low goal handicap.
I think the most played todayis six goal.
In general it's four goal.
If you have to get three orfour Costa Rican teams together,

(12:00):
they'll max out at four goals.
They take some professionals toCosta Rica during the winter
and they raise the handicap to.
I want to say six goals.
Oh, wow, yeah, and that's itand you can go and play.
If you're from, if you want togo to Costa Rica and play polo,
it's a good place to go and playand have fun.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
Is there any particular club that's down
there?
That is most recommended.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
The club is called Los Regis the Kings.
It's a beautiful club and youcan talk to me or my brother.
He's not professional, he runsthe club today and he has an
arena as well and he helps outall the tourists that come or
the players that come fromoutside that want to play.

Speaker 1 (12:48):
Oh, that's great man.
It sounds a little to me, alittle bit like kingston or
jamaica's little polo scene downthere exactly.

Speaker 3 (12:51):
It's a little bit more organized.
The club is a little bit.
It's much better it's.
It's a proper club with threefields and has some beautiful
barns that are all around the.
The barns face the fields.
It it's a beautiful club, thesetting is beautiful, so I
recommend it for sure.
Now, did your mom play?
No, the last time my mom was ona horse was when she was

(13:13):
pregnant with me, and she felloff the horse when she was
pregnant with me and that was it.
She said that's it, I'marriving again.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
Oh, wow, wow, but I understand Santa Clara is named
after her, is that right?

Speaker 3 (13:25):
That's correct.
My dad named Santa Clarabecause my mom's name is
Constanza Inés Clara Catalina,so he named her Clara.
He used that name after her.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
That's a beautiful name.
Yeah, now, when did your familyventure over to Wellington?
What year was that around?

Speaker 3 (13:48):
That was in December 78 when we first came to
Wellington.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
Then we stayed here for a couple of maybe about six
months.
The idea was to try.
My dad was going to go back andforth to Costa Rica and work
and we started going to schoolhere, me and my brothers.
But my mom didn't get used toit she's from Costa Rica and
she's Latin and it didn't workout.

(14:14):
So we went back to Costa Ricaabout six months later, but then
we came every winter.
We came after that, 79, 80, 81,every single winter we came
here.
I came here for good after Ifinished my high school in 88.
So I came here December 89.
And from then on I've been here.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
And you went to Florida Atlantic University,
correct, correct?

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
Got it Now.
When was Santa Clara opened?

Speaker 3 (14:43):
So my dad bought.
He had a friend and theydecided to buy on 50th Street
South.
That's where Santa Clara is.
In 1983, they bought 28 acrestogether.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
And they added a field and a barn, but at that
time the barn was far away fromPalm Beach Pollo.
We had no trailers and we hadto take the horses to practice.
If we had to go and practice onfield what was today field four
and five, which is White Birch,was known as White Birch Fields
today we had to walk the horsesthere, so it would take us over

(15:18):
an hour to get there andsometimes it would be deadly
with the heat or the coldweather, your horses would be
maxed out before they even gotto the field.

Speaker 1 (15:28):
Yeah, but that was the modality.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
then it used to be far for us, but now it's trailer
.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Now we're in the main area.
You know, I thought I readsomewhere that there was maybe a
handful of polo clubs or theoriginal that were still
privately owned.
I forget where I read thatsomewhere.
Is that true still, or who wasaround back then?

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Around that time.
I think the only ones left herein Wellington are Carlos
Arellano, julio Arellano's dad,hope Arellano's granddad.
They own a place in IndianMount, one field, and I think
ourselves, and I think that'swhat's left from that era, from

(16:18):
the 80s Okay, the Grecedas werehere at that time, or right
around that time they started tobe here.
There was another family calledCartas, alina Carta and her dad
, and I cannot remember honestlywhen the Johnsons started with
Everglades.
It might have been in the 80salso, okay, and there was people

(16:41):
in Gulfstream.
There was a lot of people inGulfstream.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah, is Gulfstream still a polo destination?

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Gulfstream is gone.
Gulfstream has been gone.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Okay, that's interesting to learn about the
history and Wellington and polodown there and trials and
tribulations and where it's goneand where it is today and where
it is today, and it's alwaysfascinating.
I always feel as though polo isat the brisk of a dying sport
because there's less and lessopen fields within space that

(17:12):
you need for horses to grain,farms to be built and fields to
be played on.
Everything keeps on gettingpushed further and further and
further out into the rural areas.
That's for sure, For sure.
Now I read somewhere I thinkyou officially picked up the
sport when you're a little guy,seven years old.
I think I read somewhere or didyou pick it?

(17:34):
up earlier than that.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
No, I used to ride around in Costa Rica.
We used to ride in the arena inthe polo field.
But the first time I ever stickin bolt was when I was seven
years old.
Here and where actually theGrand Champions Polo Club is now
they have field one, two andthree.
That used to be Palm Beach Polo.
Eight, seven, six, and thefirst time I ever stick and bolt

(18:00):
was between fields one and twoof Grand Champions, or eight and
seven.
We were walking around with thehorses and my dad said here's a
minute, go try it.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
And that was it and I stick involved every day of my
life ever since they that day Ialmost feel as though sometimes
children, grandchildren, whopick up the sport, it it's
almost genetic in a way.
You know, was there somethingin particular that when you're

(18:34):
seven years, old that youimmediately loved about the game
.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Oh for sure, I loved the game.
I loved everything about thegame.
I loved the horses.
The horses, for me, have been asavior of my life.
I think I would be mypersonality would be totally
different without the horses.
But from day one I rememberturning eight years old, when I
first played my first tournament, I knew I was going to do this

