Luis Escobar: Legacy in the Saddle

Luis Escobar, the heart behind Santa Clara Polo Club and a towering figure in American polo, takes us on a fascinating journey from his childhood in Costa Rica to building a lasting legacy in Wellington, Florida. Growing up with a father who embraced polo in his thirties, Luis discovered his life's passion at just seven years old, declaring with absolute certainty by age eight that professional polo would be his future.

What makes Luis's story remarkable is how he bridges generations in a sport that truly allows for family legacies to flourish. Now watching his sons Nico and Lucas rise through the ranks to 5 and 6-goal handicaps respectively, he finds his greatest joy in seeing them develop. "I can continue playing through the eyes of my kids," he shares, highlighting polo's unique ability to keep families connected through shared passion.

The conversation delves deep into the art of horsemanship, a skill Luis believes is becoming increasingly rare even at the highest levels. While many professionals simply discard horses that underperform, Luis has built his career on understanding each mount and maximizing their potential. This philosophy has taken him across the globe, proving Churchill's famous quote that "your polo handicap is your passport to the world."

Beyond technique and travel, Luis offers a refreshing perspective on polo's accessibility. Forget the stereotypes of champagne and fancy attire, real polo is about "beer and barbecue," a welcoming community where anyone can pull up with a cooler to enjoy the action. As Santa Clara Polo Club brings fall tournaments back to Wellington, Luis remains committed to growing the sport while addressing the challenges of developing more American talent in a landscape dominated by Argentine players.

Listen now to discover how this remarkable sport breaks boundaries, builds families, and creates lifelong bonds between humans and horses. Whether you're a polo en

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Outside the Boards
• 3:56 Luis Escobar's Polo Origins
• 13:41 Santa Clara Polo Club's History
• 22:29 Global Polo Adventures
• 30:05 The Next Generation of Escobars
• 39:46 The Future of American Polo
• 1:04:47 Episode Wrap-Up

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

You are listening to the Outside the Boards podcast. I'm Daniel Leary. For most of my professional career, I have worked in mainstream sports for some of the world's leading sports organizations and properties and blue chip brands, helping to create award-winning omni-channel marketing campaigns, result-driven sales strategies and impactful brand building initiatives. But all that work doesn't compare to the fun, excitement and challenges I've been fortunate to experience working for the king of all sports, polo. For nearly a decade, I've put my heart and ambition into helping advance the sport of polo. I've made lifelong friendships, met some incredible people, traveled to memorable polo destinations and heard the craziest stories. My goal is to share these people, places and stories with you and provide a unique behind-the-scenes perspective of the game that breaks all the common stereotypes, all while discussing key issues affecting the sport today and the constructive sharing of ideas, insights, solutions and best-case studies for the purpose of advancing polo globally. Every week, I will have honest conversations with polo industry leaders, enthusiasts and awe-inspiring people who make this sport great and fun to be around. I hope, through their knowledge and their unique perspectives, they will motivate and inspire you. Together, we will explore ways you can make small tweaks to boost your polo business, whether you are a club, event, team or player. That will amount to big changes in revenue, participation, attendance and exposure Saddle up. Welcome to Outside the Boards with me, daniel Leary. Hi everyone, daniel Leary here.

Speaker 1: 1:45

Welcome to Season 5 of the Outside the Boards podcast. First, I would like to thank all our listeners since the inception of this podcast who have tuned in to listen. While my career has taken me back to mainstream sports, polo remains a passion of mine and I plan to continue to dedicate my time to helping promote and elevate the sport, so you'll see the return of a number of Outside the Boards work in the near future. To date, this podcast has generated over 23,000 listeners in over 40 countries and 360 cities worldwide. On this episode of Outside the Boards, I'm thrilled to introduce you to one of the most respected names in American polo, luis Escobar.

Speaker 1: 2:22

A true veteran of the sport, luis has been a pillar of the US polo community for decades. Originally from Costa Rica, luis moved to the United States at a young age and went on to build a lasting legacy both on and off the field. Luis is a season four gold professional and the heart behind Santa Clara Polo Club in Wellington, florida, an operation he has grown into one of the sport's premier training and competitive programs. Known for his strategic mind, powerful swing and sportsmanship, luis has competed at the highest levels, including the US Open Polo Championship, and has mentored some of the game's top rising players.

Speaker 1: 2:58

His journey into polo began with his father, francisco Escobar, who shared a deep love for horses and introduced Luis to the game early on. Over the years, luis has maintained that family-first philosophy not only in how he runs Santa Clara, but also in how he builds teams, developing talent, training horses and helping to grow the sport from the grassroots up Outside the boards. Luis is a passionate advocate for youth polo and has played an instrumental role in bringing young players into the fold through clinics, mentorship and training opportunities. He's also deeply invested in the future of the sport through his leadership and contributions to the Wellington polo community. Luis's life is a true blend of global perspective and hometown loyalty, a competitive drive and community commitment. Global perspective and hometown loyalty, a competitive drive and community commitment. Whether he's riding down the field in a high goal match or helping a young player refine their game, luis embodies the spirit of what polo can be Timeless, challenging and deeply personal.

Speaker 2: 4:15

So, without further ado, let's welcome Luis Escobar Enjoy. Hey, we're Rosanna and Alice, the co-founders of Line Up Polo Enjoy. And that info instantly appears in the LineUp app, where players, fans and organisers can see everything in one place, from live scoring and team entry to player stats and schedules. We've made it easy to run and follow Polo, whether you're organising games or just turning up to watch. Lineup makes Polo more connected, accessible and future ready. Search for LineUp Polo on the app or Play.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Store to get started. Luis Escobar, how are you doing this early afternoon?

Speaker 3: 4:53

Hi Daniel, how are you? I'm very good, thank you.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Good, good, I'm glad to hear man and thank you for joining me on, I have to say, the first episode of season five of Outside the Boards podcast. So you have a monumental task of kicking off this season with a lot of excitement. Just forewarning you.

Speaker 1: 5:16

Okay, a lot of pressure on me A lot of pressure, a lot of pressure on you. But, hey, you're a household name in Polo, all right, especially in Wellington, florida. You've been there. You come from a polo dynasty, which I am thrilled to talk about, because having gentlemen such as yourself to really take away a lot of the stereotypes of this game, really dig deep into the day-to-day operations of things where you've come from, the people that work with you and so on and so forth, which I know, as of recently, the Netflix Polo episode is trying to break down those stereotypes.

Speaker 1: 5:54

So I'm just here trying to continue that narrative and really kind of introduce people to the world of Polo, as to why I fell in love with it and probably why you fell in love with it, which really doesn't have to deal with elitism or anything like that. It all comes down to the horses, the camaraderie, the people, the outdoors, um, things that I have grown to, to love the places, the people and the sport. So I'm excited to talk with you about that man, but more or less I'm, I think, more plus people want to really kind of get to to know Luis Escobar and the Escobar family and its strong ties to polo.

