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          follow @hurlinghampolo
        
        
          
            TA L K
          
        
        
          
            T H E C L U B H A S B E E N L AY I N G MO R E
          
        
        
          
            C O B B L E S T O N E S O F I N N O VAT I O N T O P AV E
          
        
        
          
            T H E WAY F O R S U S TA I N E D P O L O G R OW T H
          
        
        
          student committee members and alumni
        
        
          relations. Responsibilities encompass
        
        
          running nine lessons per week, managing
        
        
          the recruitment of coaches, supplier
        
        
          partnerships, sponsorship activity, fixtures
        
        
          locally and internationally, marketing and
        
        
          communications, hosting an annual
        
        
          white-tie ball and other social events. This
        
        
          experience further strengthens the club’s
        
        
          values of responsibility, leadership,
        
        
          excellence, sportsmanship, diversity and
        
        
          teamwork with its alumni graduating to
        
        
          distinguished careers.
        
        
          Sponsorship money directly subsidises
        
        
          training and matches, from absolute
        
        
          beginners to the Varsity squad, with partners
        
        
          including Cambridge County Polo Club, Tata
        
        
          Communications, La Martina, Guards Polo
        
        
          Club, c1209, Champagne Gratiot-Pillière,
        
        
          La Matuza and Cobra Beer. The club enjoys
        
        
          governance from the Cambridge University
        
        
          Sports Syndicate, as well as an advisory
        
        
          board of alumni mentors (both on the pitch
        
        
          and in club operations).
        
        
          Looking forward, CUPC has been laying
        
        
          more cobblestones of innovation to pave the
        
        
          way for sustained polo growth within the
        
        
          Cambridge community. This year the student
        
        
          executive launched an alumni membership
        
        
          programme that includes lessons,
        
        
          representation and social opportunities. They
        
        
          also hosted the Tata Communications Atlantic
        
        
          Cup Polo Finals with Oxford, Guards, Harvard
        
        
          and Yale to popular acclaim. The success and
        
        
          professionalism of these endeavours extends
        
        
          polo to an increasingly wider audience and
        
        
          contributes knowledge and values that the
        
        
          sport would be proud to claim as its own to
        
        
          an expanding polo population.
        
        
          
            Opposite:
          
        
        
          
            CUPC take to
          
        
        
          
            the beach in St Andrews
          
        
        
          
            in 2016.
          
        
        
          
            This page
          
        
        
          
            : A 1907
          
        
        
          
            caricature of former
          
        
        
          
            Cambridge polo player
          
        
        
          
            Walter S Buckmaster,
          
        
        
          
            who also competed in the
          
        
        
          
            1900 and 1908 Olympics