Image courtesy
of Yachts XL
no other beach polo event has attempted to do since. The aptly
named Inch Polo Festival was attended by an astounding 25
national and international teams in 2003. The event continued
until 2005 under Selway’s management, however its premat ure
demise eventually came about when the rather disobliging
local authorities in Kerry, Ireland banned both horses and
vehicles, specifically horseboxes, from using the beach, which
had hitherto been used for the popular and well attended event.
It was unofficially revived for a one-off tournament in 2011, but the
event had lost its momentum by this point.
In 2004, beach polo gained greater international prominence and
began to evolve into a global money making and polo PR tool, when
the Beach Polo Cup Dubai was created by Rashid Al Habtoor, a
Dubai business leader and well-known high goal patron in both the
UK and the UAE and fellow player Sam Katiela. The latter is now
renowned as Managing & Creative Director of Mamemo
Productions, the events management company responsible for 2014’s
spectacular and exclusive Beach Polo Cup Dubai.
Following on the heels of Dubai’s 2004 example, players in other
countries were soon inspired to try beach polo in their own locales;
notably in the US with the birth of the Miami Beach Polo World
Cup in 2005; an event which has grown from strength to strength
and one which really took the beach polo concept to a new level.
The event is the world’s most competitive beach polo and has
attracted crowds of up to 15,000 spectators, who can watch for free
on the East side of the polo arena. Other spectators can pay $125 per
person for a VIP experience on the day.
In the UK, the Sandbanks Beach Polo event was instigated in 2008
18
by Royal County of Berkshire patron and player Johnny Wheeler,
“I was on Sandbanks beach and spotted the potential, at a time
when polo was confined very much to clubs. Apart from the Cartier
International, unless you were in the know, you never got to watch
polo. Subject to finding an area that was suitable, I wanted to take
the lid off polo. Any event in a public place needs Council
co-operation, Dorset Council thought polo was a wonderful idea
and have been supportive ever since. It was good for polo and good
for Poole and also for the spectators and players, who like an
enthusiastic crowd watching, so it really worked.”
In response to the upsurge of interest in beach polo, Alex Webbe
created the International Beach Polo Association (IBPA) in 2008.
Now based in Florida, Webbe first took up polo 55 years ago
and remains passionate and supremely well-informed about
international polo in all its forms.“I put together a bunch of rules
to give some formality to beach polo. Just as in the early days of
arena polo, for instance, people were asking how big a beach
polo playing area should be, but no official size existed.” The
IBPA recommends a playing area is of 100 yards long and 50 yards
wide. Webbe additionally advocates that the playing area is
enclosed by sideboards measuring between 4.5 to 5 feet in height
to keep the 4.5” leather ball in play.
Beach polo in 2014 has become a global behemoth spanning 30
countries, but events still hinge not just on the accrual of sponsorship
revenues and great marketing but on the goodwill of municipal
authorities. The majority of beaches around the world are, unsurprisingly,
in the public domain.
Notably In 2012, the States of Jersey obligingly waived rules