Why more female players are now taking up polo

Nairobo Polo club's Alice Owambo at at the club on Feb 3, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard] The effective participation and a formidable performance in national and international championships for the past five years have come with an influx of female players joining the technical game of polo. While the game is believed to be for the rich, the passion displayed by female players has been adorable, resulting in them embracing it with lots of passion. Interestingly, the positive performance of young and experienced female internationals in recent international matches have also inspired more female players to join the flock. As a result, these talents have been a joy to watch in recent matches. Some of them were inspired by their parents' involvement in it and thereby automatically inherited their spirit, while others were inspired by experienced riders after watching a number of matches. A number of factors, which also includes the traditional norms of the sport, have also inspired a sizable number of new female players to join the sport. And for a player to join it, she must have first fallen in love with the horses and make the ponies part and parcel of herself besides taking the pride of learning to be a skilled rider. And the polo-playing ponies must have as well undergone rigorous and skilled training with the fast-learners taking at least two and half years and the slow ones three years. The ponies are made to understand the technicality of the sport, which includes low and high speed riding while riders are on horseback while chasing the ball. The ponies are equally trained on quick and slow reflexes plus slow and sharp quick turns while on play when chasing the ball, which is almost the size of a hockey ball while the mallet is well positioned to do its work. All these were embraced by all female players who took their time to learn the game besides spending huge resources importing ponies from South Africa, Argentina and England besides purchasing some of the locally bred ponies. As an upcoming player, the handicap -2 Alice Owambo said it's a technical sport which requires one to be courageous. "It's a tough game that requires regular training and practice. One should not relent while still learning. Discipline and courage is paramount in the process," Owambo told Standard Sports during Maria Bencivenga Memorial Cup at Nairobi Polo Club in January. Owambo has three ponies, which she says are still enough for her, going by her standards. "Those (ponies) are enough for me at my standards while playing in different parts of the country," she said. Experienced players use at least four horses per match in four-chukka matches, with a chukka lasting seven minutes in a polo pitch, which is nine times bigger than the size of a football pitch. African champion Izzy Voorspuy, who's an experienced Kenyan international,l said polo is part of her diet. Voorspuy, who's the best female player in Africa and whose home club is Manyatta Polo Club in Gilgil has featured in a number of international matches locally and abroad. The handicap 3 rider who originated from a polo playing family is ranked fifth among the global polo playing female players. She has had exposure against fancied players from global powerhouses of Argentina, England and South Africa. Magdalene Mulandi, Head of Marketing and Communications at SBM Bank (Centre) presents the Swinburn trophy to the Kenya Polo team during the Zambia ladies International tournament on 23rd July. The players from Left to right are: Izzy Voorspuy, Megan Griffiths, Tiva Gross and Izzy Stitchbury. [Courtesy] "Besides playing the three powerhouses, I have also managed to face a number of players in the continent, with the most recent ones being matches against riders from Zambia and Zimbabwe," she said. "I have as well played in many parts of the world while winning and losing in equal measure. Playing polo offers a great pleasure to riders from the rest of the world," Voorspuy said. Her swings and turns are superb and at some point, better than most Kenyan male players. Voorspuy is in the class of Kenyan top male player handicap 5 Casimir Gross of Northern Kenya Polo Club in Timau. She has won the admiration of many players one of them being the in-form Hiromi Nzomo, another handicap 3 player who has been a thorn in the flesh of many players in the recent past. Hiromi's star-studded performance has steadily improved her handicap in a short spell. Hiromi, a national team member, had a superb performance and was in a class of her own if her recent performance at Nairobi Polo Club is anything to go by. Her prowess made her come face to face with some of the best players from the continent, with her ponies emerging as the Best Playing Ponies in the chase for top honours. Shaban is one of her lovely ponies. "It was a good day while playing different nationalities here. I'm happy to have played well today and came out victorious," Hiromi said after leading Capital FM to win a past Maria Bencivenga Memorial Cup. She teamed up with Ghanaian international star Nada Gharib in the company of compatriots Jennie Camm and Rowena Stichbury to beat the Tanqueray team of Izzy Stichbury, Magda Jurkowiecka and Natalie Allan 5-2.5 in the finals. Cheza Millar, who trains in Gilgil, is another talented youngster. Luckily, she comes from a polo-playing family dating back to the days of her grandparents, with her elder brother Craig Millar and elder sister Kaila Millar being accomplished players. "I like polo as a family game, and we mean business when we are in the pitch," said Cheza, who was in the Kenyan team that toured Zambia in 2021. Others were Voorspuy (Izzy), Tiva Gross and Aisha Gross. Other upcoming female players who are keen to make a name in the male-dominated game are Eva Kamau and Sharon Alela who are both memembers of Nairobi Club.

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