Speaker 3: 6:31

Thank you, daniel. Thank you for having me. I'll try to do my best, explaining what we do and why we're here.

Speaker 1: 6:38

Yeah, no, no question about it. So you've been involved in the Santa Clara Polo Club for quite some time. I gotta ask you know you go back generations?

Speaker 3: 6:48

What generation polo player are you. I'm second generation. My dad is the first. He's first generation.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Second generation. So how did your dad get into the game? You know?

Speaker 3: 6:57

he started late, started when he was 33 years old in Costa Rica. He's originally Colombian but he left when he was 21 to Costa Rica and he started working in Costa Rica and at 33 in a park called La Sabana, which is the equivalent of Central Park in New York. At that time in the 70s, they played polo in the Central Park at La Sabana and he saw it one day and he wanted to play. At that time the polo in Costa Rica was very closed, very elite. My dad. Since he was Colombian and he didn't come from one of the Costa Rican families, it was hard for him to get into it in the environment or in the group of polo. He was finally accepted, but that's how he started and a few years later, 1978, december 1978 I was seven years old my dad decided to come to wellington to play and try wellington out.

Speaker 3: 7:59

That was our first winter here. So we came actually we came December 78, which was the winter of 79. And we started coming around here and since that day my dad had already I don't know 10 years, eight or nine years of playing polo. I was seven years old, my older brother sticking ball on my sister's road and started stick and bowling here in Wellington, and the rest is history.

Speaker 1: 8:29

What prompted your dad to want to pick up such a unique sport? Was it just the city in which he went to in Costa Rica that that was a popular thing to do? Or among his colleagues, among other families? It was just a location in general?

Speaker 3: 8:46

That's a good question. I have no idea. I'm going to ask him that question. He's definitely very athletic. He likes sports. He played golf, he used to play basketball, he played soccer. He is an all-around sports, never a professional sports or athlete. He liked tennis Every sport you can imagine. He played it and to this day he's 80 and still plays polo and loves to play polo.

Speaker 1: 9:11

That's amazing. It's great that you say 80 years old and still playing, because for a sport as it is demanding physically, it really is an ageless sport. My boss, jim Drury, played until his early 80s. He just retired just the other year. Yeah, he probably could have still gone. Jim huber, who was the milwaukee polo club owner, went into his 90s playing. It is really really impressive. Just goes to show that polo and the horse keeps you young, that's for for sure 100%.

Speaker 3: 9:44

On one side, I want him to quit because I don't want to see him fall off and get hurt. But I know, on the other hand, that if he quits he might get older and I still need him around. I still want him around, I still want him young. So it's not easy. You want him to quit, but you don't want him to quit. What do we do?

Speaker 1: 10:07

now did your dad. Was he pretty much an amateur patrol, and was there a particular handicap that he achieved while he was playing?

Speaker 3: 10:15

my dad was an amateur and in the old day wellington was a little bit different. You could play with friends and he got to two goals. He was never professional. He got to two goals and he used to play with friends and he had some at that time, the polo. You would either get some higher goal handicaps that would come and play for expenses, or you would buy some horses from them and they would come and play for expenses, or you would buy some horses from them and they would come and be part of the package and play with the team for that season and between friends and that modality. That's how we played polo at the beginning. Eventually he'd be sponsored some teams but nothing in the high goal. Everything was lower goal or medium goal the most.

Speaker 1: 11:07

The goal level of playing among friends, that right correct, correct.

Speaker 3: 11:09

Yeah, and mainly the medium goal was with family. I think he did it to help me, or you, or to help the part to play with me when I didn't have a job. He said, all right, let's go play. He never paid, but he helped out with the expenses and that's it, yeah.

Speaker 1: 11:25

Now, normally I don't think people would think Costa Rica is a polo destination. Is it still a polo destination today? Is there a healthy community there? Do you go back and play?

Speaker 3: 11:37

Costa Rica is normally. Costa Rica is a great country to visit. It's very popular today for tourism. But the Polo side of it is the people are fun. It's low goal handicap. I think the most played today is six goal. In general it's four goal. If you have to get three or four Costa Rican teams together, they'll max out at four goals. They take some professionals to Costa Rica during the winter and they raise the handicap to. I want to say six goals. Oh, wow, yeah, and that's it and you can go and play. If you're from, if you want to go to Costa Rica and play polo, it's a good place to go and play and have fun.

Speaker 1: 12:20

Is there any particular club that's down there? That is most recommended.

Speaker 3: 12:25

The club is called Los Regis the Kings. It's a beautiful club and you can talk to me or my brother. He's not professional, he runs the club today and he has an arena as well and he helps out all the tourists that come or the players that come from outside that want to play.

Speaker 1: 12:48

Oh, that's great man. It sounds a little to me, a little bit like kingston or jamaica's little polo scene down there exactly.

Speaker 3: 12:51

It's a little bit more organized. The club is a little bit. It's much better it's. It's a proper club with three fields and has some beautiful barns that are all around the. The barns face the fields. It it's a beautiful club, the setting is beautiful, so I recommend it for sure. Now, did your mom play? No, the last time my mom was on a horse was when she was pregnant with me, and she fell off the horse when she was pregnant with me and that was it. She said that's it, I'm arriving again.

Speaker 1: 13:20

Oh, wow, wow, but I understand Santa Clara is named after her, is that right?

Speaker 3: 13:25

That's correct. My dad named Santa Clara because my mom's name is Constanza Inés Clara Catalina, so he named her Clara. He used that name after her.

Speaker 1: 13:38

That's a beautiful name. Yeah, now, when did your family venture over to Wellington? What year was that around?

Speaker 3: 13:48

That was in December 78 when we first came to Wellington.

Speaker 1: 13:52

Okay.

Speaker 3: 13:52

Then we stayed here for a couple of maybe about six months. The idea was to try. My dad was going to go back and forth to Costa Rica and work and we started going to school here, me and my brothers. But my mom didn't get used to it she's from Costa Rica and she's Latin and it didn't work out. So we went back to Costa Rica about six months later, but then we came every winter. We came after that, 79, 80, 81, every single winter we came here. I came here for good after I finished my high school in 88. So I came here December 89. And from then on I've been here.

Speaker 1: 14:35

And you went to Florida Atlantic University, correct, correct?

Speaker 3: 14:39

Yes.

Speaker 1: 14:40

Got it Now. When was Santa Clara opened?

Speaker 3: 14:43

So my dad bought. He had a friend and they decided to buy on 50th Street South. That's where Santa Clara is. In 1983, they bought 28 acres together.

Speaker 1: 14:55

Okay.

