POLO magazine 2016 | Page 47

WOMEN IN POLO rowing up in the north of Nigeria where polo is part of the culture, Neku’ s love for horses grew from a young age, but it was only when she was 13 that she started playing the game. Initially, her desire to one day be a professional polo player was met with much resistance from her family and friends because of their old-fashioned views that women shouldn’ t play,‘ but they eventually came around later’ says Neku.
‘ Despite their initial protests, my parents were wonderful and instilled in me strong values that helped shape who I am. Plus, my dad was a fighter pilot, so that’ s where the adrenaline side of me comes from.’
A queen in the sport of kings
Her rise to polo fame is rather unique. After studying her passion( a BSc in Equine Sports Science in the United Kingdom), Neku worked her way up to 0 goal, playing professionally as a low
goal player. But it was at age 20, when she was teaching and managing a polo club in upstate New York, that her career really took off. She was interviewed for an equestrian magazine who, after some research, discovered she was the first black female to play professionally. She made the cover. This brought international media attention and the offers to play for large brands started coming in, which in turn produced more opportunities to play higher level polo.
For the next five years polo took her around the world where she played medium, and sometimes high goal, in various national and international tournaments. She played both as a patron and on various teams owned by her sponsors, all the while advocating polo as a sport for all, not just as an all-male sport for the elite.
‘ It was great to play with passionate and strong patrons, as well as a lot of fun putting together my own teams the way I wanted to.’
An inspiration
Neku did a tour around the world with Trace Sports during the peak of her career, filming short videos with the aim of making polo look‘ cool’.‘ I found that girls needed a female role model to make it look like polo is a cool thing to do. I also wanted to get across that you don’ t need to make unnecessary sacrifices to be who you want to be.’
When she returned home to Nigeria, Neku noticed an upsurge of young girls taking up the sport, a number of whom said it was her who had inspired them.‘ I felt like I achieved something really huge.’
‘ Noblesse oblige’
‘ I hold the concept of“ noblesse oblige” quite strong. Nobility obligates you. Wherever we can, we have a human obligation to assist other human beings. So being involved in your community should be a natural part of every human that can.’ »

CHASING DREAMS

Uneku Atawodi( or just‘ Neku’ as she prefers) was the first black female professional polo player in the world. She’ s using her celebrity status as well as her passion and drive to inspire women across Africa, if not the globe, to chase their dreams – both on and off the polo field. By Kirsten Curtis
BMW INTERNATIONAL POLO 47