(18:58):
for the rest of my life.
At eight years old I made aplan I was going to finish
school, go to college, and then,because my dad wanted me to go
to college and that was the dealthat we had, and I went to
college but I said I'm going tobe a professional polo player.
That's what's going to be it.
But I knew that at the moment Istarted, actually, when I came

(19:19):
here to Palm Beach Polo toWellington.
That's the only thing I thoughtabout, the only thing I wanted
to do, whether it was ridehorses or play polo.
That was my unfortunately stilltoday my passion, my goal, my
everyday thought.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
And I mean between seven years old and, let's say,
you're mid-twenties.
There's a lot of distractionsduring that time period that
could easily have swayed youelsewhere 100%.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
In Latin America.
The kids, they go out and theyparty.
At 15, at 16, everybody'spartying, they're going out and
you can drink in Latin America alot easier than you can in the
US.
By the time I graduated at 17from high school, at 18, 17, 18,
I was already here.
I was going out on a fake IDand I was drinking.

(20:07):
When I turned 21 years old, Iquit drinking.
I said that's it, I'm not goingto drink anymore.
Because I wanted to get up inthe morning and make sure I was
feeling good, 100%, so I canride my horses and feel good
about it.
When you're young, you can goand ride and you ride and you go
through whether you're hangoveror not, but I didn't want to do

(20:30):
that.
So when you say aboutdistractions, there's a lot of
distractions that can take youaway from that passion or that
goal or whatever you have inyour mind.
But for me, no, it was neverlike that.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
Now, when you were starting out at seven, your dad
gave you that mallet.
Go out, have fun, enjoy andplay.
When you were young and duringyour youth and teenage years
were you also in the barn, Wereyou taking care and doing some
of the labor, work and groomingand things like that at that
time.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
Well, there's no In Costa Rica.
I lived in Costa Rica and ourfarm was about 40 minutes away
from our house.
I had to go to school fromMonday to Friday regular high
school or regular school and Iused to have to get on a bus and
travel one hour to go to school.
We started school at 7 am andwe finished at 2 pm, and in

(21:25):
Costa Rica we're in the equator,so the daylight at 6 pm it's
dark, so we only rode in theweekends or on the holidays.
So it was every weekend that weplayed polo.
In Costa Rica you have a rainyseason.
Six months of the year it rains.
It rains too much.
It's hard to ride becauseeverything is muddy.
We didn't have an arena, but wemanaged to ride in the muddy

(21:49):
field and stick and ball fieldand that's what we used to do
every single weekend.
My friends used to go to thebeach.
They used to go and party.
I used to go and stick and balland ride and do whatever I
could to be on a horse everyweekend.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
In the rain too, no worries, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
Not necessarily I had the task or the or I had to go
and be at the barn every day,but maybe that helped me to miss
it and wanted to go to the barnon the weekends, which kept me
from I don't know maybe eitherpartying or being more social
with my friends.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
Well, knowing the early hours that one has to wake
up to start their day in polo,caring for the horses, feeding,
exercising, things like that, bythe time the evening rolls
around, I don't even think you'dwant to go out, that's true.
Yeah, the people that I workedwith when I was at oakbrook polo

(22:48):
club that also worked in poloas well, by far had some of the
best work ethic.
Um I've ever encountered havebeen people on polo.
You're willing to wake up, dothe grunt work, don't complain
about self-shoveling shit oranything like that, and then
would end the day with a smileon their face and a beer in
their hand.
Yeah, there's, there's noquestion about it.

(23:11):
So you know anyone listening tothis episode.
If you're looking for a qualityperson to hire not in
equestrian sports consider apolo player that, or someone who
has an equestrian or polobackground.
That's for sure.
That's right, I would hire himin a second.
I always tell people that it'sjust like I have to say they got
a polo background.

(23:31):
These people are going to busttheir ass.

Speaker 3 (23:34):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
So you started at seven.
You're picking up the game.

Speaker 3 (23:48):
When did you really start to get into competition
with the game?
That following winter.
I was eight years old and atpalm beach pole all those days
they had a tournament called thefather and son tournament.
So they had to be a father anda son which team?
And I was eight, my dad, I hadtwo horses and my dad said, all
right, we're play.
It was an eight goal tournamentand I had one of my mares.

(24:08):
Her name was Tintera.
We were trying to get her fitand she wouldn't lose weight and
we didn't know what was goingon.
So we have to call the vet.
Maybe it's something with herthyroid or something.
Well, when the vet came, shesaid well, this mare is going to
have a baby.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
So she was pregnant and that never crossed your mind
at all.

Speaker 3 (24:31):
No, that's how little we knew about horses.
So my strain went down from twohorses to one horse and I ended
up playing.
You can imagine how much Ihelped on the field.
I ended up playing one.
Can you imagine how much Ihelped on the field?
I ended up playing one mare forsix chokers.
Actually my dad lent me anothermare but I couldn't do much

(24:53):
those couple of chokers.
My mare, the mare that I played, her name was Tapita.
She played for four chokers andmy dad's mare played for two
chokers.
But either way I wasn't thatrelevant on the field.
But that was the first time andI will never forget the first
bump, the first play of the game.

(25:14):
I was playing against vickyarma and she gave me such a bump
I ended up on the neck of thehorse oh my goodness it was a
good strategy for her to scareme.
I still try to use it when I can.
Yeah, after that we lost thefirst game, but after that the
only thing I wanted to do wasplay games and tournaments and
play, and play, and play.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
Did that first bump really give you a taste of polo?

Speaker 3 (25:37):
Oh yeah, Vicky Armour gave me that first bump.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
I'll be honest with you.
When I first rode and I was inthe arena and I got my first
bump, it freaked me out a littlebit, but it's just like my god,
you can do this in this game.
This is gonna be pretty badass.
I clearly see like what thecalvary days were or what it
would be to be on horsebackduring the roman times, you know
it's that's.

