Virginia International Polo Enters Second Season at Llangollen
Submitted by: Betsy Burke Parker
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Email Address: betsy(at)virginiaequestrian.com
Date Added: 5/14/2009
UPPERVILLE, VIRGINIA – Polo patron Maureen Brennan is taking her Virginia International Polo club to the next level this season, including social events, special dinners and live music on weekends in addition to operating a burgeoning polo school and league programs.
When the former show jumper decided to establish VIP at her historic Llangollen Farm just north of town, the first step was to set up a polo school; Brennan knew exactly how important was good, solid instruction for new polo players.
She should have known – she'd been there.
Brennan was an international level show jumper until eight years ago. One of a handful of show riders invited to participate in an exhibition Twilight Polo match at Great Meadow that summer, Brennan naturally asked for a little instruction prior to her match.
From the first swing in her beginner lesson on a gentle school pony at a local polo school, “I was hooked,” she said.
Since, Brennan has emerged as a driving force in supporting polo's growth in northern Virginia, sponsoring a 20-goal match at Goose Creek field, setting up the polo school and organizing league play.
She sees the 2009 additions of catered dinners, music and dancing under the stars as natural extension of the program that combines sporting and social aspects of polo.
Brennan has taken that first exhibition game to an extreme, ending up a rated player who led her Goose Creek Polo team to victory in the last two renewals of the Silver Cup match in Aiken, S.C., the nation's oldest tournament.
Chilean 3-goaler German Noguera signed on as VIP manager as Brennan began its development. Noguera runs the club’s polo school, breeds and trains ponies and often plays with Brennan's team, and others, as a much sought-after pro. With three grass fields, a polo arena, a training track, miles of ride-out and a practice field, Noguera is barely able to keep up with the demand as more and more students flock to the rapidly expanding school.
Noguera said that the school, above all else, is key to sustaining the fast rise of polo in Virginia's horse country. “We understand that for any club to be sustainable, it needs to continually feed new players into the system,” he said. The polo school offers lessons for students of all levels – from beginners who've never been on a horse to experts who want to polish their game or take part in practice chukkers to prepare for the summer season.
There's no limit to student age: he currently has students 9 to 69, Noguera said. The school provides players for league play; they often graduate to regular play, and, when they are rated, many acquire their own string of ponies and become more involved in the sport, something that benefits the region's horse business.
The 2009 expansion will include “a vamped up social program,” Brennan said, with the nearby Blackthorne Inn providing catered food the first Friday and third Saturday of each month. The Saturday night parties will have a “blues and bluegrass theme” with live music following the evening match. Fourth Saturdays will see 12 p.m. grass matches with a “jazz lunch” party under the pavilion tent set on a berm overlooking the vast Bermuda grass field. On the other side, the pavilion overlooks the polo arena – with its all-weather footing, the setup allows for play even if it rains. “We're able to play under almost every condition,” Brennan said, except torrential rain.
Admission is free to all games at Llangollen and Goose Creek; entry to the party pavilion for covered seating, food and entertainment, is $30.
Kids under 12 are half-price, Brennan added, emphasizing her commitment to encouraging interest in polo to young players.
Noguera said he finds it fulfilling to introduce the sport of polo to children, as well. “It’s great to start kids out and see them develop not just riding and hitting skills but build character and discipline.”
VIP will host a 20-goal charity match July 3 at the Goose Creek field between Middleburg and Upperville. Former 10-goal players Owen Reinhart and Adam Snow will teach a polo clinic July 2 at Llangollen. The match benefits the local Golden Dreams Therapeutic Riding Center.
Details on lessons, social events or tickets to the 20-goal game are available online at www.VIPolo.com or call Noguera at (540) 592-7474.
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