Yale in Tianjin – Part 1
It has been nearly four days since we arrived at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, a Yale contingent made up of eight students and two coaches. We have come to compete in “The Cambridge Challenge,” the 2014 Metropolitan Polo Classic, joining teams from Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and the University of London. In a series of friendly matches, the tournament hopes to “provide a platform for academic, cultural, and social exchanges,” both among the six universities, as well as with local Chinese student, parents, and alumnae.
Our first impressions of the property hovered somewhere between astonishment and disbelief–at the vast polo fields, the seemingly infinite number of hotel rooms, and the manpower required to keep the facilities operating smoothly and looking pristine. Dozens of grooms, gardeners, cooks, housekeepers, and staff are spread out around the immense property, easily outnumbering the hotel guests.
The first forty-eight hours passed in a flurry of decadent meals, team meetings, and tours around the polo facilities. On Saturday afternoon, we met The Harvard team for a practice match on the enormous polo field that stretches out directly in front of the hotel. Despite the sun and smog, our team performed well in the series of five five-minute chukkers. Later today, we face the University of London in our first official match.