Ocala Polo

By Lauren Proctor-Brown

While the 2020’s aren’t the glorious roaring ‘20’s the world was hoping for, the Ocala Polo Club is roaring to success with players and ponies alike finding their strides in the first summer season and second winter season! It’s truly magnificent to see the community of Ocala Polo take shape and bond around a common love of the sport.

With each season, the community of the Ocala Polo Club has grown on and off the field. For Winter 2022 it has even coalesced into a Booster Club! The brand new boosters have gotten behind the scenes access to the players, extra polo rules and strategy lessons and bonded over their shared love of the sport. They have also become integral to Ocala Polo’s Community Causes. We are looking forward to our second annual Horses & Heroes day which honors our veterans and raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project, on February 20th, 2022. They have also partnered with a variety of other local organizations from the Humane Society of Marion County to the Marion County Therapeutic Riding Association to give back to our local community. The boosters can be found every Sunday, cheering loudly and dressed for each week’s match theme! From fancy hats for the Laneway Cup to crowns for the Julie Braswell Memorial, Sunday’s are always a fun time and the Boosters do it right!

Tailgating at Sunday Polo is a fabulous, family-friendly activity on a Sunday Afternoon in sunny central Florida. On any given Sunday, our spectators enjoy easy acces to polo as they drive up fieldside and tailgate right from their vehicles. Well-behaved dogs are always welcome and take center stage at our Polo for Pooches day! Don’t forget to stretch your legs at half time for the divot stomp and join in to win prizes at the Halftime Challenge! You can try your hand at swinging a polo mallet from the back of “Woody” the wooden horse. Don’t worry he has a pretty steady head and all ages and levels can give it a go!

Once you’ve tried your strokes on Woody you’ll have a new appreciation for the fledgling players hitting in the outdoor field in the Horseman’s League. Our polo school has been hard at work introducing polo to new riders in the area from a variety of disciplines. This summer, several of our riders graduated from the Arena League to outdoor polo and the Horseman’s League was born. Our polo school runs arena and outdoor practice weekly and provides private lessons to teach riders the strokes and rules of the game. Polo is accessible to riders of all ages and experience levels who wish to expand their equestrian horizons.

The influx of equine enthusiasts to Ocala has also brought several seasoned polo players to the Ocala Polo Club from across North America. These players were attracted to the welcoming community of Ocala Polo; some have moved to Ocala full time while others commute for the season or for weekends. Whether it’s a long or short stay, players are excited to play in Ocala and be a part of the community of polo here.

The Ocala Polo Club believes strongly in supporting Women’s Polo and has developed the Ocala Polo Women’s League, which hosts matches monthly. The Women’s League has grown to be a tight-knit group of women supporting women to excel in the sport. The Ocala Women’s League inspires women to succeed on and off the field. We’ve partnered with the Florida Thorobred Fillies to celebrate the Julie Braswell Memorial Cup and Beth Rose Cup annually in December and February respectively. Women are succeeding not only in the Women’s League but in the Arena, Horseman’s and Tournament Leagues as well. Polo is a unique sport that allows women to compete on the same stage as men, both professionally and as amateurs. Horses give us all the power to do things we might not be able to do on our own.

After a winter of successful polo, Ocala Polo takes a break in the spring to travel with players to other Polo Clubs in the Southeast and Florida. Then summer brings Saturday evening polo! Mother nature is a true polo fan, with summer afternoon storms cooling off to make a weekly 6pm polo match just right. The local community on and off the field enjoy Summer Polo Saturdays from June thru September. Summer 2022 is already shaping up to be another beautiful polo season!

Whether you have never seen polo before or played for several years, the Ocala Polo Club has something to offer you. From a Sunday tailgate, to your first lesson, to tournaments, you can find everything you are looking for. We look forward to playing in sunny central Florida for many years to come and invite you to come join the fun!

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