The Official UK 2015 Kids Polo Tour has arrived on the English high goal pitches
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
On Sunday 21st June, not only did the sun decide to shine, but more youth polo hit the high goal grounds of the UK under the passionate and watchful eye of Marianela Castagnola as the first game of The Official UK 2015 Kids Polo took place at Billingbear Park.
It is clear when you meet Marianela that her passion for the sport of polo curses through her every vein as she enthusiastically explains the idea behind the Kids Tour, ‘I wanted to do something for all the kids who follow their parents from Argentina for the polo season in England and the young players based in England, some of whose parents are players and some who are not. The idea was to get them all together to play in a tournament, for which we were kindly given access to high goal fields by a number of generous patrons. Many of the kids based in the UK are very busy with an academic schedule, but love polo and I wanted to get them together with young players from Argentina who are only here for a few months of the year, to put on an all-inclusive tournament.’
It was truly fantastic to experience the enthusiasm and skills of all the young players who took part in the opening match at 10am at King Power’s home ground – Billingbear Park. Taking to the pitch in bespoke miniature replica high goal shirts (made by Berkshire based – The Printing Boutique) were King Power Foxes (blue) –Andrea Sund, Guy German, Antonio Heguy & Santiago Di Paola, and Thai Polo (orange) – Milly Hine, Ned Hine, Louis Hine & Will Harper. Following some great fun and play, the winners were Thai Polo scoring 8 goals to King Power Foxes 3. Umpired by Marianela, post-match she explained (as the diminutive players lined up for photos) that she would be choosing particularly outstanding players for awards after each game. This time congratulations went to Most Valuable Player – Will Harper, and for best Sportsmanship (especially speaking English to his fellow players) an award was presented by Georgie Le Seelleur French, to Santi Di Paola.
The next match will be held at Dubai Polo Club at 6pm on Saturday 27th June – look out on facebook for updates of future matches which will be held at a number of high goal grounds including Dubai and King Power’s Billingbear ground.