(26:04):
That's an adrenaline injectionif there ever was one.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
So when did you start to move up in handicap?
When did you achieve like onehandicap?
What was the trajectory?
Because you got up to eightright.

Speaker 3 (26:20):
Yes, so no, it was so .
We used to go back to CostaRica.
Yes, so no, it was so.
We used to go back to CostaRica.
We used to go back because myschool year was from March
through November and we used tocome back to Wellington in
December, but not until I was 15years old.
I started getting, I guess, alittle bit more mature and I

(26:43):
started.
I grew up a little bit and Iwas zero goals and that's when
my first opportunity came froman outside team, and that was
White Birch with Peter Brandt,gonzalo Piedes and Hector
Barrantes, and I went from zero.
I played here in the winter withthem, I went to Greenwich with
them and then I was 15 years old, I was in 86.
And then I was 15 years old, Iwas in 86.

(27:06):
The following year, at 16, Iwas supposed to play with Memo
Gracida, but we played thatfamily tournament, the father
and son tournament, and theyraised me in December.
So I lost the possibility toplay with Memo that winter.
So nothing happened.
We played with my dad and mybrothers and I cannot remember
what tournaments we played.
We played here in Wellington,some local tournaments, and the

(27:30):
following year that was my 88.
That was the final year of highschool.
I left Wellington.
They raised me in December 87and and I left Wellington March
88, and they raised me to twogoals.
That year I came back andCarlos Gracia that's when I
started at university and CarlosGracia asked me to play with

(27:55):
them and Jeffrey Kent in theGold Cup.
At that time the US Open wasplayed in Kentucky, not here.
The main tournament was the goldcup and I played that 26th with
them.
After that I went from two tofour goals and five goals in two

(28:16):
years.
Wow, at 91 I was five.
92 as well was five goals.
And then I started.
My dad made me which is a goodthing, I'm not complaining
Focused in college.
So I focused in college forthree years.
I was done with school inDecember 95.
96, I played off and on.

(28:39):
Actually I played for AngeloClaron, almost from Chicago, and
I played in Chicago quite a bit.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
Angelo is by far the one name from Chicago that comes
up pretty frequently in theseinterviews.

Speaker 3 (28:52):
For me it was amazing .
He was one of my main sponsorsof my career and he was great.
We played a lot here in Floridaand we played a lot in Chicago.
We won a lot of tournamentstogether, a lot Probably 90% of
the tournaments that lot inChicago.
We won a lot of tournamentstogether, a lot Probably 90% of
the tournaments that we playedtogether we won In any case.
So in 96, I got an opportunityto play with Casa Manila.

(29:14):
In 96, I went to six goals andI played with Casa Manila.
It was Wesley Pitcock, marcosHege and Marcelo Cassette and we
got to.
It was a last minute entry.
We played the Gold Cup in BocaRaton and we played the US Open
here in Palm Beach, pono, and wegot to the finals of the US

(29:37):
Open.
It was fantastic.
Semi-finals in Boca and theGold Cup Finals in the US Open.
That was in 96.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
I went to 797 and 898 wow so you know, while you're
talking, looking over my notes,you know you, you mentioned like
that time period your dad waswanted you to graduate from
college, right, you wanted toplay polo, clearly, and I think
what you were at texas a&mbefore florida, atlantic no, no,

(30:07):
no I.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
I actually was accepted to go to texas a&m, but
I didn't go because carlosgarcia said come play with me.
And so I didn't start at texasa&m and I decided to change my
major and I stayed in florida togo to school in florida.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
So that way, you could go to school and play polo
, which looks like it trajectedyou to that higher goal For sure
.
Yes, exactly.
What was your major before?

Speaker 3 (30:34):
business.
I wanted to be an architectwhen I changed my major to polo.
In school I changed it tobusiness marketing.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Now, you might be surprised to know this, but I
had the exact same trajectory.
I was an architect major atWisconsin-Milwaukee and then, my
sophomore year, I switched tobusiness marketing and finance.
I don't know if you're like me.
I still have a strong knack forarchitecture.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
I love architecture.
I love architecture.
Yes, I do 100%.

Speaker 1 (31:11):
I'll rattle off architects and the way things
look like.
I will go on the Chicagoarchitecture tour at least once
a year.
Never gets old Nice.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (31:22):
That's great though, but I mean, was collegiate polo
at all popularized?
I mean, were you doing anyarena or were you exclusive to
outdoor on the greenfields?

Speaker 3 (31:33):
So at that time, the reason why I wanted to go to
Texas A&M is because they had apolo program.
They still didn't have a fieldor an arena.
They didn't have a big program,but at least you can do some
polo there.
That's what I wanted to do.
That's the only reason I wantedto go to Texas A&M, because I
was looking for polo, not reallyfor the best school for

(31:54):
architecture.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Well, when Gracita comes your way and starts
knocking on your door, I meanthat's an opportunity to rethink
things, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
For sure.
I always wanted to be a poloplayer and when I was eight
years old or 10 years old or inmy teen years, I said, okay, I'm
going to play polo until I'maround 45.
And then I'll go back to CostaRica and work with my family and
continue being next to my dadin Costa Rica and work with my

(32:22):
brother and my sister.
But I want to say that's theonly thing that's changed from
my childhood.
Dream or goal is I ended upmarrying an American girl and I
have two American boys.
So I'm here in Wellington.
I'm stuck here in Wellington,which is good.
I'm super happy because I cankeep on playing polo and grow

(32:44):
here.
I'm stuck here in.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
Wellington, which is good.
I'm super happy because I cankeep on playing polo and grow
here.
Yeah, you mentioned somethinginteresting you know about
Crescida and where you were withWellington, but it also seems
as though some of the peopleI've spoken to in this podcast
from people like Pamela Flanaganto Jeff Hall, brandon Phillips
especially, you know they allseem to have had someone or some

(33:08):
level accessibility for someonelike Gracita or someone else to
come along and bring them intotheir community or bring them
into their barn, where they hadaccess to horses, some of the
best trainers, otherprofessionals and so on and so
forth.
That helped them fast pacetheir trajectory into the game.
And it seemed as though you hadthat exact experience as well.

