Polocrosse. King of the One Horse Sports. Rugby on horseback. A cross between Polo and Lacrosse. These are all ways that people describe the sport of Polocrosse. But after 22 years of playing, I only have three words to describe this amazing sport-
Family, friends and fun.
When you grow up in a sport like Polocrosse, you find yourself amongst family. These are the people who raise you in the equestrian world. These are the people who kindly lent you horses when yours were injured. These are the people who gave you a lift, when your parents couldn’t make it to a tournament. These are the people that no matter where in the world you’re at, you can call up, say one word, and have a place to sleep, a hot meal to eat and amazing horses to ride. This is Polocrosse.
Growing up in small town Texas USA, horses were in my blood. My mother grew up showing Arabian horses and my dad was a horse trainer and farrier. My father started playing when I was 5, and I started soon after. I grew up and spent the better part of 10 years playing with the Lone Star Polocrosse Club based in Coupland, Texas. This is where the family aspect of this sport really shone. The members of Lone Star would lend me horses, take me to tournaments, and treat me as if I was one of their own children. Without this club, I can confidently say that I wouldn’t be where I am today.
My first taste of international polocrosse was in the summer of 2004 at the young age of 15, when I had the honour of representing the USA on a tour to New South Wales, Australia. There may have been another taste of international polocrosse this same year, that ended up shaping the rest of my life, but more on that later. A month of traveling to live with various families, in different clubs, riding the most amazing horses, and playing polocrosse every weekend was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I was bitten by the international bug and never looked back. I represented the USA on a few more occasions after that, with my biggest achievement being selected for the World Cup Team in 2011. Our team travelled to the UK to take on the reigning champions, Australia, as well as Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Zambia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand. With America never breaking into the top 4 in the two previous World Cups, we managed a big upset beating the UK in our first game of the tournament to then make the semi finals to take on Zimbabwe and eventually Australia to take 4th place in the tournament.
Rewind a few years before this when my now husband, Danny Duhig, a UK native, travelled to Texas in 2008 with a UK team to play against an American team I was on. Back to the previous paragraph, as we had actually met in 2004 when he travelled through Texas on his was back to the UK on his gap year. He spent 2 weeks in Texas and we became good friends who kept in touch over the next few years. Anyway, back to the test match in 2008. When Danny arrived in Texas, it was as though he had never left, we took off right where we left 4 years previously. When the matches were done and dusted, UK were the winners and although upsetting at the time, little did I know that I would have the last laugh 3 years later in the 2011 World Cup by beating his team! Danny decided to stay in Texas with me for another week after his team had gone home. The rest is history. We married in 2010, had a son in 2012, have played endless amounts of polocrosse, continued to travel the world while playing, bred and raised 4 out of the 5 horses we currently have and established the second biggest club in the UK, Cotswold Polocrosse Club, in 2010.
So if you haven’t already noticed, Polocrosse is my life. This sport has allowed me to travel the world, meet the love of my life, and raise my child within the most loving, generous community I could ever ask for- just as I was raised. Although I speak of growing up within the sport, there have been many others who have found Polocrosse later in life. Whether it is in their teens, 30’s or even 50’s, and just as I had at the age of seven, many of them have never looked back! I don’t know many other sports that you can go away for a weekend with your horses, pay a £50-£70 entry, play 3 games, camp out, have a yummy dinner Saturday evening while dancing the night away, and leave with memories of a weekend full of laughter and fun! This is Polocrosse.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog introducing myself and the wonderful world of Polocrosse. I hope you are looking forward to learning more about the sport itself, the rules, the horses and the players. You can find more out about The UKPA by visiting –www.ukpolocrosse.co.uk
You can also find us on Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/ukpolocrosse
