IT TAKES A VILLIAGE Texas Tech Attributes Their Success to Alumni Support Jair de la Peña - Texas Tech ‘21
Here in West Texas we have a tradition that started
in 1983. It consists of always riding tough, swinging hard,and playing at battle speed. Our club has proudly hoisted one National Championship in our history under the guidance of one of our club’s greatest benefactors, Clyde Waddell. In 1999, he began letting our club use his farm to board our horses, but before long his passion for the sport lead Clyde to become the full-time club coach in 2000. Year by year under his guidance the club saw improvement culminating in the 2006 USPA Men’s National Intercollegiate Championship. Tragically, Clyde Waddell passed away in 2016 leaving a void as a coach, as well as a property owner. Luckily, our club has an amazing group of alumni and benefactors who are passionate about the game and many still play the sport we all love to this day. In particular, two alumni have promoted the club by going above and beyond the expectations of all the club members, Mr. Walker Rainey and Mrs. Ashley Owen. After Clyde’s passing, Walker assumed the position of coach for the club and his leadership has led both our men’s and women’s teams to consistent contention in well-known tournaments like Fall Fandango, USPA Intercollegiate Preliminaries, as well as the USPA Intercollegiate Regional Championship. Last year, our men’s team consisting of freshmen Anson Moore and Ricky Moore, and seniors Zach Francis, Jair de la Peña, and Hiram Gandara (captain), went all the way to the Regional Championships. At preliminaries, Jair de la Peña won the Horsemanship Award while Hiram
Gandara and Anson Moore both made the All-Star team. Our women’s team consisting of junior Sydney Flynt and Casey Collins, and seniors Lexie Harlan and Amelia Fisher (captain), also experienced immense success with Amelia Fisher making the All-Star team at Preliminaries. “I am so eager to see where our club’s teams can go within these next few years!” exclaimed Fisher. “We’ve set out a name for ourselves and I think the possibilities are limitless for our club’s future. Since I joined this club four years ago, I’ve seen so much improvement not only in how we play but also in our horsemanship and horse care, and how we teach and lead incoming members. Taking home four individual awards and a Best Playing Pony award against the steep competition we face in our region shows me that Texas Tech Polo has accomplished what we once thought was unimaginable. It shouldn’t go without mention the immense amount of support that we’ve received along the way, from USPA funding and clinics, I/I tournaments and games, and also from Texas Tech and our alumni association. But none of this would’ve been possible without the inner-club leadership and the initiative taken by our many members who truly just have a love and passion for this sport”. Recently, the club facilities were purchased by Denny Yates whose daughter Ashley Owen is a former member of the club and currently part of the leadership in the Texas Tech Polo Alumni Association. “The former owner of the property was a very generous man named, Clyde Waddell, who provided the I/I MAGAZINE - 2021
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