MAN, MAN, MAN, LINE, BALL Mike McCleary - A Southern Gentleman Hannah Reynolds - Texas A&M University ‘23
Mike McCleary is not just a Texas A&M collegiate
coach who has successfully won and coached many Intercollegiate National Championship titles. He is a friend, a father, a grandfather, a mentor and an Aggie. Mike McCleary did not grow up in a polo dominant and wealthy family. Mike grew up in Waco, Texas, mowing lawns for 50 cents. And at eleven, Mike purchased his first horse Ginger, a spit fire 14.5 hands bucking and kicking mare, for $146. Part Shetland, Ginger came to be a handy and quick mare who Mike competed on in several barrel racing competitions and won quite a bit of money. Blazing through the competition, Mike was unstoppable with Ginger until it came time for Mike to hang up his saddle and gear up to play football for Texas A&M University. However, his time apart from Ginger was to be short lived as his high school sweetheart, Diane, was gifted Ginger. Mike tumbled and roared ahead, competitive in football. So, how did a lawn mowing, barrel racing, football player come to learn the Sport of Kings? Gymkhana. Texas A&M held a Gymkhana (now called Rec Palooza), where all the sports teams set up booths and activities to try and gain members. Texas A&M had a beautiful polo field set up on the campus and that day the activity was polo puttputt and racing barrels. At the time, Mike McCleary’s best friend, Joe Ed, also rode horses and decided that the westerners were to take on the “goofy people in the flat saddles.” Diane brought Ginger for Mike and he blazed through polo putt-putt and the barrels. He rode with such ease that the Texas A&M Polo Coach called Mike up to ask if the team could use Ginger in their upcoming game against Houston Polo Club. Diane and Mike both agreed that Ginger was only going to be ridden by them, so Mike agreed to play for Texas A&M Polo and Diane agreed to give Ginger back for the price of marriage. Happily married and sitting at his desk with the infamous Bluebook, McCleary studied the game and roped his best friend Joe Ed in with him. They slowly learned to play polo bringing Ginger to practices until the day that they got invited to the Houston Polo Club to play in a tournament. The rookies took on 4-goaler, Jesus Rodriguez, and experienced what exactly a T-bone was and lost the game 8-0.
Ginger
Determined to succeed and quite upset with the loss, Mike signed up for the seven-day polo clinic with Colonel Wilson. Throughout those seven days Mike took what he learned, perfected it, and then came back to Aggieland to improve the polo team at home with the techniques and lessons that he had aquired. David Bird, Joe Ed, and Mike maintained the polo club and the field on campus practicing several times a week chomping at the bit for polo, polo, polo. Mike was invited by Houston sponsor Will Ferris to play in the Friday and Sunday matches and Mike’s skill and knowledge of polo blossomed. The day finally came where TAMU and Houston would duel it out and Texas A&M, captained by Mike, won. McCleary went on to produce a competitive reputation for Texas A&M and won several National Championships competing against Tom Goodspeed and Danny Scheraga, who today are still influencers and coaches in the polo community. I/I MAGAZINE - 2021
39
