Polo tournament to raise funds for RFR
Passionate about Playing for Pink at Inanda.
POLO might be the sport of kings but it will be played by queens on ponies decked out with tendon booties and plaited tails – and that’s just the horses! Six women, and two brave men, will take to the field on Sunday, October 4, hurtling across the Inanda green and whacking wooden Polo balls with their long-handled mallets at high speed all from horseback.
It’s all part of Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational Polo, in association with Samsung, which will raise funds for the breast cancer support organization, Reach for Recovery (RFR).
“I feel privileged to be able to be a part of Playing for Pink. So many in my family have had cancer, a disease that strips people of hope. To be able to be part of this fundraising event is very special, especially as the recipients are RFR. They do such good work with women who have had one or both breasts removed. They carry the message of hope,” explained Katherine James, who heads up the Cell C polo team. On Katherine’s Cell C team is a trio of Spilsburys’ – Jocelyn and her husband Gary, known as Sipho, and Jo Spilsbury.
Playing on the opposing Zimbabwe Samsung team is Jo’s husband Terence Spilsbury. “I’ve played against my husband before. When I heard we’d be on opposing teams, I said maybe that’s better. At least he might have some sympathy for me because he usually gives me such a hard time when we’re on the same team,” laughed Jo. The couple who met at Stellenbosch University, farm and train polo horses in Harrismith in the Free State.
Jo is delighted to be able to be part of Playing for Pink. “This cause is very close to my heart – I lost my mother to breast cancer nine years ago. I have a lot of anger towards cancer.” Asked why the women’s team included men, Craig James, polo manager at Inanda and known in horse circles as Mr Polo, said, “There is only one reason for having a man on each team: they’re there to raise the level of the game by distributing the ball. They’re not there to show off their skills. Women don’t have the strength to move the ball as far along the field as a man, so having a man on the team speeds up the match and makes it more interesting to watch”.
His petite wife, Katherine, a thrill seeker who loves motocross and snowboarding said that while she’d always ridden horses, her polo mad husband of two years honed and refined her riding skills. Within months, she was playing polo. “It’s a different kind of adrenalin. Until I started playing polo, I’d never taken part in a team sport. I love it!”
Tickets for the Cell C Playing for Pink Ladies Invitational Polo cost R650 and can be bought through Computicket.
