John Paul Clarkin (born 5 June 1978) is a professional
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
player.
Early life
John Paul Clarkin was born on 5 June 1978 in
New Zealand. He is the eldest son of Chele and
Paul Clarkin. His brother,
Matthew Clarkin, is a professional rugby player.
Career
In 2003 John-Paul won the prestigious
Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, held in Cowdray, Midhurst and in 2008 the
Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow in
St. Moritz
St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. He is currently the highest ranked New Zealand polo player on 8-goals.
In 2007, on the Cadenza team, together with
Tony Pidgley
Anthony William Pidgley CBE (6 August 1947 – 26 June 2020) was an English businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Berkeley Group Holdings, one of the UK's largest housebuilding businesses. According to The ''Sunday Times Rich List' ...
,
Tomas Fernandez Llorente and
Nicolas Espain, he won the
Prince of Wales Trophy
The Prince of Wales Trophy, also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor), it has been awarded for diffe ...
.
[Horace A. Laffaye, ''Polo in Britain: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2012, p. 321] In 2010, on the Emlor team, he won it again with
Spencer McCarthy,
Ignacio Gonzalez and
Joaquin Pittaluga.
He spends the major part of each year overseas playing polo in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
England,
Argentina and
South Africa as well as New Zealand.
Personal life
On 2 September 2006, he married
Nina Vestey, a niece of the
Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey
Samuel George Armstrong Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey, (19 March 1941 – 4 February 2021) was a British peer, landowner, and businessman. He served as Master of the Horse to Queen Elizabeth II from 1999 to 2018. Lord Vestey was part of the fami ...
,
Master of the Horse.
Mystery Creek Polo Club
- News & Gossip, retrieved on 2 May 2006
References
External links
Mystery Creek Polo Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkin, John-Paul
1978 births
Living people
New Zealand polo players