Speaker 3: 14:56

And they added a field and a barn, but at that time the barn was far away from Palm Beach Pollo. We had no trailers and we had to take the horses to practice. If we had to go and practice on field what was today field four and five, which is White Birch, was known as White Birch Fields today we had to walk the horses there, so it would take us over an hour to get there and sometimes it would be deadly with the heat or the cold weather, your horses would be maxed out before they even got to the field.

Speaker 1: 15:28

Yeah, but that was the modality.

Speaker 3: 15:30

then it used to be far for us, but now it's trailer.

Speaker 1: 15:39

Now we're in the main area. You know, I thought I read somewhere that there was maybe a handful of polo clubs or the original that were still privately owned. I forget where I read that somewhere. Is that true still, or who was around back then?

Speaker 3: 15:56

Around that time. I think the only ones left here in Wellington are Carlos Arellano, julio Arellano's dad, hope Arellano's granddad. They own a place in Indian Mount, one field, and I think ourselves, and I think that's what's left from that era, from the 80s Okay, the Grecedas were here at that time, or right around that time they started to be here. There was another family called Cartas, alina Carta and her dad, and I cannot remember honestly when the Johnsons started with Everglades.

Speaker 3: 16:37

It might have been in the 80s also, okay, and there was people in Gulfstream. There was a lot of people in Gulfstream.

Speaker 1: 16:43

Yeah, is Gulfstream still a polo destination?

Speaker 3: 16:49

Gulfstream is gone. Gulfstream has been gone.

Speaker 1: 16:52

Okay, that's interesting to learn about the history and Wellington and polo down there and trials and tribulations and where it's gone and where it is today and where it is today, and it's always fascinating. I always feel as though polo is at the brisk of a dying sport because there's less and less open fields within space that you need for horses to grain, farms to be built and fields to be played on. Everything keeps on getting pushed further and further and further out into the rural areas. That's for sure, For sure. Now I read somewhere I think you officially picked up the sport when you're a little guy, seven years old. I think I read somewhere or did you pick it?

Speaker 1: 17:34

up earlier than that.

Speaker 3: 17:36

No, I used to ride around in Costa Rica. We used to ride in the arena in the polo field. But the first time I ever stick in bolt was when I was seven years old. Here and where actually the Grand Champions Polo Club is now they have field one, two and three. That used to be Palm Beach Polo. Eight, seven, six, and the first time I ever stick and bolt was between fields one and two of Grand Champions, or eight and seven. We were walking around with the horses and my dad said here's a minute, go try it.

Speaker 1: 18:09

And that was it and I stick involved every day of my life ever since they that day I almost feel as though sometimes children, grandchildren, who pick up the sport, it it's almost genetic in a way. You know, was there something in particular that when you're seven years, old that you immediately loved about the game.

Speaker 3: 18:35

Oh for sure, I loved the game. I loved everything about the game. I loved the horses. The horses, for me, have been a savior of my life. I think I would be my personality would be totally different without the horses. But from day one I remember turning eight years old, when I first played my first tournament, I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life. At eight years old I made a plan I was going to finish school, go to college, and then, because my dad wanted me to go to college and that was the deal that we had, and I went to college but I said I'm going to be a professional polo player. That's what's going to be it. But I knew that at the moment I started, actually, when I came here to Palm Beach Polo to Wellington. That's the only thing I thought about, the only thing I wanted to do, whether it was ride horses or play polo. That was my unfortunately still today my passion, my goal, my everyday thought.

Speaker 1: 19:36

And I mean between seven years old and, let's say, you're mid-twenties. There's a lot of distractions during that time period that could easily have swayed you elsewhere 100%.

Speaker 3: 19:46

In Latin America. The kids, they go out and they party. At 15, at 16, everybody's partying, they're going out and you can drink in Latin America a lot easier than you can in the US. By the time I graduated at 17 from high school, at 18, 17, 18, I was already here. I was going out on a fake ID and I was drinking. When I turned 21 years old, I quit drinking. I said that's it, I'm not going to drink anymore. Because I wanted to get up in the morning and make sure I was feeling good, 100%, so I can ride my horses and feel good about it. When you're young, you can go and ride and you ride and you go through whether you're hangover or not, but I didn't want to do that. So when you say about distractions, there's a lot of distractions that can take you away from that passion or that goal or whatever you have in your mind. But for me, no, it was never like that.

Speaker 1: 20:43

Now, when you were starting out at seven, your dad gave you that mallet. Go out, have fun, enjoy and play. When you were young and during your youth and teenage years were you also in the barn, Were you taking care and doing some of the labor, work and grooming and things like that at that time.

Speaker 3: 21:03

Well, there's no In Costa Rica. I lived in Costa Rica and our farm was about 40 minutes away from our house. I had to go to school from Monday to Friday regular high school or regular school and I used to have to get on a bus and travel one hour to go to school. We started school at 7 am and we finished at 2 pm, and in Costa Rica we're in the equator, so the daylight at 6 pm it's dark, so we only rode in the weekends or on the holidays.

Speaker 3: 21:35

So it was every weekend that we played polo. In Costa Rica you have a rainy season. Six months of the year it rains. It rains too much. It's hard to ride because everything is muddy. We didn't have an arena, but we managed to ride in the muddy field and stick and ball field and that's what we used to do every single weekend. My friends used to go to the beach. They used to go and party. I used to go and stick and ball and ride and do whatever I could to be on a horse every weekend.

Speaker 1: 22:03

In the rain too, no worries, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 3: 22:05

Not necessarily I had the task or the or I had to go and be at the barn every day, but maybe that helped me to miss it and wanted to go to the barn on the weekends, which kept me from I don't know maybe either partying or being more social with my friends.

Speaker 1: 22:26

Well, knowing the early hours that one has to wake up to start their day in polo, caring for the horses, feeding, exercising, things like that, by the time the evening rolls around, I don't even think you'd want to go out, that's true.

Speaker 1: 22:45

Yeah, the people that I worked with when I was at oakbrook polo club that also worked in polo as well, by far had some of the best work ethic. Um I've ever encountered have been people on polo. You're willing to wake up, do the grunt work, don't complain about self-shoveling shit or anything like that, and then would end the day with a smile on their face and a beer in their hand. Yeah, there's, there's no question about it. So you know anyone listening to this episode. If you're looking for a quality person to hire not in equestrian sports consider a polo player that, or someone who has an equestrian or polo background. That's for sure. That's right, I would hire him in a second. I always tell people that it's just like I have to say they got a polo background. These people are going to bust their ass.

Speaker 3: 23:34

That's right, that's right.

Speaker 1: 23:36

So you started at seven. You're picking up the game.