(33:31):
It's not just your upbringingand your dad, but the community
around at that time inWellington.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
For sure.
Without a doubt, at that time,in the fall time, the Brasidas
used to play here in Wellington.
They had La Herradura and Memoused to play here and it was
like you said, it was not onlyme, it was Julio Arellano.
He was taught by Memo andCarlos and Ruben and Ruben's dad

(33:58):
and Memo's dad and GeorgeOliver.
We used to play a lot of polothere in the 90s and early 2000s
.
We in the US we had polo, highergoal polo everywhere.
We could play 22 goal here inWellington, 26 goal here in
Wellington, but then we could goto New York and play 20 goal,

(34:20):
go to California and play 20goal.
Texas, there was 20 goal.
Oklahoma, we had 20 goal.
So there was a bigger group ofhigh goal players.
But without a doubt here theGrecedas are the ones that
stepped us up and taught us howto play more that game Because,
although it was practice, youwere learning to play the game

(34:43):
and they not only could pono,they had amazing horse trainers
that we would learn from them.
We would learn about horses andabout getting horses ready and
training horses.
We were lucky to have that,without a doubt.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Now you named some other places within the US at
that time that were playing atthat level, outside of Costa
Rica and Wellington.
Where else were you playing?
You know, either in the US orthroughout the world.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
Oh, after I graduated from college, I ended up
playing in many, many places.
I played in England a couple ofyears.
I played in South Africa.
I taught in South Africa.
They used to play 20 goals aswell.
So I played for three summers,three springs, in South Africa.
It was incredible.
I played in Argentina.
I was invited to play the Open,but I declined it because I

(35:40):
didn't have the ability to mountmyself.
I played another tournamentthat was played at the same time
, which is the most importanttournament today behind the
Opens, which is the Cámara deDiputados.
I played that four years,actually Got to the finals once,
played another tournamentcalled the Provincia, which is
24 goals, got to the finalssemifinals Also played a few
four years.

(36:00):
I played a few for years.
I played a lot.
I played in Spain.
We won the Bronze Cup in Spain,lost in the finals and
semifinals of the Gold Cup andthe Silver Cup.
I played in France.
I played in Bagatelle.
I played all over.
I played in China, in Beijing.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
So when someone says Winston Churchill's quote is
your polo handicap, is yourpassport to the world 100%, yeah
, 100%.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
You go to great places and meet great people,
yeah.

Speaker 1 (36:33):
You know you're speaking to, traditionally a
non-polo player who didn't getbeen invited to every continent
somewhere with the incrediblehospitality of people like you
know.
Come on over, we will mount you.
You know, let's go out andstick and ball.

(36:54):
Let's have a good time, have abeer, a nasado, afterwards.
It is one of the most alluringand beautiful things about the
polo community is its ability tocall someone up you've never
met before in a polo club.
Hey, I'm traveling here.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
We love to get together and with open arms,
people will invite you intotheir homes it is a very, very
cool thing 100, that that partthat you see today on netflix is
what's not shown about polo,how polo can be incredible
around the world, and what theyput in netflix is doesn't show

(37:33):
any of that no and I hope itdoes yeah and there there's a
lot of things that, yeah, and Iparticipated in that project,
and there's a lot of things that, yeah, there's so much you can
get done in five episodes basedon the drama and things that
wait there if you haven't said.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
But I hope in the future that they do touch on
those elements, right, because Ihave these conversations all
the time with people.
People are asking me certainthings about the episode as
they're happening and somepeople are just like, oh my gosh
, that's a made-up dramasituation.
I'm like no, it's not at all,that's actually a real thing.
Oh, that was a hector.
Um, what happened to him?

(38:08):
I said that happens all thetime.
It's heartbreaking.
And then what these guys haveto do to really make a career
and build their skill level andmake themselves, you know what
they have to do to be on a teamit's it's, it's the grind.
It is a huge grind.
Oh yeah, and God bless thepeople that have wives and
children that are doing this asa career as well.

(38:31):
Oh, it breaks my heartsometimes.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
Breaks my heart.
But no, at the same time,you're happy because you're
chasing a goal.
It's your passion and you'retrying to figure out how to
become better at it.
And when you work hard, whetheryou become super successful or
not, I think there's always areward for it.

Speaker 1 (38:52):
Yeah, no, no doubt about it.
There's a reward for your hardwork and the friends that you
make.
Everyone's got your back.
I feel like in some way, youreally have to piss someone off
to be kicked out of polo.

Speaker 3 (39:07):
Yes, I agree.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
But I, you know, I, brandon Phillips, uh, with pole
for life.
Yeah, he had a very, very good,and it kills me today, like
some of the things that weresaid to me, what I would love to
put into my interview.
Uh, brandon Phillips said youknow a polo player, someone who
chases the sun.
I couldn't have loved thatquote ever more, because it's
true, it's like a surfer who'salways chasing the waves that's

(39:32):
right Going for every singlecorner of the continent to play,
and a polo player just chasesthe sun.
So, going back to you, yourkids, okay Now, when was Nico
born?
Was Nico your first.

