International Alumni Polo Cup in Sotogrande
The London Alumni Polo Club and Polo Valley Resorts hosted the first International Alumni Polo Cup at Sotogrande on the weekend of 18-19 April. The top alumni polo teams from around the world flew in to compete, network and enjoy the first edition of the biggest and best alumni polo tournament of the year for many.
A total of 6 teams (Cambridge, London Alumni I, London Alumni II Netherlands, Oxford Brookes and UK) were chosen to compete for the trophy held at the Rio fields of Santa Maria, one of Europe’s most prestigious polo clubs.
The tournament started with a round-robin phase in order to allow all teams to compete against each other on the Saturday. After a closely fought contest, Oxford Brookes were crowned champions on the Sunday. This was despite a strong contest from the UK team lead by Niels van der Hoeven, who greatly deserved the Coya MVP price. This left the London Alumni team and the Dutch to battle it out for the third price, kindly sponsored by Takito.
Over the course of the weekend we witnessed some great plays of polo, some closely fought games and a huge amount of fun shared by a passionate group of polo enthusiasts. We were also lucky enough to experience some of the best argentine cuisine at La Quinta restaurant on the Saturday night and it gave teams a chance to get to know the different players competing and to expand one another’s professional and polo network. The group all enjoyed getting to see and familiarize themselves with Sotogrande, an area home to some of the best polo clubs, facilities and players in the world.
London Alumni Polo Club:
“I’m extremely pleased with our first International Alumni Polo Tournament. It was a polo at its best, with great participants for both on and off the field and fantastic ponies and polo fields. Special thanks goes out to Polo Valley Resorts who did a fantastic job at managing to mount all the 6 teams with expert efficiency, giving us the ability to focus on the game and truly enjoy the weekend. I can’t wait to be back for the next edition!” – Thijs Povel
The London Alumni Polo Club was founded in 2012 to help polo players continue with this fantastic sport after graduation and thereby bridge the gap between University and Patron polo players. The club now boasts well over 300 international members aged 23- 33 who live and work in London.
The group brings together graduates from different universities but predominantly coming from Ox-bridge, Imperial, UCL and LSE, who have chosen to pursue a wide range of challenging careers in London.
We now organize weekly training sessions and regular polo tournaments and trips to destinations such as Uganda, Mongolia, Spain and Argentina. The London Alumni Polo Club operates on an invite only basis.
You can find out more about the membership requirements and the activities on our website: http://alumnipolo.co.uk/
Polo Valley Resorts:
“We were delighted to be working with the London Alumni Polo Club this year, to create the first ever edition of the “International Alumni Polo Tournament.” It was a great privilege to meet and work with such a fantastic group of young professionals from all over the world, and to showcase Polo Valley here in the European Polo capital of Sotogrande. We were proud to be able to deal smoothly with all the challenges and logistics of mounting all twenty-four players wherever they needed to be, helped by some great weather and most importantly loads of fun. We look forward to developing and growing this annual event in the future alongside London Alumni” – Team Polo Valley
Polo Valley Resorts offers lessons, gap-year courses and holidays for all levels of players here in the unique environment of Sotogrande. Our focus is to pass on our passion for the game! We want to bring more people to this adrenaline fuelled fantastic sport, and encourage accessibility through our unique programs. The ‘Sport of Kings’ has been kept a secret for too long!
Also, Polo Valley is positioned to support and supply polo teams looking to play in Sotogrande, through our horse rentals and team of professional players for hire.
Come and visit our website at: www.polovalleyresorts.com