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June 16, 2010 ■ News of local people and events in A
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Madelyn Cobb, right, representing the Coldwell Banker team in this Atherton match, takes a shot. At left is Kim Garsed, a Ferrari player. Cobb, a fourth-generation polo player, graduated from Sacred Heart and plays on the Cal Poly Polo team that won the regional championships this year and went on to the nationals.
Photo by Jessica Robinson
Women’s polo delights players, spectators in Atherton
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By Christine Vernes Member, Menlo Polo Club
About the author: Christine Vermes is an amateur polo player and member of both the Menlo Polo Club and the Horse Park Polo Club of Woodside. She was co-chair of the recent ExpertQuote Ladies’ Cup Tournament, held in Atherton.
On the cover Abby Riggs takes a shot while her horse is at a full gallop. Photo by Jessica Robinson.
A polo player zips up her boots. This is the traditional type of tall boot worn for polo, with the zipper running up the front.
Photo by Jessica Robinson
t may be the best-kept secret in Silicon Valley. Polo is being played right here in our own backyard — and it has been since 1923. Over Memorial Day weekend, the Menlo Polo Club, one of the oldest polo clubs in California, hosted its first U.S. Polo Associationsanctioned women’s tournament at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton with all the fanfare and pageantry you’d expect from the so-called “sport of kings.” Eight teams, with a total of 32 women, competed in four matches for prizes. Amateur competitors hailed from Menlo Park, Woodside, Portola Valley and other local Silicon Valley towns. Completing
the teams were top professional women players from Southern California, collegiate players from Cal Poly, and guests from Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, and Santa Barbara. While the Menlo Polo Club has been in existence for nearly 90 years and had some serious national recognition in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it has been relatively quiet until recently. “Back in the day, polo was a large part of the social scene on the Peninsula,” says Lyn Jason Cobb, president of the Menlo Polo Club. Her grandfather started the club, and her father, Mack Jason, was club president for 46 years. “The sidelines were always packed with tailgaters.”
She’d like to see a return to that kind of local enthusiasm for the sport. The May 29 event was the largest tournament the club has seen in many years and the sponsorship was unprecedented. The title sponsor was ExpertQuote, a benefits management company. Team and Gold sponsors were Airship Ventures, Bombardier, Cheval Polo, Coldwell Banker, Ferrari Silicon Valley, Four Seasons Silicon Valley, Land Rover, Surpass, Tesla Motors, the Wall Street Journal and Zouves Fertility Center. “The enthusiasm and momentum for the tournament was outSee WOMEN’S POLO, next page
June 16, 2010 N The Almanac N 21