Speaker 3 (39:46):
Nico is my first.
He was born in 2000 and lucaswas born in 2002 okay, 2002.

Speaker 1 (39:54):
So he's just turned 21, 22, 22 they're 24 and 22 now
okay now did they have a verysimilar path to you when they
got started?

Speaker 3 (40:05):
No, it was a little different.
They had me that I used to playevery day and ride every day
and I wanted them with me everyday riding on the horses, and it
was almost forced, but luckilythey liked it and also I think
they were lucky in the sensethat there was a lot of kids in

(40:26):
Wellington that played at thattime.
So they had friends that playedpolo and it was easy for me to
ride with them, get them goingand then they would go and have
fun with the kids we used to doWednesdays and Fridays at 4 pm.
We would throw the ball in andit was kids polo.

(40:47):
If you showed up you were goingto play and we had six, eight
and sometimes 15 kids on theweekends that used to come and
play and that group of kidshelps make it easier for the
kids to like it and enjoy it,because it's fun At that age,
when they're seven, eight, nine,ten old, it's it has to be fun.
I think yeah, and they loved itand they have their own.

(41:11):
They had their own handicapsystem.
They used to have handicappedthemselves and they used to play
polo and they play soccer andthen play frisbee and, and it
was great.
What I did with them is the daysthat they did not have kids
polo.
They would have to come andride and ride, and we still do.
We ride and we're always tryingto practice.

(41:32):
We're always working on gettingbetter on our riding, which I
think is something that needs tobe done more in polo People,
just polo People.
Once they learn to hit the ball,they forget about the riding
and they get to a point wherethey cannot improve anymore and
that's because of the riding.

(41:52):
So to this day, with Nico andLucas and myself, we're working
on the horses and trying to ridebetter so that we can get the
most out of each horse, to ridebetter so that we can get the
most out of each horse, which,at the end of the day, it'll be
easier to get to the ball andtake a man and and it'll be
easier to to operate him on thefield like what you just said in

(42:13):
terms of your horsemanshipskill, just in general, and do
you feel as though that is kindof a lost art when it comes to
someone succeeding in the game?

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Is that a difference between how why there's more
better Argentine players andthere are us players and vice
versa, or just horsemanshipskills in general?
Just people, don't take thetime.

Speaker 3 (42:36):
I think it's a combination of things.
I think in Argentina there's somany people, so many horses.
I think it's a little bit of alost art even at a high goal
level you have eight, nine, tengoal professional players that
if a horse doesn't go well, theyhave more horses and they just

(42:57):
get rid of one, give it back totheir trainer or their pilot and
they can get on another one.
We didn't have that growing upand that's what I'm trying to
show nico and lucas if we had ahorse that we played on sunday
and that horse didn't play wellmonday morning.
I was trying to figure out whatto do with that horse to make

(43:17):
that horse better for wednesdayyeah, practice on wednesday.
Today, their strings.
If you go to the Igo's barns,they have 20, 22 horses and
they're all very well bred andthey're all very good horses.
So the art of knowing abouthorses and operating the horse
at a higher level, I do think,is getting lost, not only here

(43:40):
in the US, but in Argentina too.
That said, there's a lot moretrainers.
There's a lot of very goodtrainers in Argentina for polo.
I do think that in the US wehave a lot of amazing American
trainers, but just not in polo.
They're on differentdisciplines.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Yeah, you do raise something though that was
touched in the Netflix about howwell some of the bigger teams
were mounted At the end of theday.
Like curtis pilot had mentionedthat, it's one of the things
that I think the duda familydidn't have.
I think it was mentioned.
You know, it's like whyvaliente la delfina, the pilots

(44:17):
you know, are up there, orconsistently up there, is
because they have a very largedepth when it comes to the
quality of their horses, that'sfor sure.

Speaker 3 (44:27):
Sure, sure, yeah sure .
The difference between theDudas and the Pilots or the
Valientes is because Valientesbudget, they have the budget and
they can go out and buy orbreed almost a limited amount of
horses and they can buy thebest horses you can find in the
market, whereas Duda, timmyhimself, is very well mounted,

(44:52):
but he mounts himself, not therest of the team.
So the budget of horses fromTomas Garcia Rio, who plays for
Timmy Duda, is not the same asPilot's budget.
He's not the same as Valiente'sbudget.
So that makes a difference.
That makes a huge difference.
Tomas Garcia-Rio, he's a betterhorseman.

(45:14):
He for sure operates thosehorses better and gets the most
out of the horses, but he's gota limited budget.
So definitely the budget willmake a difference on your
strength.
Yeah, no no question about it.
But that doesn't mean if youwant to be a high goal player
and you want to be the best, youhave to learn how to ride
properly.

(45:34):
Yeah, but the example is MemoGracia, Carlos Gracia.
Those guys were Ruben Gracia.
Those guys were horsemen.
Horsemen that had the abilityto play polo and had the brain
to play the game, to learn toplay the game.
You see a lot of eight or nineor ten goal players that are not
as good horsemen, but they'restill talented to beat that

(45:56):
handicap, but they don't win asmany games as they could.
It's what you have.
You can have the brain, theability.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
Yeah, that young La Delfina team that won the Open.
Do you feel as though they havea lot to work towards in terms
of horseman skill, or are theyas talented as Adolfo, or anyone
else for that matter?

Speaker 3 (46:22):
I think Adolfo is one in many Armenia.
He was at 15.
He was already he alreadyshowed coming from a non-polar
organization I think theCastagnolas are the ones that
used to help him at that time.
But he was a individual like aMichael Jordan.