Speaker 3: 23:48

When did you really start to get into competition with the game? That following winter. I was eight years old and at palm beach pole all those days they had a tournament called the father and son tournament. So they had to be a father and a son which team? And I was eight, my dad, I had two horses and my dad said, all right, we're play. It was an eight goal tournament and I had one of my mares. Her name was Tintera. We were trying to get her fit and she wouldn't lose weight and we didn't know what was going on. So we have to call the vet. Maybe it's something with her thyroid or something. Well, when the vet came, she said well, this mare is going to have a baby.

Speaker 1: 24:28

So she was pregnant and that never crossed your mind at all.

Speaker 3: 24:31

No, that's how little we knew about horses. So my strain went down from two horses to one horse and I ended up playing. You can imagine how much I helped on the field. I ended up playing one. Can you imagine how much I helped on the field? I ended up playing one mare for six chokers. Actually my dad lent me another mare but I couldn't do much those couple of chokers. My mare, the mare that I played, her name was Tapita. She played for four chokers and my dad's mare played for two chokers. But either way I wasn't that relevant on the field. But that was the first time and I will never forget the first bump, the first play of the game. I was playing against vicky arma and she gave me such a bump I ended up on the neck of the horse oh my goodness it was a good strategy for her to scare me.

Speaker 3: 25:23

I still try to use it when I can. Yeah, after that we lost the first game, but after that the only thing I wanted to do was play games and tournaments and play, and play, and play.

Speaker 1: 25:34

Did that first bump really give you a taste of polo?

Speaker 3: 25:37

Oh yeah, Vicky Armour gave me that first bump.

Speaker 1: 25:42

I'll be honest with you. When I first rode and I was in the arena and I got my first bump, it freaked me out a little bit, but it's just like my god, you can do this in this game. This is gonna be pretty badass. I clearly see like what the calvary days were or what it would be to be on horseback during the roman times, you know it's that's. That's an adrenaline injection if there ever was one.

Speaker 3: 26:09

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1: 26:10

So when did you start to move up in handicap? When did you achieve like one handicap? What was the trajectory? Because you got up to eight right.

Speaker 3: 26:20

Yes, so no, it was so. We used to go back to Costa Rica. Yes, so no, it was so. We used to go back to Costa Rica. We used to go back because my school year was from March through November and we used to come back to Wellington in December, but not until I was 15 years old. I started getting, I guess, a little bit more mature and I started. I grew up a little bit and I was zero goals and that's when my first opportunity came from an outside team, and that was White Birch with Peter Brandt, gonzalo Piedes and Hector Barrantes, and I went from zero.

Speaker 3: 26:56

I played here in the winter with them, I went to Greenwich with them and then I was 15 years old, I was in 86. And then I was 15 years old, I was in 86. The following year, at 16, I was supposed to play with Memo Gracida, but we played that family tournament, the father and son tournament, and they raised me in December. So I lost the possibility to play with Memo that winter. So nothing happened. We played with my dad and my brothers and I cannot remember what tournaments we played. We played here in Wellington, some local tournaments, and the following year that was my 88. That was the final year of high school. I left Wellington. They raised me in December 87 and and I left Wellington March 88, and they raised me to two goals. That year I came back and Carlos Gracia that's when I started at university and Carlos Gracia asked me to play with them and Jeffrey Kent in the Gold Cup. At that time the US Open was played in Kentucky, not here.

Speaker 3: 28:03

The main tournament was the gold cup and I played that 26th with them. After that I went from two to four goals and five goals in two years. Wow, at 91 I was five. 92 as well was five goals. And then I started. My dad made me which is a good thing, I'm not complaining Focused in college. So I focused in college for three years. I was done with school in December 95. 96, I played off and on. Actually I played for Angelo Claron, almost from Chicago, and I played in Chicago quite a bit.

Speaker 1: 28:47

Angelo is by far the one name from Chicago that comes up pretty frequently in these interviews.

Speaker 3: 28:52

For me it was amazing. He was one of my main sponsors of my career and he was great. We played a lot here in Florida and we played a lot in Chicago. We won a lot of tournaments together, a lot Probably 90% of the tournaments that lot in Chicago. We won a lot of tournaments together, a lot Probably 90% of the tournaments that we played together we won In any case. So in 96, I got an opportunity to play with Casa Manila. In 96, I went to six goals and I played with Casa Manila. It was Wesley Pitcock, marcos Hege and Marcelo Cassette and we got to. It was a last minute entry. We played the Gold Cup in Boca Raton and we played the US Open here in Palm Beach, pono, and we got to the finals of the US Open. It was fantastic. Semi-finals in Boca and the Gold Cup Finals in the US Open. That was in 96.

Speaker 1: 29:43

I went to 797 and 898 wow so you know, while you're talking, looking over my notes, you know you, you mentioned like that time period your dad was wanted you to graduate from college, right, you wanted to play polo, clearly, and I think what you were at texas a&m before florida, atlantic no, no, no I.

Speaker 3: 30:07

I actually was accepted to go to texas a&m, but I didn't go because carlos garcia said come play with me. And so I didn't start at texas a&m and I decided to change my major and I stayed in florida to go to school in florida.

Speaker 1: 30:23

So that way, you could go to school and play polo, which looks like it trajected you to that higher goal For sure. Yes, exactly. What was your major before?

Speaker 3: 30:34

business. I wanted to be an architect when I changed my major to polo. In school I changed it to business marketing.

Speaker 1: 30:45

Now, you might be surprised to know this, but I had the exact same trajectory. I was an architect major at Wisconsin-Milwaukee and then, my sophomore year, I switched to business marketing and finance. I don't know if you're like me. I still have a strong knack for architecture.

Speaker 3: 31:06

I love architecture. I love architecture. Yes, I do 100%.

Speaker 1: 31:11

I'll rattle off architects and the way things look like. I will go on the Chicago architecture tour at least once a year. Never gets old Nice.

Speaker 3: 31:21

Nice.

Speaker 1: 31:22

That's great though, but I mean, was collegiate polo at all popularized? I mean, were you doing any arena or were you exclusive to outdoor on the greenfields?

Speaker 3: 31:33

So at that time, the reason why I wanted to go to Texas A&M is because they had a polo program. They still didn't have a field or an arena. They didn't have a big program, but at least you can do some polo there. That's what I wanted to do. That's the only reason I wanted to go to Texas A&M, because I was looking for polo, not really for the best school for architecture.

Speaker 1: 31:55

Well, when Gracita comes your way and starts knocking on your door, I mean that's an opportunity to rethink things, that's for sure.

Speaker 3: 32:02

For sure. I always wanted to be a polo player and when I was eight years old or 10 years old or in my teen years, I said, okay, I'm going to play polo until I'm around 45. And then I'll go back to Costa Rica and work with my family and continue being next to my dad in Costa Rica and work with my brother and my sister. But I want to say that's the only thing that's changed from my childhood. Dream or goal is I ended up marrying an American girl and I have two American boys. So I'm here in Wellington. I'm stuck here in Wellington, which is good. I'm super happy because I can keep on playing polo and grow here. I'm stuck here in.

