114 SIDELINES FEBRUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
Matthew Collins Is Hooked On Polo
By Lauren R. Giannini
“I enjoy sports and I enjoy riding – polo
is a combination of two things I really like
to do,” said Matthew Collins. “I enjoy doing
a lot of different things. I play lacrosse and
ski, camp and kayak. Polo is probably my
favorite thing to do.”
Matt, 19, is one of eight players chosen
for the 2013 Team USPA program. He
grew up in Reisterstown, Maryland where
he started foxhunting at an early age with
Green Spring Valley Hounds. He joined
Pony Club and competed in Tetrathlon for
a few years, but his defning moment dates
to ffth grade when he took a polo lesson at
Garrison Forest School. Ever since, he has
been completely and totally hooked on the
game, playing on grass during the summer
at the Maryland Polo Club and arena polo
through the winter.
“Trevor Walls (DVM) has been my coach
all the way through middle and high school
when I played on the Baltimore Boys Polo
Team,” stated Matt. “He played at Cornell
and was all-star of his year when they
won the national championship. He’s an
awesome player to watch. I learn something
new at every polo lesson. Trevor’s into strategy, he’ll be watching
and come up to you about a certain play and explain how to do it
better, how to play the ball. During games, he’s the loudest person
in the arena.”
In his senior year at Friends School, Matt broke his neck, playing
goalie during a soccer game. “Someone crossed the ball and I
was diving to get it and some kid kneed me in the head trying to
fick the ball in the goal,” he recalled. “I had to wear a brace for two
months and then do a month of PT. I got back on a horse two-and-
a-half to three months after the injury and started playing polo.”
Matt was just in time for polo season and helped to lead his team
to the National Interscholastic Championships. Even though Work
To Ride won, Matt said: “I was so happy to get there with the team
and Trevor. I was completely surprised when I was nominated as
the #2 All-Star.”
Now in his sophomore year at Bowdoin College in Maine,
Matt isn’t sure where life and career will take him. His major is
Environmental Studies and Earth and Oceanographic Studies,
plus some government courses. He’s also interested in geology.
Polo factors into all aspects of his life, but Bowdoin has no
program.
“I like small schools and I love Maine,” said Matt. “I came up
here every summer when my grandmother was here. Everything
clicked when I visited Bowdoin. I said, ‘that’s the school!’ and that
was that. They don’t have polo and I don’t ride at school. I’m going
to start going to a reining barn after the break. I’m going to bring
up a saddle from home and try to get one of the horses used to a
polo mallet so I can stick and ball.”
Matt was looking forward to the long break between semesters.
“I’m going home for the holidays and foxhunt and play polo non-
stop for fve weeks,” he said. “I’m going to Florida, too. The kids in
Team USPA are taking an umpire clinic.”
When asked for his greatest accomplishment so far, Matt
Matt and
Rosalita at
the Maryland
Polo Club,
Monkton,
Maryland.
Matt Collins
Photos by
Jim Ivey
e
replied: “I’m most proud of making the national championships
and being elected co-president of the student government at
Friends in senior year and being chosen for Team USPA. You
had to apply by September 1 (2012), provide three references and
a video. I sent the game from sophomore year in high school – the
fnals of the South East Regionals – we came back and won it in
a shoot-out.”