TAKING POLO BACK TO ITS GRASS-ROOTS

 

“Build it and they will come”, the line made famous by Keven Costner in the 1989 film, Field of Dreams could well be the inspiration for the founder of the Muddy Flatts’ Polo Club, Wallace Ashton’s ambitious plan to bring polo back to the Australian bush.

“Polo has gotten away from its grass-roots in Australia and we must enable more people to play. The sport has lost its connection with the community because we just don’t ride horses like we used to’, Wallace said.

In his quest to revive bush polo, Wallace has built a no-frills polo field in the centre of regional Goulburn. Taking the sport back to a time where community polo fixtures were the centrepiece of Australian country life.

The Ashton family are considered one of the founding fathers of polo in Australia.

Wallace’s own father was one of the Goulburn Polo Club’s first members and one of Australia’s first polo internationals. It was a ground-breaking moment for Australian polo when the Ashton family took the first team of twenty-five local horses, via boat to compete in England and then later to the USA in the 1920’s.

“Ninety-eight years later I’m trying to get another type of Polo going, a far more accessible form of polo. With Polo 3’s we don’t need a beautiful playing field, we can play on a sheep paddock like they used to. When you come and watch us play it will be exciting and we can live with the bounce”, Wallace said.

Wallace is campaigning to popularise the sport in Australia with his Polo 3’s initiative. Hoping the proliferation of three-a-side polo will encourage participation in club polo for a whole new generation of riders who otherwise would not have the opportunity to try the game.

“I designed the new Polo 3’s concept around the polocrosse model (an Australian sport that combines of Polo and Lacrosse). The idea being you need less horses and expenses are far lower to encourage new players to polo.”, Wallace said.

Wallace plans on using this new field to showcase his Polo 3’s concept and will debut his bush “Polo Field of Dreams” at the Kiss Goodbye to MS Polo Day.

This charity event will honour Australian polo international, Robert Bell and his mission to raise awareness and funds for MS Research Australia.

Robert’s sons and nephew, Henry Bell, Sinclair Bell and Ed Archibald playing for Goulburn, taking on the Muddy Flatts team of Wallace Ashton, Henry Jones and Guy Higginson in the main match of the day.

It is exciting to see a game so deeply-rooted in tradition finally returning to its grass-roots in Australia.

Buy tickets or donate to the Kiss Goodbye to MS Polo Day: HERE

Download: Wallace Ashton’s, Polo Field of Dreams trailer for your social media or newsletter HERE

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