Speaker 1: 32:45

Wellington, which is good. I'm super happy because I can keep on playing polo and grow here. Yeah, you mentioned something interesting you know about Crescida and where you were with Wellington, but it also seems as though some of the people I've spoken to in this podcast from people like Pamela Flanagan to Jeff Hall, brandon Phillips especially, you know they all seem to have had someone or some level accessibility for someone like Gracita or someone else to come along and bring them into their community or bring them into their barn, where they had access to horses, some of the best trainers, other professionals and so on and so forth. That helped them fast pace their trajectory into the game. And it seemed as though you had that exact experience as well. It's not just your upbringing and your dad, but the community around at that time in Wellington.

Speaker 3: 33:37

For sure. Without a doubt, at that time, in the fall time, the Brasidas used to play here in Wellington. They had La Herradura and Memo used to play here and it was like you said, it was not only me, it was Julio Arellano. He was taught by Memo and Carlos and Ruben and Ruben's dad and Memo's dad and George Oliver. We used to play a lot of polo there in the 90s and early 2000s.

Speaker 3: 34:07

We in the US we had polo, higher goal polo everywhere. We could play 22 goal here in Wellington, 26 goal here in Wellington, but then we could go to New York and play 20 goal, go to California and play 20 goal. Texas, there was 20 goal. Oklahoma, we had 20 goal. So there was a bigger group of high goal players. But without a doubt here the Grecedas are the ones that stepped us up and taught us how to play more that game Because, although it was practice, you were learning to play the game and they not only could pono, they had amazing horse trainers that we would learn from them. We would learn about horses and about getting horses ready and training horses. We were lucky to have that, without a doubt.

Speaker 1: 35:01

Now you named some other places within the US at that time that were playing at that level, outside of Costa Rica and Wellington. Where else were you playing? You know, either in the US or throughout the world.

Speaker 3: 35:13

Oh, after I graduated from college, I ended up playing in many, many places. I played in England a couple of years. I played in South Africa. I taught in South Africa. They used to play 20 goals as well. So I played for three summers, three springs, in South Africa. It was incredible. I played in Argentina. I was invited to play the Open, but I declined it because I didn't have the ability to mount myself. I played another tournament that was played at the same time, which is the most important tournament today behind the Opens, which is the Cámara de Diputados. I played that four years, actually Got to the finals once, played another tournament called the Provincia, which is 24 goals, got to the finals semifinals Also played a few four years. I played a few for years. I played a lot. I played in Spain. We won the Bronze Cup in Spain, lost in the finals and semifinals of the Gold Cup and the Silver Cup. I played in France. I played in Bagatelle. I played all over. I played in China, in Beijing.

Speaker 1: 36:19

So when someone says Winston Churchill's quote is your polo handicap, is your passport to the world 100%, yeah, 100%.

Speaker 3: 36:29

You go to great places and meet great people, yeah.

Speaker 1: 36:33

You know you're speaking to, traditionally a non-polo player who didn't get been invited to every continent somewhere with the incredible hospitality of people like you know. Come on over, we will mount you. You know, let's go out and stick and ball. Let's have a good time, have a beer, a nasado, afterwards. It is one of the most alluring and beautiful things about the polo community is its ability to call someone up you've never met before in a polo club. Hey, I'm traveling here.

Speaker 3: 37:11

We love to get together and with open arms, people will invite you into their homes it is a very, very cool thing 100, that that part that you see today on netflix is what's not shown about polo, how polo can be incredible around the world, and what they put in netflix is doesn't show any of that no and I hope it does yeah and there there's a lot of things that, yeah, and I participated in that project, and there's a lot of things that, yeah, there's so much you can get done in five episodes based on the drama and things that wait there if you haven't said.

Speaker 1: 37:47

But I hope in the future that they do touch on those elements, right, because I have these conversations all the time with people. People are asking me certain things about the episode as they're happening and some people are just like, oh my gosh, that's a made-up drama situation. I'm like no, it's not at all, that's actually a real thing. Oh, that was a hector. Um, what happened to him? I said that happens all the time. It's heartbreaking. And then what these guys have to do to really make a career and build their skill level and make themselves, you know what they have to do to be on a team it's it's, it's the grind. It is a huge grind. Oh yeah, and God bless the people that have wives and children that are doing this as a career as well. Oh, it breaks my heart sometimes.

Speaker 3: 38:33

Breaks my heart. But no, at the same time, you're happy because you're chasing a goal. It's your passion and you're trying to figure out how to become better at it. And when you work hard, whether you become super successful or not, I think there's always a reward for it.

Speaker 1: 38:52

Yeah, no, no doubt about it. There's a reward for your hard work and the friends that you make. Everyone's got your back. I feel like in some way, you really have to piss someone off to be kicked out of polo.

Speaker 3: 39:07

Yes, I agree.

Speaker 1: 39:08

But I, you know, I, brandon Phillips, uh, with pole for life. Yeah, he had a very, very good, and it kills me today, like some of the things that were said to me, what I would love to put into my interview. Uh, brandon Phillips said you know a polo player, someone who chases the sun. I couldn't have loved that quote ever more, because it's true, it's like a surfer who's always chasing the waves that's right Going for every single corner of the continent to play, and a polo player just chases the sun. So, going back to you, your kids, okay Now, when was Nico born? Was Nico your first.

Speaker 3: 39:46

Nico is my first. He was born in 2000 and lucas was born in 2002 okay, 2002.

Speaker 1: 39:54

So he's just turned 21, 22, 22 they're 24 and 22 now okay now did they have a very similar path to you when they got started?

Speaker 3: 40:05

No, it was a little different. They had me that I used to play every day and ride every day and I wanted them with me every day riding on the horses, and it was almost forced, but luckily they liked it and also I think they were lucky in the sense that there was a lot of kids in Wellington that played at that time.

Speaker 3: 40:30

So they had friends that played polo and it was easy for me to ride with them, get them going and then they would go and have fun with the kids we used to do Wednesdays and Fridays at 4 pm. We would throw the ball in and it was kids polo. If you showed up you were going to play and we had six, eight and sometimes 15 kids on the weekends that used to come and play and that group of kids helps make it easier for the kids to like it and enjoy it, because it's fun At that age, when they're seven, eight, nine, ten old, it's it has to be fun. I think yeah, and they loved it and they have their own. They had their own handicap system. They used to have handicapped themselves and they used to play polo and they play soccer and then play frisbee and, and it was great.

Speaker 3: 41:21

What I did with them is the days that they did not have kids polo. They would have to come and ride and ride, and we still do. We ride and we're always trying to practice. We're always working on getting better on our riding, which I think is something that needs to be done more in polo People, just polo People.