(46:44):
That's one in a billion or onein I don't know how many million
that will be born like that.
Is he smart?
Did he have the ability tocreate La Fina and operate?
Yes, he did, and that's why heis today where he's at His son,
poroto is a little bit like mykids yes, my kids.
Unfortunately, what I can showthem is medium goal.

(47:06):
Here in the US, poroto and theCastagnolas, their parents, they
can show them high goal becausethat's what they can put
together in Argentina.
Here in this country, inAmerica, we don't have that.
We have 20 goal, 22 goal max,and that's the most that we can
expose them to.
That's why we go down toArgentina to play, or we're in a
different path and hopefullywe'll get as high as those guys.

(47:29):
They can get as high as thoseguys or maybe close to them.

Speaker 1 (47:33):
But I mean, you mentioned something that's
reflective of every other sport.
You know, if you want to getbetter at something, the best
thing to do is play with peoplewho are, in fact, better than
you, because was play withpeople who are in fact better
than you because it's only goingto raise your caliber of play.
So if you only have access to22, 26 goal in the us or
argentina, you're playing in the30s and 40s.

(47:53):
Yeah, if you maxed out yourcapabilities here, you got to go
down there in order to get evenbetter that's correct, and I
know that's that can be costlyto do.

Speaker 3 (48:03):
Correct.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Now, where is Nico and Luca today in terms of their
handicap?

Speaker 3 (48:09):
Nico and Lucas.
Here in the US they both gotraised.
This year they're five and six.
In Argentina they're both sixgoals.
Lucas just got raised to sixgoals.
They had a very good seasonthis past season.
They played the qualifier forthe Camaday-Ethel tiles.
They almost had it.

(48:29):
They lost two games by a goalin the last checker by making
some I want to say amateurmistakes.
The first time they played thatlevel, those tournaments, they
needed to learn how to finishthe game and they didn't.
But they did great.
It was the first time trying itand I think they're ready for

(48:50):
next year.
They played another subsidiarytournament called the Miles.
It's also 28 goals.
They got to the semifinals andthey lost by a goal against the
finalists.
Again, they could have won it,but their team was 23 goals and
they lost against a 28-goal teamby a goal.

Speaker 1 (49:10):
So I'm proud.

Speaker 3 (49:11):
I'm happy, they're happy and they see they can do
it.
So I think we're on track.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
Do you guys get to play with each other often?

Speaker 3 (49:20):
We do here in the US, at Santa Clara, and in
Argentina when we go down there.
Yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
If there was a moment in your polo career, what
stands out as the most memorable?

Speaker 3 (49:37):
I love my polo career .
I love playing polo.
I love my life with polo andthe horses.
I love that my kids play.
I thought for a couple of yearsthere when I was clearly I'm
not in demand anymore, so for amoment I thought it was going to
be tough to transition frombeing an active player to a

(49:58):
non-active player.
I thought it was going to betough, but I haven't, because I
have Nico and Lucas.
I haven't had that.
So I want to say that maybe thebest thing that has happened to
me in my recent memory is thatI can continue playing through
the eyes of my kids.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
Great answer Anyone who's a father or mother today
to play and watch their childrenplay a game that they love so
deeply as much as you.
It has always been a consistentanswer, that's for sure.
Without a doubt, and it's one ofthe few sports I feel like you
can do, even on a professionallevel, for father and son,

(50:40):
mother and daughter to play witheach other well into their age,
that's for sure.
Right, I think I made a pointof saying that on the Netflix
show when it came to Adolfo andhis son, like you know, to play
in professional sports.
I think the only time right nowthat's actually ever happening
is LeBron and his son at the LALakers.
Before that, I don't think ithas occurred Right.
Only time right now that'sactually ever happening is

(51:00):
lebron and his son of la lakers.
Before that, I don't think ithas occurred.
Right that I've heard that thepeople are playing with each
other, father and son at thevery, very highest level, not to
mention that can play at thevery, very highest level still,
that's for sure.
So I I just out of curiosity.
You know when your dad went tocosta carica, you know what?

(51:21):
What business was your familyin?
I always have to ask that,because getting into polo,
especially at the caliber inwhich you guys were playing at,
is not cheap and I'm alwayscurious as to what type of
business was the family in orthat person in Was he an
entrepreneur CEO themselves.
That afforded them theopportunity to get into this
game.

Speaker 3 (51:41):
My dad is a land developer.
That's what he's done all hislife, but also coming from Costa
Rica, even if you're successfulthere, it's not the same as
being successful a landdeveloper in the US.
It would have been a differentstory for him had he developed
his tennis career and beensuccessful here economically.
That's why he was never a highgoal sponsor or a big sponsor,

(52:04):
because the economies aretotally different.
And yes, he was successful inCosta Rica, but not enough to be
a high goal sponsor.
He was low goal and some mediumgoal, nothing major,
unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Well, land developer will help, that's for sure.

Speaker 3 (52:22):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (52:24):
Now you are still keeping very, very busy in
Wellington, not with Santa ClaraPolo Club, but also you
supported the US team when theywent to France to play in the
challenge out there during theOlympics, which is awesome.
How was that experience?

Speaker 3 (52:41):
by the way, it was a great experience.
It was a great experience.
It was a great thing.
Julio Arellano was the maincoach.
I was asked to go and help andit was great to see the US have
a competitive team outside theUS on horses that are not theirs
.
We need more of that.
I think we need to figure out away to have US players although

(53:06):
we have limited players atlimited handicaps.
I think Jesse Bray ishandicapped today.
7 years we need more tournamentsoutside the US with American
players.
I think Paris was incredible.
The organization that they hadon horses was fantastic, they

(53:27):
mounted the American playersvery well and the whole event
was very well done, very wellorganized, very well done.

