The Board of Directors of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame announced that the Nominating Committee made its selection of the 2013 inductees into the Hall of Fame.
Michael V. Azzaro, a former 10-goal player (a rating he held for 14 years) with six U.S. Open Championships, three Silver Cups, Butler Handicap, Iglehart, and World Cup to his credit, will be honored for his outstanding record as a player for many years.
A 9-goaler who played for Myopia teams in the late 19th century and early 1900s, Robert Gould Shaw, II (1872 – 1930) was the committee’s choice for the posthumous award. Shaw won all the major tournaments of the era in his time as an active player.
For the Hall of Fame Iglehart Award, Tim Gannon, well known for his selfless generosity to polo and other charitable causes and a three-time winner of the U.S. Open will be honored for his outstanding lifetime contributions to the sport.
To be recognized as the posthumous Hall of Fame inductee for the Iglehart Award is Bill Gilmore, who is remembered as a powerful force in the revival of the game in California after World War II.
In the Horses to Remember category the committee elected Fairy Story a celebrated mare bred in England and later owned and played by Stephen “Laddy” Sanford. Fairy Story was one of the top polo ponies in the 1920s, sweeping an unprecedented number of the major awards given at that time.
Ever Ready, a chestnut mare, trained and played by Ray Harrington (Hall of Fame 1993), was also selected to be honored in this category. Ever Ready was Ray’s “war horse” on whom he depended throughout his extraordinary four consecutive wins in the U.S. Open, 1966 – 1969. She was awarded the Hartman Award for Best Playing pony of the Open in 1969and also that year played with distinction in Argentina in the 1969 Cup of the Americas at Palermo.
Committee Chairman Horacio Laffaye states “The Class of 2013 represents the best of American polo. The Committee selected 10 and 9-goal players with outstanding records, a pair of supporters of the game which made lasting contributions to polo in this country, and two polo ponies which were at the top of their respective generations. I wish to express my gratitude to all the Committee members who worked hard and long in selecting these inductees from a large pool of highly qualified nominees.”
The Awards Gala and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Museum of Polo on Friday, February 15th, 2013. If you would like to join in the celebration to welcome these legendary individuals to the Polo Hall of Fame, you may purchase seats for the dinner up to a week in advance. Reservations are $200.00 each (tax deductible portion $100.00). The Hall of Fame Awards Dinner and Silent Auction is the most important fundraising event for the Museum each year, so we hope you will help support your Museum – a 501 (c) 3, not-for-profit organization. Contact Brenda Lynn at the Museum of Polo, (561) 969-3210 or (561) 969-7015, e-mail: polomuseum@att.net for further details, information, or to make your reservations.
Congrats to the inductees. No knock on Mike Azzaro, I don’t think HOF should honor active players. Azzaro just won the 2012 US Open, so obviously he has years of polo ahead of him…
I understand your view on the matter, but you need only look at some of the past inductees that incclude Memo and Carlos Gracida, Owen Rinehart, etc. to see the policy surrounding the selections of players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame while still actively playing.
The policy adopted by the Board of the Museum of Polo is that an active player may be inducted when he has come down off his highest handicap and remained off that handicap for 5 years. (This policy was adopted after the induction of Memo Gracida.) Polo is a sport that has people playing and considered “active” for much longer than in many other sports, so we feel it makes sense to recognize top players even though they are still playing and winning.
Tom Brady and Brett Favre are the only currently avctie players (assuming Brett didn’t retire by the time this is posted… again), but they don’t count as they are still avctie.Jim Plunkett is the only one that comes to mind. He won Super Bowl 25 and 28 with the Oakland Raiders (taking MVP honors in SB 25).