It’s the type of gathering where sport almost takes a back seat to the need to see and be seen.
The Southlands Riding Club hosts the third annual Pacific Polo Cup on Aug. 6, an event that marries equestrian with equal doses of polo and panache.
Kicking off at 11 a.m., the day will be highlighted by a pair of afternoon exhibition matches, with participants coming from across Canada, the U.S. and South America.
The Pacific Polo Cup serves as the marquee fundraising event for the club, which is a non-profit society boasting a membership north of 300 people.
“It’s a new and old generation that enjoys [polo] — people who are 19 to 75 appreciate the aspects of coming to it, dressing up and being a part of the sport,” said Craig Stowe, director of partnerships for the Pacific Polo Cup. “People are interested in the social engagement in sport and getting together to celebrate it. It’s a spectator sport that you can really enjoy because there is a level of decorum and skill that’s quite fun.”
Outside of the matches, an air of high society will also figure prominently into the day: best dressed awards will be handed out in the male, female and couples categories and winners will receive gift cards to Oakridge Mall.
“It’s a bit of that British pomp and ceremony involved,” said Nadia Iadisernia, president of Pacific Polo Cup. “When we think of polo in England you see the royals and the accoutrements that go along with it — people showing off their best headdress, for example. There is that aspect to polo, where there is the expectation that people are going to be dressed up for a fun summer afternoon and learning about the sport.”
For those in the uninitiated category, a polo match is divided into timed periods called chukkers, which are usually seven minutes each. Players typically change horses after each chukker and the game changes direction after each goal in order to compensate for field and wind conditions.
A polo team is made up of four players, each of whom patrols specific roles on the pitch on both defence and offence.
While matches are typically played on a pitch measuring of 330 yards long by 160 yards wide, the Aug. 6 playing surface will be much smaller, allowing for better sight lines.
“Everyone has a pre-conceived idea about what polo is, but when people come to it, it’s essentially hockey on horses — Canadians get the premise right away,” Stowe said. “It’s interesting for Canadians because there is a history of the equestrian experience of Canada. But we’re used to skating and hitting a puck, so riding a horse and hitting a ball is not that far removed.”
The tradition of polo in Vancouver dates back to 1913, when the Vancouver Polo Club was established. Weekend games were held throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and the field was originally on land that’s now part of the McCleery Golf Course.
The Southlands Riding Club, meanwhile, traces its roots to 1943.
Outside of being a practical space for training athletes at all levels, it’s also the home base for a number of non-profit and charity groups that cater to youth, riders with special needs and recreational trail riders such as Southlands Therapeutic Riding Society, Pacific Riding for Developing Abilities, Vancouver Pony Club, University Endowment Lands Trail Riders and New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society.
“If you haven’t been to Southlands, you don’t realize there’s a whole equestrian community right here in Vancouver,” Stowe said. “A third of the people who come are dedicated horse people, and the rest are people who live in Vancouver who have never seen it and didn’t know it existed.”
Tickets to the Pacific Polo Cup are available online at pacificpolocup.com.
jkurucz@vancourier.com
@JohnKurucz