Speaker 1 (53:36):
That's great man.
I really enjoyed watching it.
I was trying to brag to myformer colleagues in mainstream
sports to keep an eye on it andwatch for it, because what I
think it was the 100thanniversary since actually polo
was in the Olympics in Paris, Ithink coincidentally at that
time.
So you know, people always askme like well, it's not really a

(53:58):
truly international sport.
I'm like you're dead wrong, itis.
It's a very international sport.
Many countries do it and thengoing down the path of just even
the world cup of polo, clearlyyou know, shows that.
But at the same time now you'realso keeping busy in wellington
because you're also taking totake advantage of the fall
season, which normally no onethinks of polo being played in

(54:22):
Wellington at that time.
Right.

Speaker 3 (54:24):
Yes, so polo in Wellington in the fall has
always been hit or miss.
I want to say that's when wegot a lot of good exposure from
the Grecillas that we weretalking about earlier.
Memo used to do the Herraduratournaments and we used to come
and play there.
I mean, it was me, julio Leano,tommy Biddle, tiger Inis,

(54:45):
charlie Muldoon.
There was a lot of players thatwe used to come and be down
there, down here and play atMemo's and Carlos.
But the modality at that timewas Memo would invite us to play
, he would get the patrons andwe would just be there playing
with them and helping them playin Poland.
We would get the opportunity toplay there and learn, and then

(55:09):
the modality stayed a little bitlike that.
Grand champions the Ganses andJuan Bolini they still do
something similar to it.
They hire the professionals,they get the sponsors and they
pay the professionals.
So it's more of a pro poolstyle of polo.
It's good.

(55:29):
I think that's very good whenthere's not enough players and
sponsors around to make the pologood or competitive.
Basically, it can becompetitive in a pro pool style.
I'm not saying the gang guysdon't have competitive polo when
they want to do it, but it'sjust not the same as if you're
playing individual teams thatorganize themselves to come and

(55:51):
play a tournament in a.
USPA tournament.
So now that we have the NPChere and we have enough players
and sponsors in Wellington inthat time of the year, it just
worked out that we were awardedthe regional qualifier for the
president's cup and we put itout there and I thought it was

(56:14):
and we had very good results.
We had 16s and we ended upplaying through tornadoes and
through hurricanes, through rain, and luckily it ended up being
the last two and a half weeks ofOctober.
The weather was fantastic andwe ended up playing very good
polo, Not only in Wellington.

(56:36):
We had some games at PortMayaka and we played the
semifinals and the finals at NPC.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
Oh, that's fantastic and it was a great success.
Who are some of the names,patrons and players that
participated in it?

Speaker 3 (56:49):
Iconica.
Maureen Brennan.
There was a team with AspenTinto.
Their name is AJ Tinto, AJT forAspen Tinto, my brother
Federico, and Brandon Plunkettfrom Nashville.
They split a team.
They're actually the ones thatended up winning the qualifier.
That was a great surprise.

(57:10):
It was good because it's mybrother, but it was a
two-sponsored team that ended upwinning the qualifier, which is
great.
Billy Howard with Margin, thatskates really is the main
professional.
They have the IPS, the PoloSchool.
They do a lot of logo.
They used to be with NPC, withIPC, Now it's called IPS and

(57:31):
they have all the tournamentshere in the winter.
Timmy Sharma he lives here inWellington and he signed up and
he put the team and he wasfantastic.
And the other one was Avery.
Chapman was also starting tocome back into polo, which was
great.

Speaker 1 (57:48):
What is the time period Like?
When does it start and whendoes it end?

Speaker 3 (57:51):
So we start somewhere on September 25th with
practices and some in-housetournaments, and then the last
three weeks of October to thefirst weekend of November.
That's when we'll play the USPAtournaments.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
Okay, you'd probably get a few people from Chicago to
come down Because, technically,even though some people play
all the way through October,either end of August or
mid-September is usually thestoppage here for our season.
So you could get a few of thoseteams, convince Angelo to come
down and his son to come downthat's for sure.

(58:27):
But like Las Parisas and peoplelike that, although I don't know
if a Kentucky Open is playedaround that time period, I know
some people venture southslightly but no, that's great
man.
Congratulations on reignitingthat portion of the season.
Just goes to show thatWellington is much longer pole
season than I think people thinkbetween January and April.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
For sure, for sure.
And yes, kentucky, actuallythey're done the first weekend
of October and they can comedown after that.
And also, not only the seasonis longer here I mean the fields
.
That time of the year they arethe best, the fields are
incredible that time of the year.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Despite the weather.

Speaker 3 (59:08):
Well, if you get a little rain or rain, then you
have to.
Whether it's in the winter orin the summer.
You have to wait until they dryout, but they dry out pretty
quickly here.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
But I got to imagine like the temperature and all
that kind of stuff is justperfect.
It's not sweltering in any sortof way, is it?

Speaker 3 (59:24):
In September it can be hot.
It can be hot, but Octobernormally starts to change and it
becomes really good.
The fall is almost like April,March, April, the month of
October.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
October, november, it's similar temperatures.
Now, what do you have to lookforward to this next year, in
2025?
What are your children doing.

Speaker 3 (59:48):
What do you got planned for Santa Clara?
Well, during the winter we'regoing to focus on the 16 goal.
That's where Nico and Lucas aregoing to play together again
with Dana Barnes.
He's a new sponsor in the 16goal.
He played eight goals the lastcouple of years at IPS and he
was determined to jump to the 16goal.
So we're going to do that,we're going to focus on that and

(01:00:11):
we're still going to try to dosome 18 goals and hopefully
something will break for Nicoand Lucas and they can get on a
team in the IGL in the Olympics.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
That's great.

