Founded in 1911, the Santa Barbara Polo Club in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

is the premiere equestrian

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 ...

club in the Western United States. The club, located between the foothills of the

Santa Ynez Mountains The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges. The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...

and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, consists of three full size outdoor

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 ...

fields, one arena, extensive horse boarding and exercise facilities, as well as stabling for 350 horses. The Santa Barbara Polo Club is home to the Pacific Coast Open, United States Polo Association (USPA) America Cup and the USPA Circuit Player's Cup. The Santa Barbara Polo Club has now expanded to be the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club adding 10 tennis courts, a club house, as well as a pool and spa. There are many events hosted at the club including polo and tennis tournaments, as well as many weddings. {{TOC right

History

In 1911, the Santa Barbara Polo Club was declared an official polo club by the United States Polo Association. The club set about looking for a permanent home and found one through an $80,000 purchase of part of the property known as the Bartlett Estate on Middle Road in Montecito. The Bartlett Family took back an $80,000 loan for the property and the club raised $15,000 to build a concrete club house. They even went so far as to make the roof concrete so the members could watch the matches from on high. There were also two sets of concrete stairs to access the roof for members and waiters. The club and the fields lasted until 1928 when it was moved to its present location and the house was recently rebuilt and named Villa Polo.. During the 1920s such stars as Chaplin, Fairbanks and Will Rogers all competed here. Rogers broke his arm during a game and was quoted in the newspaper as saying,"They call this sport a gentlemans game for the same reason they call fat guys slim". The club was then erected in its present location thanks to Major Max Fleischmann. Between 1920 and 1930 the club grew in popularity and number of memberships. Horses and players arrived by train and walked to the club. World War II had adverse effects on the polo club. After a Japanese attack on

Goleta, California Goleta (; ; Spanish for "Schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 2000 c ...

(

Attacks on North America during World War II The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean. Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...

), soldiers were stationed at the polo club to protect the members for the remaining years of the war. After a lull in polo play during the war, the Santa Barbara Club again gained momentum attracting many of the families that would eventually preserve the club. For the first time in 1963 and again in 1966, trials were held for positions on the American Polo Team for the Cup of the America's Tournament against Argentina. During the 1970s, the club was leased by Robert Skene, a 10 Goal player who would eventually become manager and is responsible for much of the club's success. In 1974, the Santa Barbara Development Company completed construction on a new polo complex at the Santa Barbara Club in which 144 condominiums were built. Kenneth Walker, Glen Holden and Dr. Norman Ringer, Trustees of the SBPC, purchased the polo ground as well as the club house a year after the complex was completed. The club then was leased to the Santa Barbara Polo Club Management Company, Inc. During the 1990s, the club is extended to intercollegiate and interscholastic play hosting the first official interscholastic tournament in the Western United States in 1995. In 1998, the Santa Barbara Polo Club hosted the most prestigious event in polo, the

Federation of International Polo The Federation of International Polo (FIP) is the international federation representing the sport of polo, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded in 1982 by representatives of eleven national polo associati ...

(FIP) World Championship. The Olympic style event (Polo was removed from Olympic competition in 1939 and is now governed by the FIP) recorded attendance of over 20,000 people. The SBPC has to date over 500 members, more than 100 of which are full-time polo players. The Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club hosts many big tournaments which bring in celebrity spectators from all around the world. In 2011 Prince William played in the Foundation Polo challenge.

Polo Academy

The Santa Barbara Polo Club is home to the Santa Barbara International Polo Training Center. The SBIPTC is a polo school for beginning players, taught by Jeff Scheraga. The Polo Academy teaches interscholastic, intercollegiate, and adult players.

History

Polo Academy

See also