Mercy Ngulube

“Change your line,change your life”

sounds a little funny when a) you’ve never played polo and b) you’re in the haze of a- levels and trying to figure out who you want to become. Nevertheless, I was persuaded to come along and try something new.

I was anxious about falling off a horse

‘Power of Polo were hosting a one- day course and I had the chance to both learn to ride a horse and play polo. To begin with, I had absolutely no confidence that the latter was going to happen well and I was anxious about falling off a horse! However, that day I discovered that actually… I may not be a perfect polo player (handicap of -1804628640824 might apply to me) but I

could do what I didn’t think I could do! That day with Power of Polo encouraged me to look outside of my comfort zone and not simply dip one foot in the pool of uncertainty but dive right in and be unafraid of what might occur. ‘It’s hard to believe it has been almost 5 years since that day. Since then, I’ve had a lot more opportunities to play polo (probably bringing my handicap to -13173!) and had incredible opportunities to network with people I would not have had the chance to meet otherwise. People often assume when I say that I play polo that it is a world full of people that they couldn’t relate to, but it isn’t. What I’ve loved about being involved with Power of Polo is the range of people I’ve gotten to ride with and play alongside. Power of Polo has opened the way for me to meet so many other inspiring young people and I’ve really cherished the opportunities it has brought me.

‘This past year, Power of Polo enabled me to be a part of my university polo society

Olee Morris Photography

and this was one of the highlights of the past year. Whether I was facing a busy week of dissertation work, wedding planning or travelling – I looked forward to being able to relax and take some time out to ride and play on the weekends! I think this year has taught me the most about that little phrase. What does it actually mean to ‘change your line’? For me, it meant taking time to take time in every situation to reflect, smile at what went well and make a decision to move forward intentionally with the attitude to win. Learning this has massively paid off, and in the space of 3 weeks I had the privilege of playing a chukka at Guard’s Polo Club, getting married and graduating. Now, whenever I hear ‘change your line’, I remember that it has literally changed my life.’

Katy Hayward, CEO and Founder of Power of Polo on Mercy’s journey, ‘When we first set up Power of Polo many people questioned the value of the sport to young people like Mercy. How can you impact change in young people’s life without changing their circumstances, how can the sport of kings possibly help? ‘Well, we have learned it all depends on the model and how you work with partners. We continue to build on our success and learn from our failures. Mercy’s success is echoed by more and more young people coming through the programme where polo is helping them to change their mind about what they can achieve and believe in a better life, after all to make any change you have to start there.’

Katy Hayward

About Powerof Polo

Power of Polo is a new and unique, national charity. Our mission is to positively impact the lives of anyone facing social, economic or health challenges, utilising the sport of polo. Our strap line ‘change your line’ refers to how this sport can help you to change the direction of your life and is taken from the most important rule of the game – the line of the ball. Our model is one of partnership, collaboration and facilitation. Many polo clubs are keen to provide charitable programmes but do not

have the necessary infrastructure to be able to perform, sustain, monitor and evaluate them. Power of Polo provides this support by bringing together charities, polo clubs and other relevant organisations with the common aim of making these programmes a reality and facilitating the programmes by providing assistance with financing, training, monitoring and evaluation. Starting with a youth programme we are aiming to build the charity with new partners and participants from all walks of life. We have built youth leader positions within our courses as an opportunity for appropriate young people to develop skills which can help them towards their careers in the future. It is our hope that by being a focal point for the charitable aim and by sharing the work being done by individual organisations with the wider polo community, we can be a catalyst for growth.

Power of Polo Details

Find us: www.powerofpolo.org.uk Talk to us: info@powerofpolo.org.uk Support us: www.justgiving.com/powerof-polo Follow us: @powerofpolo Registered Charity 1162382