POLO NOT JUST FOR THE MINTED

Move over rugby and football - Wales's newest international team is almost certainly the most glamorous, with strong links to royalty and the lifestyle straight out of a Jilly Cooper novel.

According to captain Ricky Cooper, the champagne swilling image is not too far off the mark in the world of polo, he has plans to ask Prince Charles and/or Prince Harry to play in the new Wales team, while the parties are best left to the pages of fi ction.

Cooper lives up to the image to a certain extent, while breaking the mould completely in other ways. His route into the sport of polo was playing roller hockey for Great Britain and also ice hockey, before spending time with horses and getting the chance to try polo in his twenties.

Based in New York and with regular trips to play polo in Brazil and Argentina as well as back in Europe, Cooper is part of the international jetset - but he is also returning to Wales this summer and is serious about the new international team which will play three matches this year.

It is all a long way from his mother being brought up in Bridgend where the only exposure to polo was a particular brand of mint, but with events being held in places like Cardiff Castle once again this summer there is a defi nite move to open the sport up.

“Polo is really emerging in Wales, this should be a very good year for us” said

Cooper, from the New York offi ces of Microsoft where he is the Americas regional business manager.

“We have put together the Wales team from people all around the UK who are eligible, but this is the fi rst year we will receive offi cial caps, a Welsh uniform and we will be playing some pretty big games.

“It is a long way from my mother's upbringing in Bridgend, things have certainly moved on with the digital generation.”

Wales will play Great Britain, Italy and Spain on home ground, but Cooper is used to travelling the world to play polo, keeping a string of horses in Britain and also in New York.

“I have been playing for many years all over the world, I play a lot in the US and Argentina and have just returned from three weeks in Brazil playing with some of the best players in the world there.

“It shows that if you have a bit of sporting ability then you can play polo, because my background was not with horses – it was much more ice hockey, roller hockey and marathon running.

“There is a lot of polo here in the US and that brings you to a better level.”

Cooper has formed the team along with Stuart Lee Davies, Tarquin Southwell, along with Andrew and Richard Blake- Thomas. Four players are on the pitch at any one time.

The Wales v GB game will be played at the Glanusk Estate near Crickhowell, home of the Legge-Bourke family probably best known through Tiggy Legge-Bourke who was nanny to Princes Williams and Harry.

While keeping the horses to play polo or owning the land for the matches require huge amounts of money, increasing the number of events for people to watch is aimed at opening the sport up to a wider audience and the Glanusk match is in aid of charity.

Of course one way of increasing the profi le of the Welsh polo team would be to get the Prince of Wales or his family to play.

“We could look at getting them to play, especially with the link to the Legge- Bourke family. That would certainly draw some attention,” explained Cooper.

“At the moment there are a limited number of players in Wales and there are no clubs – that is the next stage, but it is a costly sport and there are only a small number of people with that kind of money.

“With the recession you can see a decline in the numbers of people playing, particularly in the US.

“There is a lot of interest in Wales though, we can have crowds of 2-3,000 people because people like to get behind the team which represents them.

“Each year the support is getting stronger and stronger.”

Of course polo is a sport that is almost best known through the pages of the rather racy Jilly Cooper novel of that name – so how accurate is that portrayal?

“It can be like that, it is a playground,” admits Cooper. “There are many, many stories and a bit of scandal with people running off with each other.

“The parties are great occasions and can be highlights of the year.”

issue11twothousand&ten

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