Joy Ford, President of the non-profit International Beach Polo Association is looking to license the IBPA brand in an effort to assist in supporting and promoting the sport.
Maybe it was my equestrian background or just a love of the horse, but over the last few years I have been drawn to the sport of polo. Having had an opportunity to watch the game played at the International Polo Club Palm Beach, the Guards Polo Club in England and France’s St. Tropez Polo Club.
The poetry of horse and rider, the horse races from one end of the field to the other in pursuit of a small hard plastic ball as the players attempt to drive it through the opponent’s goal posts, is all quite magical and something I felt that I had to be a part of.
I was introduced to beach polo in Miami Beach by Alex Webbe, Chairman of the International Beach Polo Association, and had the opportunity to see the game, the horses and the players up close as three-man teams battled it out in a compact sand arena (about 1/10 the size of a regulation field) with the Atlantic Ocean as a backdrop. I was hooked.
As my interest in the sport grew, I found myself acquiring a consulting company that dealt with the design, construction and management of polo and equestrian facilities and earned a management position with the non-profit International Beach Polo Association. The more I grew to understand the beach polo game the more I felt that the format, location and casual approach to the “sport of kings” made it ultimately more accessible to a broader public than had been offered in the more traditional fare.
I watched as beach polo events started sprouting up around the world (Argentine, Austria, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Mexico, Uruguay, Italy, Spain, India, Thailand, Croatia and China to name a few), and pitched in to assist in the formalization and distribution of rules and suggestions for clubs and players interested in staging or participating in like tournaments.
The spectacle of watching a down-sized version of the game being played in exotic locations around the world appealed to me and I jumped in to assist in supporting like efforts and corresponding with interested clubs and sponsors.
As more and more beach polo events popped up the IBPA developed a need to create the funding necessary to offer support and assistance. That was when I suggested that the Association license the IBPA logo. Polo goers have a certain sophistication almost by definition but the atmosphere of polo on the beach lends itself to a more casual dressing standard, one that needs to be reflected in clothing suited to the environment. Whether the beach polo tournament is in Dubai, Miami Beach, Poole, England or Broome Australia, supporters of the sport should have an avenue of connection, and I am confident that if I can find the proper facilitator a proper business plan can be created to benefit the IBPA, polo and the clothing manufacturer. It is a template that was enacted successfully between Jordache and the United States Polo Association, that has created over $1.4 billion in annual revenue, and one that I feel that can be successfully carried by an international brand, the International Beach Polo Association. I’m open for suggestions.