This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Beck’s was thirteen she thinks, when loitering around Changi airport waiting for a fl ight back to the UK she saw an impossibly glamorous girl carrying polo sticks and sporting dirty whites. Suitably impressed, little did she know at the time that a few (ahem!) years later she would be running through the same terminal late for her fl ight back to the UK with her own polo sticks and wearing champagne soaked dirty whites, looking not so glamorous, although who would after shedding half one’s body weight in sweat after playing a gruelling polo match in 90c heat in humidity which is akin to playing polo under water.

So the adventure began, as all such adventures which involve polo at Ham, with the Chairman.

Chairman: “A word please?”

Cue initial panic from Becks and Caroline; Had they been late for chukkas? Had they committed some fashion faux pas? (no that would be a Mrs C-D approach)…..errrrrrrrh.

Chairman: “So I was thinking, after speaking with the Captain of the Singapore Polo Club, Satinder Garcha, we should send over a ladies’ team to play in their annual sponsored Ladies’ Tournament, what do you think?”

Becks & Caroline: “You mean we have to go to Singapore?”

Singapore

Swing

by Rebecca Finn & Caroline Wright

Chairman: “That’s right.”

Becks & Caroline: “To play polo at the world renowned polo club, which has a swimming pool and everything?”

Chairman: “Errrh yes.”

Becks & Caroline: “Seriously?”

Slightly impatient Chairman: “Yes that’s right.”

Well it took all of a second for us to reply yes. It seemed too good to be true, a sponsored event by Shanghai Tang, and the opportunity to go on a trip of a life time. In fact we now think of it as our version of International Velvet, for all those people who remember the fi lm, except without the gold medal, broken collar bone…etc.

trying to track down professional lady players! All was not lost when Singapore Polo Club managed to recruit Kellie

to complete the intrepid squad. Our team

was fi nally made up of Rebecca Finn, Caroline Wright, Kirsty Readhead and Kellie Keyte.

When we arrived in Singapore the heat just hit us swelteringly hot and humid, we knew it was going to be tough conditions to play in. A warm welcome however was waiting for us at the Singapore Polo Club where we were introduced to the other girls and teams who would be competing. Team shirts provided by the sponsors (which were also on sale in the Shanghai Tang stores in Singapore and at the airport!) were distributed and we were introduced to the ponies we would be playing for the week. Amazingly the whole club had

We take our hats off to all polo managers;

it’s not an easy job

p trying to track down

52

Following various different phone calls to the Singapore Polo Club and with the support of Nick Colquhoun-Denvers, Pete McCormack and Adolfo Casabal, we set about pulling a team together. Easy we thought, no problem, who wouldn’t want to come with us! However, trying to fi nd two 1 or 2 goal lady players to make up the rest of our team, when the tournament in Singapore was scheduled to be the same weekend as the Cowdray Ladies, was not so easy. We eventually managed to pull a team together but disaster struck when one of our players was injured. So with our international polo stardom hanging by a thread we had to fi nd a replacement quick! We take our hats off to all polo managers; it’s not an easy job

rofessional lady players!

turned over to ladies polo for the whole week, with patrons (male and female alike) donating their horses for the visiting pros, as well as Becks and Caroline and all the other lady SPC members without ponies who would be taking part; generosity for which we will be forever grateful.

So we attempted to acclimatise for the big match that was held on the Sunday, billed as Singapore vs. HPC England, for which tickets had been sold out (crikey!) by playing in a warm up tournament throughout the week. It was hard going in the heat and without a ready supply of ice cold towels and an energy drink called 100+ we would have expired.

T H E L O N D O N P O L O C L U B Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72
Produced with Yudu - www.yudu.com