Speaker 3 (01:00:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
I mean before we, you , before we hit the record
button.
I know we talked about a fewthings in terms of the
trajectory of Polo and theindustry today.
Do you feel as though Polo isin a good place within the ULs
and elsewhere?
Is it on a good trajectory?
Are there things that youenvision that we should do
differently to help promote ourgame, to generate more

(01:00:45):
participation?

Speaker 3 (01:00:47):
Well, I think Pornhub is good at a low goal level and
I want to say up to 12 goallevel.
If we separate a little bit theAmerican players and the
Argentine players.
I think we need to figure out away to help the American
players a little bit more.
We need to produce more of them.
We need to figure out a way tohelp the American players a
little bit more.
We need to produce more of them.
That's a long topic that we cantalk about and try to figure
out how to help them, becauseunfortunately, polo has been

(01:01:10):
taken over by Argentines.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
Well, and we kind of touched base as to really why.
I mean, the culture of thehorse and the accessibility is
like night and day In Argentinaversus the US.
I mean, that's a a big, bigcomponent right there 100.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
Okay, although that's happening, we have to figure
out a way to help the american,the americans, produce more
players.
It's not possible that there'sonly a handful of up-and-coming
players maybe not even a handfulup-and-coming players there
could be more but there's noincentive Unless you're

(01:01:47):
absolutely passionate or you'reborn in a family, like my kids,
that have the passion and thecapacity and the goal to be polo
players.
There's no incentive for anAmerican young player to stick
around polo.
I think we need to figure thatout.
Other than that, I think polo'sgoing through a good moment.
I want to say, if I heardcorrectly, there's 10 or 11

(01:02:10):
teams in the high goal and then10 or 11 or 12 teams in the 16
goal, in the medium goal.
I'm not sure how many there isin the low goal, but last year
in the low goal at IPS there wasthe month of February there
were 16 teams in the eight goal,which I think is fantastic.

Speaker 1 (01:02:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
But you did touch on somethingthat was pretty important was
just the idea like your childrenthey come from kind of polo
dynasties in a way giving themmore accessibility.
Because when you talk aboutJesse Bray, when you talk about
your kids, when you talk aboutjared zeni, you know he had
access to it, you know hisfather and his family, timmy

(01:02:49):
duda, another one, yeah.
So I mean the great thing islike look, we pinpointed the why
we need to do x, y and Z overhere.
You know, it's why I had agreat call on my podcast and
interview with Chip Campbell.
And even this goes back to whenI was with the USPA and we did

(01:03:11):
kind of a study to see where thefall off was when it came to
people playing the game.
And a lot of it happenedbetween teenagers and their mid
thirties School, college, you'regetting a career, you don't
have the discretionary income toplay, and so on and so forth.
And either polo was imprintedon them at a younger age that
they would pick up the sportlater in life and that imprint

(01:03:34):
could be a potential I don'twant to say solution, but
opportunity to get more peopleback involved in the game.
Opportunity to get more peopleback involved in the game.
How do you imprint polo on moreyounger people than what let's
say is out today?
And I even brought up the factthat I went to camp when I was a

(01:03:55):
kid and that's how I got intohorses.
But they just taught typicaltrail riding and just basic
equestrian sport, hunter-jumpertype things.
It's like my gosh, the crowd ofboys that I went to camp with.
Polo would far and exceed theother disciplines easily.
So it's like how you couldimprint polo on a hundred boys

(01:04:17):
over the course of the summer atone particular camp.
What might that look like 15,20 years later?
Could you be able to track allthose people coming back into
the game?
It'd be an interesting study,that's for sure.
Something I'm still considering.
Like Chip, let's put a pilotprogram together and let's go
out and do it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:36):
Oh, 100%.
That's one way of doing it, forsure.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
No, this is great, luis.
I really appreciate you takingthe time talking about your
history with the game, yourchildren, the success that
you've been having in wellingtonwith santa clara.
It's been great.
I love talking to people likeyou who really pull back the
curtain and have show why theyhave.

(01:05:00):
This is a deep love for thisgame.
It's great.
So again, I can't thank youenough for taking the time to
open up to me and open up to allthe people that are listening
as well.

Speaker 3 (01:05:12):
Thank you very much for inviting me, daniel.
I hope this helps in any way.
Shape or form Polo somewheresomeone.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
Yeah, no question about it.
And for those who are listening, look up Santa Clara Polo Club
If you're ever down inWellington, or, in the fall,
hopefully they can catch a gamein Acold.

Speaker 3 (01:05:30):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
All you need is a car and a cooler or beer and just
pull up.
That's all you need.
Don't wear the fancy big hat orsundresses or anything like
that to enjoy a game.
That's right.
It's not like that hat orsundresses or anything like that
to enjoy a game.
It's not like that.
That's correct.
It's beer and barbecue.
I always say and tell that topeople.
I think there's probably moreflow of Corona and Modelo out

(01:05:53):
there than there is any type ofchampagne.

Speaker 3 (01:05:55):
Of course.
Of course it has to be enjoyed,it has to be fun.

Speaker 1 (01:06:00):
Yeah, yeah, there's no question about it, about it.
But hey, I hope you have awonderful holiday.
I hope our paths cross in thevery near future.
And best to you and your familyand, yeah, take care thank you
very much, and I'll take care.

Speaker 3 (01:06:14):
Happy holidays to you too, looking forward to meeting
you, too, in person you betsame here, thank.

Speaker 1 (01:06:22):
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Few sports, if any, have thesecombined qualities.
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Combine this with the sport'sparty-like atmosphere and
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(01:06:44):
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(01:07:06):
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(01:07:28):
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(01:07:50):
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