MSU polo club builds welcoming environment for new players

Nicknamed the “Sport of Kings,” polo often evokes imagery of British nobility playing on some far-away perfectly manicured field. However, the game is alive and well at MSU thanks to the polo club and the sport has become more accessible than ever due to lower costs.

The club currently has 22 members broken up into three tiers of competition.  The varsity team is composed of four female members, the junior varsity is a four person co-ed team and the rest of the members participate in the club team on a practice squad while they learn the basics of the sport.

Polo is played in teams of three or four depending on the size of the field, with each competitor mounted on a horse. Players use a mallet to hit a ball while attempting to score in the other team's goal. Matches consist of seven and a half minute periods called chukkers and the team who has scored the most goals at the end wins.

The varsity team is the most competitive level of the club and the team competes against other schools in the Intercollegiate Polo Western Region. Some other teams in this group include the University of Idaho (UI), Oregon State University and University of Southern California. UI is a frequent opponent of the club at the varsity and junior varsity levels, largely due to the proximity of the school in relation to the other west coast teams in the region. “We play UI every year,” club president Ronnie Patyna said. “They don’t have enough horses to host us, but they come out here and we host them.”

While the club is competitive and revolves around the sport, the draw for many members is the chance to work with the horses. Horses can often cost thousands of dollars up front and also require time and money for upkeep. These financial barriers would often prevent students from participating, but sponsorships with local businesses and fundraising help keep member fees low. Member fees are 1,300 dollars a year for the varsity tier and scale down from there, since the three tiers of the MSU team have different traveling needs.

In addition to the sponsorships and fundraising, the club receives vital support in the form of donated horses. “We’ve gotten a couple free horses the past years and they’ve been amazing, we’re so grateful for those. Most of our horses come from our coaches, and all of our horses live at [the coach’s] house in north Bozeman,” Patyna said. “They trailer them in every single practice, two or three times a week.”

Although many members come to the club with prior experience working with horses, it is not a requirement. Even among the members who have worked with horses before, having played polo prior to joining the club is still uncommon. 

To help address the lack of experience, the club has a program to familiarize new players with the sport before they begin playing to protect the players and the horses. Joli Kellman, a freshman majoring in environmental studies, joined the club this semester with no prior polo experience. 

“In the beginning, you’re required to do foot mallet practices, which is like playing polo but you’re on foot,” Kellman said. “With a crazy long mallet, it’s really easy to whack your horse if you don’t know what you’re doing. We also have a wooden horse we practice on before getting on an actual horse.”

Apart from the shared love of horses and competition, the familial environment of the club is a large draw for members. For one member, that aspect of the club is ultimately what brought her to MSU. 

Allie Bushong is a freshman majoring in cell biology and neuroscience, but before choosing to become a Bobcat, she toured a number of schools and met with their polo clubs to see if it would be a good fit.  “I ended up coming and visiting [MSU] and I had the choice between this school and a bunch of other really good polo schools and everyone was just so nice here,” Bushong said. 

“This is by far the most friendly team I’ve been on and the most fun I’ve had.”

To learn more about the team, it can be reached at poloclubofmsu.gmail.com.