 OCPC IS Team: Mariel, Dylan, Mil & Jordan OC Polo hosted their first Interscholastic (IS) Polo tournament in December! The new OC Polo team WON in their debut showing! Move forward to January, the team went on the road and traveled up to the Santa Barbara Polo Club for their next tournament. The team played well, however, they just missed the victory in Santa Barbara. OC Polo Club Manager and Interscholastic coach, Heather Perkins attributes the OC Polo player’s hard work, dedication and great teamwork for their strong start to the season. The OC Polo Interscholastic Polo team currently rosters a team of 4 polo players: Jordan Smith, age 11, Mila Herrera, age 13, Dylan Bush, age 16 and Mariel Bialy age 17. These upcoming players practice as a team a minimum of 6 days per month. The team is focused to take on their next match as they once again head north, this time all the way to San Luis Obispo February 3rd-4th. Then the team travels east to Indio where they will play grass polo at the Eldorado Polo Club. The team’s goal is to gain experience and work hard on their game prior to the next step of traveling to the east coast taking on teams in Maryland this spring.Team member Mariel Bialy’s favorite part about polo is, “The horse and rider are one and it requires true teamwork.” When asked what its like to be the youngest member of OC Polo’s IS team, Jordan Smith said, “Its not hard, but of course I’m not the strongest. My teammates know that and don’t rely on me to do things that require more strength. But I still love it!!!” Dylan Bush replied that he loves polo because, “It is the combination of elegant finesse and adrenaline-masked danger that makes the sport of polo truly exhilarating and unique.” Additionally, We asked Dylan, why polo? He replied, “the sport also provides a unique gateway into college”. Indeed, most of us do not realize that over 50 colleges across the country have polo programs and need players. California alone has 9 college polo programs! Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cuesta Community, Pepperdine, Santa Barbara City College, Stanford University, UC – Davis, UC – Santa Barbara, University of Southern California and Westmont College. Adding polo to your portfolio opens these and many other doors for youngsters.
Interscholastic polo is perfect to introduce the sport of polo to younger players. The horse care needs and team nature of the sport promote fair play and responsibility.
OC Polo is looking to grow their team. How do you join? It’s easy. To become a part of OCPCs interscholastic program you must live within 100 miles of the club, be in grades 5-12 and be scholastically eligible to play sports at your school.
For more info on Interscholastic polo or the Orange County Polo Club, please contact Heather at (714) 791-8369 |