Speaker 3: 41:44

Once they learn to hit the ball, they forget about the riding and they get to a point where they cannot improve anymore and that's because of the riding. So to this day, with Nico and Lucas and myself, we're working on the horses and trying to ride better so that we can get the most out of each horse, to ride better so that we can get the most out of each horse, which, at the end of the day, it'll be easier to get to the ball and take a man and and it'll be easier to to operate him on the field like what you just said in terms of your horsemanship skill, just in general, and do you feel as though that is kind of a lost art when it comes to someone succeeding in the game?

Speaker 1: 42:24

Is that a difference between how why there's more better Argentine players and there are us players and vice versa, or just horsemanship skills in general? Just people, don't take the time.

Speaker 3: 42:36

I think it's a combination of things. I think in Argentina there's so many people, so many horses. I think it's a little bit of a lost art even at a high goal level you have eight, nine, ten goal professional players that if a horse doesn't go well, they have more horses and they just get rid of one, give it back to their trainer or their pilot and they can get on another one. We didn't have that growing up and that's what I'm trying to show nico and lucas if we had a horse that we played on sunday and that horse didn't play well monday morning.

Speaker 3: 43:14

I was trying to figure out what to do with that horse to make that horse better for wednesday yeah, practice on wednesday. Today, their strings. If you go to the Igo's barns, they have 20, 22 horses and they're all very well bred and they're all very good horses. So the art of knowing about horses and operating the horse at a higher level, I do think, is getting lost, not only here in the US, but in Argentina too. That said, there's a lot more trainers. There's a lot of very good trainers in Argentina for polo. I do think that in the US we have a lot of amazing American trainers, but just not in polo. They're on different disciplines.

Speaker 1: 43:57

Yeah, you do raise something though that was touched in the Netflix about how well some of the bigger teams were mounted At the end of the day. Like curtis pilot had mentioned that, it's one of the things that I think the duda family didn't have. I think it was mentioned. You know, it's like why valiente la delfina, the pilots you know, are up there, or consistently up there, is because they have a very large depth when it comes to the quality of their horses, that's for sure.

Speaker 3: 44:27

Sure, sure, yeah sure. The difference between the Dudas and the Pilots or the Valientes is because Valientes budget, they have the budget and they can go out and buy or breed almost a limited amount of horses and they can buy the best horses you can find in the market, whereas Duda, timmy himself, is very well mounted, but he mounts himself, not the rest of the team. So the budget of horses from Tomas Garcia Rio, who plays for Timmy Duda, is not the same as Pilot's budget. He's not the same as Valiente's budget. So that makes a difference. That makes a huge difference. Tomas Garcia-Rio, he's a better horseman. He for sure operates those horses better and gets the most out of the horses, but he's got a limited budget. So definitely the budget will make a difference on your strength.

Speaker 3: 45:26

Yeah, no no question about it. But that doesn't mean if you want to be a high goal player and you want to be the best, you have to learn how to ride properly. Yeah, but the example is Memo Gracia, Carlos Gracia. Those guys were Ruben Gracia. Those guys were horsemen. Horsemen that had the ability to play polo and had the brain to play the game, to learn to play the game. You see a lot of eight or nine or ten goal players that are not as good horsemen, but they're still talented to beat that handicap, but they don't win as many games as they could. It's what you have. You can have the brain, the ability.

Speaker 1: 46:04

Yeah, that young La Delfina team that won the Open. Do you feel as though they have a lot to work towards in terms of horseman skill, or are they as talented as Adolfo, or anyone else for that matter?

Speaker 3: 46:22

I think Adolfo is one in many Armenia. He was at 15. He was already he already showed coming from a non-polar organization I think the Castagnolas are the ones that used to help him at that time. But he was a individual like a Michael Jordan. That's one in a billion or one in I don't know how many million that will be born like that. Is he smart? Did he have the ability to create La Fina and operate? Yes, he did, and that's why he is today where he's at His son, poroto is a little bit like my kids yes, my kids.

Speaker 3: 47:02

Unfortunately, what I can show them is medium goal. Here in the US, poroto and the Castagnolas, their parents, they can show them high goal because that's what they can put together in Argentina. Here in this country, in America, we don't have that. We have 20 goal, 22 goal max, and that's the most that we can expose them to. That's why we go down to Argentina to play, or we're in a different path and hopefully we'll get as high as those guys. They can get as high as those guys or maybe close to them.

Speaker 1: 47:33

But I mean, you mentioned something that's reflective of every other sport. You know, if you want to get better at something, the best thing to do is play with people who are, in fact, better than you, because was play with people who are in fact better than you because it's only going to raise your caliber of play. So if you only have access to 22, 26 goal in the us or argentina, you're playing in the 30s and 40s. Yeah, if you maxed out your capabilities here, you got to go down there in order to get even better that's correct, and I know that's that can be costly to do.

Speaker 3: 48:03

Correct.

Speaker 1: 48:04

Now, where is Nico and Luca today in terms of their handicap?

Speaker 3: 48:09

Nico and Lucas. Here in the US they both got raised. This year they're five and six. In Argentina they're both six goals. Lucas just got raised to six goals. They had a very good season this past season. They played the qualifier for the Camaday-Ethel tiles. They almost had it. They lost two games by a goal in the last checker by making some I want to say amateur mistakes. The first time they played that level, those tournaments, they needed to learn how to finish the game and they didn't. But they did great. It was the first time trying it and I think they're ready for next year. They played another subsidiary tournament called the Miles. It's also 28 goals. They got to the semifinals and they lost by a goal against the finalists. Again, they could have won it, but their team was 23 goals and they lost against a 28-goal team by a goal.

Speaker 1: 49:10

So I'm proud.

Speaker 3: 49:11

I'm happy, they're happy and they see they can do it. So I think we're on track.

Speaker 1: 49:17

Do you guys get to play with each other often?

Speaker 3: 49:20

We do here in the US, at Santa Clara, and in Argentina when we go down there. Yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 1: 49:28

If there was a moment in your polo career, what stands out as the most memorable?

Speaker 3: 49:37

I love my polo career. I love playing polo. I love my life with polo and the horses. I love that my kids play. I thought for a couple of years there when I was clearly I'm not in demand anymore, so for a moment I thought it was going to be tough to transition from being an active player to a non-active player. I thought it was going to be tough, but I haven't, because I have Nico and Lucas. I haven't had that. So I want to say that maybe the best thing that has happened to me in my recent memory is that I can continue playing through the eyes of my kids.

