42 SIDELINESMAY 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
Anything IsPossibleForGatesGridley
By LaurenR. Giannini
GatesGridley knows that if at first youdon’t succeed, you keep
trying and ask for help. He’s a good horseman and has played
polo all four years at the University of Kentucky (UK). Now 23
and in his senior year, he was elected President of UKPolo and
captained the men’s team. He played polo in China and Ireland
during the summer of 2012.Whenhegot home that last weekend
in August, he applied for the first time to Team USPA (United
StatesPoloAssociation).
“I had to send the application right away tomeet the deadline.
The only video I had of me playing, it started raining halfway
through thematch – it was in Ireland – and the video was totally
unwatchable and that’s a huge part of the application process,”
recalledGates, currently rated 1 on grass and 2 for arena polo. “I
didn’t makeTeamUSPA.”
Undaunted by the setback, Gates askedUSPA’s Kris Bowman
what he needed to do in order to make Team USPA. “Kris
recommended that I take theumpire certification,” he said. “I went
toFlorida inJanuary2013and I gotmyumpirecertification.That’s
e
Polo
Gates is thrilled to bea part
of TeamUSPA.
Photos byKayleeScherbinski
GatesGridley
