Photographs supplied by Brian Perry
Polo Times: What makes Kenya polo special? Brian Perry: We relish our amateur polo status and the strong social aspects of our club polo. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have competitive polo – we certainly do, but our polo is not complicated by the patron factor.
PT: Who have been Kenya’s top players? BP: Going back to pre-independence, Kenya had 7-goaler Lord Francis Scott in the 1920s and some 6-goalers in the 1950s (Digby Tatham-Water and Don Rooken Smith). Since independence we have had 5-goalers up until quite recently, including the late Simon Kuseyo, and Rowena Gross was at one stage the highest handicapped lady player globally, I believe. Currently our top three players are handicapped at 3.5 goals (Richard Stone-Wigg, Jamie Murray and Casimir Gross).
PT: Who plays polo nowadays in Kenya? BP: We have a delightful mix of people from a variety of backgrounds, with many colourful and charismatic characters. The North Kenya club is dominated by farmers, particularly the Murray, Dyer, Craig and Llewellyn families, who are engaged in flowers, vegetables, wheat and livestock.
Nairobi unsurprisingly has a high proportion of businessmen and women, ranging from bankers to accountants to international courier service operators to directors of aviation companies to safari operators. The Manyatta Polo club has, among others, Rift Valley farmers, representatives of agrochemical companies, local residents and weekend commuters from Nairobi. Let me give you a few cameos. Tristan and
Cindy Voorspuy run a horseback safari business in Kenya, and live, together with polo playing children Archie and Imogen, in a house in the Rift Valley built by the first chairman of the KPA, Lord Francis Scott. Mbugua Ngugi (known as Boo) is a businessman (you may have sampled his cashew nuts on British Airways international flights) and a 1-goal player who lives in Nairobi and plays at the
Top: Prince Charles, in Kenya in 1971. He was lent a horse called Christine Keeler, and is alleged to have said: “Well at least I’ve done one thing my father hasn’t: I’ve had my leg over Christine Keeler.” Above: James Tobweka, brother of the five-goaler Simon Kuseyo, who was killed in an air crash, with Nairobi player Hussein Hassan. Left: North Kenya player Charlie Dyer
cluster of handicaps between -2 and +2. The teams for all the tournaments during the first half of our season are assembled by club captains, not by individuals, and much effort goes into trying to balance teams as closely as possible on handicap. We have found that widening the handicap differential through the use of half goals works well for us. And we have tried very hard to ensure that our handicaps are in line internationally.
The Manyatta Polo Club has Rift Valley farmers, local residents, representatives of agrochemical companies and commuters
club in Gilgil. Ashe Ahluwalia runs an automotive business in Nairobi and, along with wife Kiran, son Rishi (who also plays polo at Cheltenham College) and daughter Amber, they are regular competitors at all clubs throughout the season.
PT: Can you explain your half-goal system? BP: : We introduced this system in January 2000, with the intention of separating the dominant
PT: Simon Kuseyo was a big name in Kenya polo; can you tell me more about him? BP: It is now 10 years since Simon’s tragic death in the Kenya Airways crash in Abidjan. He was at the time of his death the highest handicapped player in the country (at 5 goals), but beyond that he was an icon; a quiet, modest and charming man, with outstanding riding skills, a unique patience and
understanding of the many young horses he brought into the game. He was a brilliant polo tactician and an inspiration to everybody in Kenya’s polo playing community, epitomising the opportunity for success from hard work and dedication, given his path from a humble Maasai herdsman to an international polo star. The Manyatta Polo Club and the KPA recognise the importance of this 10th anniversary in sustaining the memory of Simon and what he stood for, and in ensuring the education and wellbeing of his children.
PT: What about the next generation of players? BP: The most exciting feature of our polo is seeing the emergence of the young. As in many countries, these are generally from polo-playing families (the young Grosses Tarquin, Casimir, Tiva and Aisha; the young McLellans Charlie and Samantha; the young Mois Kimoi and Kigen). Last year the Mugs Mug was won by the team with the youngest aggregate age (all under 18) of the 14 teams participating, much to the delight of the crowd, and the pride of four sets of parents!
Last year we had a young team representing X
www.polotimes.co.uk July 2010 75
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