Speaker 1: 50:17

Great answer Anyone who's a father or mother today to play and watch their children play a game that they love so deeply as much as you. It has always been a consistent answer, that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 50:32

Without a doubt, and it's one of the few sports I feel like you can do, even on a professional level, for father and son, mother and daughter to play with each other well into their age, that's for sure. Right, I think I made a point of saying that on the Netflix show when it came to Adolfo and his son, like you know, to play in professional sports. I think the only time right now that's actually ever happening is LeBron and his son at the LA Lakers. Before that, I don't think it has occurred Right. Only time right now that's actually ever happening is lebron and his son of la lakers. Before that, I don't think it has occurred.

Speaker 1: 51:05

Right that I've heard that the people are playing with each other, father and son at the very, very highest level, not to mention that can play at the very, very highest level still, that's for sure. So I I just out of curiosity. You know when your dad went to costa carica, you know what? What business was your family in? I always have to ask that, because getting into polo, especially at the caliber in which you guys were playing at, is not cheap and I'm always curious as to what type of business was the family in or that person in Was he an entrepreneur CEO themselves. That afforded them the opportunity to get into this game.

Speaker 3: 51:41

My dad is a land developer. That's what he's done all his life, but also coming from Costa Rica, even if you're successful there, it's not the same as being successful a land developer in the US. It would have been a different story for him had he developed his tennis career and been successful here economically. That's why he was never a high goal sponsor or a big sponsor, because the economies are totally different. And yes, he was successful in Costa Rica, but not enough to be a high goal sponsor. He was low goal and some medium goal, nothing major, unfortunately.

Speaker 1: 52:19

Well, land developer will help, that's for sure.

Speaker 3: 52:22

For sure.

Speaker 1: 52:24

Now you are still keeping very, very busy in Wellington, not with Santa Clara Polo Club, but also you supported the US team when they went to France to play in the challenge out there during the Olympics, which is awesome. How was that experience?

Speaker 3: 52:41

by the way, it was a great experience. It was a great experience. It was a great thing. Julio Arellano was the main coach. I was asked to go and help and it was great to see the US have a competitive team outside the US on horses that are not theirs. We need more of that. I think we need to figure out a way to have US players although we have limited players at limited handicaps. I think Jesse Bray is handicapped today.

Speaker 3: 53:11

7 years we need more tournaments outside the US with American players. I think Paris was incredible. The organization that they had on horses was fantastic, they mounted the American players very well and the whole event was very well done, very well organized, very well done.

Speaker 1: 53:36

That's great man. I really enjoyed watching it. I was trying to brag to my former colleagues in mainstream sports to keep an eye on it and watch for it, because what I think it was the 100th anniversary since actually polo was in the Olympics in Paris, I think coincidentally at that time. So you know, people always ask me like well, it's not really a truly international sport. I'm like you're dead wrong, it is. It's a very international sport. Many countries do it and then going down the path of just even the world cup of polo, clearly you know, shows that. But at the same time now you're also keeping busy in wellington because you're also taking to take advantage of the fall season, which normally no one thinks of polo being played in Wellington at that time. Right.

Speaker 3: 54:24

Yes, so polo in Wellington in the fall has always been hit or miss. I want to say that's when we got a lot of good exposure from the Grecillas that we were talking about earlier. Memo used to do the Herradura tournaments and we used to come and play there. I mean, it was me, julio Leano, tommy Biddle, tiger Inis, charlie Muldoon. There was a lot of players that we used to come and be down there, down here and play at Memo's and Carlos. But the modality at that time was Memo would invite us to play, he would get the patrons and we would just be there playing with them and helping them play in Poland. We would get the opportunity to play there and learn, and then the modality stayed a little bit like that.

Speaker 3: 55:11

Grand champions the Ganses and Juan Bolini they still do something similar to it. They hire the professionals, they get the sponsors and they pay the professionals. So it's more of a pro pool style of polo. It's good. I think that's very good when there's not enough players and sponsors around to make the polo good or competitive. Basically, it can be competitive in a pro pool style. I'm not saying the gang guys don't have competitive polo when they want to do it, but it's just not the same as if you're playing individual teams that organize themselves to come and play a tournament in a.

Speaker 3: 55:52

USPA tournament. So now that we have the NPC here and we have enough players and sponsors in Wellington in that time of the year, it just worked out that we were awarded the regional qualifier for the president's cup and we put it out there and I thought it was and we had very good results. We had 16s and we ended up playing through tornadoes and through hurricanes, through rain, and luckily it ended up being the last two and a half weeks of October. The weather was fantastic and we ended up playing very good polo, Not only in Wellington. We had some games at Port Mayaka and we played the semifinals and the finals at NPC.

Speaker 1: 56:42

Oh, that's fantastic and it was a great success. Who are some of the names, patrons and players that participated in it?

Speaker 3: 56:49

Iconica. Maureen Brennan. There was a team with Aspen Tinto. Their name is AJ Tinto, AJT for Aspen Tinto, my brother Federico, and Brandon Plunkett from Nashville. They split a team. They're actually the ones that ended up winning the qualifier. That was a great surprise. It was good because it's my brother, but it was a two-sponsored team that ended up winning the qualifier, which is great. Billy Howard with Margin, that skates really is the main professional. They have the IPS, the Polo School. They do a lot of logo. They used to be with NPC, with IPC, Now it's called IPS and they have all the tournaments here in the winter. Timmy Sharma he lives here in Wellington and he signed up and he put the team and he was fantastic. And the other one was Avery. Chapman was also starting to come back into polo, which was great.

Speaker 1: 57:48

What is the time period Like? When does it start and when does it end?

Speaker 3: 57:51

So we start somewhere on September 25th with practices and some in-house tournaments, and then the last three weeks of October to the first weekend of November. That's when we'll play the USPA tournaments.

Speaker 1: 58:06

Okay, you'd probably get a few people from Chicago to come down Because, technically, even though some people play all the way through October, either end of August or mid-September is usually the stoppage here for our season. So you could get a few of those teams, convince Angelo to come down and his son to come down that's for sure.

Speaker 1: 58:27

But like Las Parisas and people like that, although I don't know if a Kentucky Open is played around that time period, I know some people venture south slightly but no, that's great man. Congratulations on reigniting that portion of the season. Just goes to show that Wellington is much longer pole season than I think people think between January and April.

Speaker 3: 58:48

For sure, for sure. And yes, kentucky, actually they're done the first weekend of October and they can come down after that. And also, not only the season is longer here I mean the fields. That time of the year they are the best, the fields are incredible that time of the year.

Speaker 1: 59:07

Despite the weather.

Speaker 3: 59:08

Well, if you get a little rain or rain, then you have to. Whether it's in the winter or in the summer. You have to wait until they dry out, but they dry out pretty quickly here.

Speaker 1: 59:17

But I got to imagine like the temperature and all that kind of stuff is just perfect. It's not sweltering in any sort of way, is it?

Speaker 3: 59:24

In September it can be hot. It can be hot, but October normally starts to change and it becomes really good. The fall is almost like April, March, April, the month of October.

