FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES SEPTEMBER 2013 95
dear to him,” Marc said.
“The Royal Office sees
how sports, including
polo, can help enlist
support
and
create
awareness for charitable
organizations, something
my wife and I put into
practice in Wellington.”
Building A Polo Club
The Ganzis built Grand
Champions Polo Club
behind their Wellington
home seven years ago.
Since then it has been
one of the nation’s fastest
growing
polo
clubs
offering polo year-round.
“We are truly a full-service
club. We have everything
someone would need
to play – from grooms,
ponies, equipment and
more,” Melissa Ganzi said.
The Ganzis are all about
diversity and promoting the sport among the masses. Their club
plays host to kids and juniors, women and gay polo players.
There is also the spring and fall medium and 20-goal seasons and
international cup play in November.
Both of them would like to see polo embraced by the general
public and mainstream sports followers and bring new people
into the sport. That starts with erasing the stigma that the sport,
once known as “the sport of kings,” is stuffy and only for well-to-do
elitists. At Grand Champions, it’s known as community polo.
Polo is one of the most inviting sports around for all walks of life,
according to Marc. At Grand Champions, it’s family-friendly, much
like an afternoon baseball or football game. Their children, Grant
and Riley, both play polo.
“We moved here because it seemed a perfect fit,” Melissa said.
“The weather is perfect. It’s like having a baseball or football field
in your backyard, only better. We can play off-season polo. A lot
of spectators and riders who come out during our season live here
in Wellington year-round. Many of our matches are open to the
public and have no charge to be a spectator or tailgate. We felt
polo should be accessible to everyone. We wanted to make polo
part of the community.”
Keeping It In The Family
Melissa has been riding
since she was six-years-
old. She competed in
dressage, show jumping
and
cross-country.
Melissa, who wears her
trademark
pink
polo
helmet when competing,
started playing polo in
2000 when her father-
in-law, Wally Ganzi, a
polo player for more than
30 years, gave her a
polo pony as a birthday
Prince Harry shows off his royal
polo skills.
Photo by John Robben
Fans surround Prince Harry, on and
off the horse.
Photo by John Robben
Continued on
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