A solid foundation

Since 1967, the Polo Training Foundation has played a key role in training players and umpires, helping to secure a bright future for polo in America

The Polo Training Foundation (PTF), founded on 20 January 1967 in Long Island, New York, by Northrup Knox, William Ylvisaker and C Heath Manning to ‘train young men’ to play polo, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. Since its inception, the organisation has expanded to include, among many other things, the training of umpires and female players.

Current executive director Danny Scheraga believes that building skills is still very much the future of the organisation. His passion for the game, and respect for participants and supporters, has defined the foundation’s programmes. ‘I’ve devoted my life to improving the sport,’ he enthuses. ‘We want to help young players to find their way in the game, while also encouraging them to find careers in other endeavours. In this way, they can continue to contribute to polo. There is no greater thrill than helping steer [someone] on the path to success in polo, career and quality of life.’

Impetus for the founding of the PTF came from a gift of 28 acres on Long Island from the Barker Welfare Foundation. The foundation began by teaching player and umpire clinics, and went on to help fund and promote several new initiatives. These included funding a summer polo school at the Virginia Polo Centre, where Rege Ludwig built his international reputation as a formidable instructor, training and mentoring many of today’s top instructors and managers.

For 25 years, the USPA Intercollegiate/ Interscholastic programme was fully funded by the PTF, who also managed it for eight of those years. The concept of today’s programme, with games leading to regional and then national tournaments, was developed by members of the foundation.

In the 1980s, the group created the Blue Book of Rules film, still used today as a tool for teaching. The PTF also sponsored and published the USPA White Book of Rules for many years. The foundation’s umpire, youth and player clinics rose to more than 40 events a year at polo clubs across the continent. Between clinics, camps and the I/I programme, the PTF reached nearly 1,500 people annually.

While many of these projects are now run by the USPA, the PTF continues to strive to fulfil its mission. ‘The hardest part of my job is explaining to people that the PTF is not part of the USPA,’ explains executive secretary Jennifer McLeavy. ‘The USPA is the governing body of polo, and the PTF is about training. The USPA does not fund us. All our funds are raised through donations and income from a small endowment.’ Our current projects include a scholarship programme for students who are members of their collegiate polo programme; running the Florida Junior and Youth polo tournaments; and coordinating several exchange programmes with New Zealand and Great Britain.

In 2015, the PTF held its inaugural International Junior Cup, with four teams taking part: England, Argentina, America and an international girls’ team.

‘I’m extremely proud to be part of the PTF team’, says McLeavy. ‘I get to watch these kids grow up and improve, and there’s nothing more rewarding and adorable than a five-year-old shaking your hand, thanking you, or receiving a thank-you letter from a nine-year-old who can’t wait to do it all again next season.’

Over the past 50 years, the PTF has built up an impeccable reputation for training polo players while managing its finances in an ethical manner. It will continue to strive for the future of US polo.

Above, from left Instructor Harry Wilson leads a clinic at Kent School in Connecticut during the early 1970s; a clinic in the 1980s at Meadowbrook Polo Club, New York, which first prompted the forming of the PTF in 1967

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