Speaker 1: 59:41

October, november, it's similar temperatures. Now, what do you have to look forward to this next year, in 2025? What are your children doing.

Speaker 3: 59:48

What do you got planned for Santa Clara? Well, during the winter we're going to focus on the 16 goal. That's where Nico and Lucas are going to play together again with Dana Barnes. He's a new sponsor in the 16 goal. He played eight goals the last couple of years at IPS and he was determined to jump to the 16 goal. So we're going to do that, we're going to focus on that and we're still going to try to do some 18 goals and hopefully something will break for Nico and Lucas and they can get on a team in the IGL in the Olympics.

Speaker 1: 1:00:22

That's great.

Speaker 3: 1:00:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:00:23

I mean before we, you, before we hit the record button. I know we talked about a few things in terms of the trajectory of Polo and the industry today. Do you feel as though Polo is in a good place within the ULs and elsewhere? Is it on a good trajectory? Are there things that you envision that we should do differently to help promote our game, to generate more participation?

Speaker 3: 1:00:47

Well, I think Pornhub is good at a low goal level and I want to say up to 12 goal level. If we separate a little bit the American players and the Argentine players. I think we need to figure out a way to help the American players a little bit more. We need to produce more of them. We need to figure out a way to help the American players a little bit more. We need to produce more of them. That's a long topic that we can talk about and try to figure out how to help them, because unfortunately, polo has been taken over by Argentines.

Speaker 1: 1:01:14

Well, and we kind of touched base as to really why. I mean, the culture of the horse and the accessibility is like night and day In Argentina versus the US. I mean, that's a a big, big component right there 100.

Speaker 3: 1:01:25

Okay, although that's happening, we have to figure out a way to help the american, the americans, produce more players. It's not possible that there's only a handful of up-and-coming players maybe not even a handful up-and-coming players there could be more but there's no incentive Unless you're absolutely passionate or you're born in a family, like my kids, that have the passion and the capacity and the goal to be polo players. There's no incentive for an American young player to stick around polo. I think we need to figure that out. Other than that, I think polo's going through a good moment. I want to say, if I heard correctly, there's 10 or 11 teams in the high goal and then 10 or 11 or 12 teams in the 16 goal, in the medium goal. I'm not sure how many there is in the low goal, but last year in the low goal at IPS there was the month of February there were 16 teams in the eight goal, which I think is fantastic.

Speaker 1: 1:02:26

Yeah, absolutely. But you did touch on something that was pretty important was just the idea like your children they come from kind of polo dynasties in a way giving them more accessibility. Because when you talk about Jesse Bray, when you talk about your kids, when you talk about jared zeni, you know he had access to it, you know his father and his family, timmy duda, another one, yeah. So I mean the great thing is like look, we pinpointed the why we need to do x, y and Z over here. You know, it's why I had a great call on my podcast and interview with Chip Campbell.

Speaker 1: 1:03:08

And even this goes back to when I was with the USPA and we did kind of a study to see where the fall off was when it came to people playing the game. And a lot of it happened between teenagers and their mid thirties School, college, you're getting a career, you don't have the discretionary income to play, and so on and so forth. And either polo was imprinted on them at a younger age that they would pick up the sport later in life and that imprint could be a potential I don't want to say solution, but opportunity to get more people back involved in the game. Opportunity to get more people back involved in the game. How do you imprint polo on more younger people than what let's say is out today? And I even brought up the fact that I went to camp when I was a kid and that's how I got into horses.

Speaker 1: 1:03:56

But they just taught typical trail riding and just basic equestrian sport, hunter-jumper type things. It's like my gosh, the crowd of boys that I went to camp with. Polo would far and exceed the other disciplines easily. So it's like how you could imprint polo on a hundred boys over the course of the summer at one particular camp. What might that look like 15, 20 years later? Could you be able to track all those people coming back into the game? It'd be an interesting study, that's for sure. Something I'm still considering. Like Chip, let's put a pilot program together and let's go out and do it.

Speaker 3: 1:04:36

Oh, 100%. That's one way of doing it, for sure.

Speaker 1: 1:04:40

No, this is great, luis. I really appreciate you taking the time talking about your history with the game, your children, the success that you've been having in wellington with santa clara. It's been great. I love talking to people like you who really pull back the curtain and have show why they have. This is a deep love for this game. It's great. So again, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to open up to me and open up to all the people that are listening as well.

Speaker 3: 1:05:12

Thank you very much for inviting me, daniel. I hope this helps in any way. Shape or form Polo somewhere someone.

Speaker 1: 1:05:21

Yeah, no question about it. And for those who are listening, look up Santa Clara Polo Club If you're ever down in Wellington, or, in the fall, hopefully they can catch a game in Acold.

Speaker 3: 1:05:30

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 1:05:32

All you need is a car and a cooler or beer and just pull up. That's all you need. Don't wear the fancy big hat or sundresses or anything like that to enjoy a game. That's right. It's not like that hat or sundresses or anything like that to enjoy a game. It's not like that. That's correct. It's beer and barbecue. I always say and tell that to people. I think there's probably more flow of Corona and Modelo out there than there is any type of champagne.

Speaker 3: 1:05:55

Of course. Of course it has to be enjoyed, it has to be fun.

Speaker 1: 1:06:00

Yeah, yeah, there's no question about it, about it. But hey, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I hope our paths cross in the very near future. And best to you and your family and, yeah, take care thank you very much, and I'll take care.

Speaker 3: 1:06:14

Happy holidays to you too, looking forward to meeting you, too, in person you bet same here, thank.

Speaker 1: 1:06:22

In 2012, the founders of Outside the Boards witnessed their first polo match and were stunned by the sport's beauty and brutality. Few sports, if any, have these combined qualities. The sport's grace, intensity and warlike imagery create a shock and awe viewing experience like none other. Combine this with the sport's party-like atmosphere and lifestyle and you have a recipe for success. Today, the sport has yet to witness its full potential. The industry is fragmented, riddled with politics and inexperience. Outside the Board was purposely designed to change all that and bring clarity to the sport by introducing best practices, insights, trends and consulting services to industry stakeholders and interested brands so that they can reach their marketing potential and better navigate the sport.

Speaker 1: 1:07:09

Whether you're a club seeking custom sponsorship and marketing solutions or simply looking for strategic advice, we encourage you to contact us today or subscribe to gain access to industry insights. Visit us at outsidetheboardscom or to learn more, or email us at info at outsidetheboardscom. Let's change the game. That was a great episode. What is the one thing you learned from today's conversation? If this episode had an impact on you in some way, then I encourage you to visit and subscribe to our website at OutsideTheBoardscom for more episodes and interviews with incredible guests. Thanks for stopping by my friends and hope to see you on the pole of you.