|
Featured in the
NY
Sun Article about the HY Polo Organizers kick-off party ››
Yale Beats Harvard in 2002 Polo Cup
In an effort to rekindle a tradition that began in the late 1800s,
to raise funds for small, under-funded New York charities, and to
support undergraduate clubs at their alma maters, almost six hundred
turned out to watch Harvard challenge Yale in a charity polo match
at the Greenwich Polo Club grounds September 14 - the largest crowd
to see these two rivals play in modern times. It was to benefit
the Charity Network of New York City and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center, for the purposes of melanoma research.
For nearly 200 of the attendees, the festivities began at Grand
Central Station around noon, where private train, provided by event
organizers, spirited the Manhattan contingent north to Greenwich.
There, modest school buses took them the last leg into the Connecticut
back country and the beautiful property of Conyers Farm.
The beautiful September afternoon began with an equestrian exhibition,
alongside a garden cocktail hour. The exhibition featured adorable
young jumpers overseen by Christina Schauder, wife of Yale polo
coach Fred Schauder. After the opening cocktails the crowd walked
up the hill to awaiting tents for lunch and the match.
Guests ranged from toddlers to octogenarians (and their dogs, of
course), from the philanthropic set to polo aficionados from New
York and Connecticut, but was largely dominated by young Harvard
and Yale alums who watched the heavily favored Yale team beat Harvard
14-9 from a starting handicap of 7 for Yale.
The match itself was heralded in with an opening ceremony led by
Erin O'Brien (with American flag, astride her palomino), and short
messages from event organizer Brett Johnson and Simon Fulford, speaking
as representative of Art Start, one of Charity Network's benefiting
organizations. The afternoon featured the vocals of Yale a capella
group the Spizzwinks and the orchestral accompaniment of the Kandinsky
String Quartet, and was staffed my member of the Charity Network
and the undergraduate Harvard and Yale equestrian and polo clubs.
The party at the farm continued until dusk after which the crowds
dispersed, only to regroup off the premises at after parties in
and around Greenwich, as well as one gathering back in Manhattan,
at the favored nightclub, Lotus.
Snow v. Snow
One of the most interesting aspects of the day was the rival teams
were both captained by members of the same family. From the legendary
New England Snow polo dynasty, journalist Crocker Snow Jr. fought
hard for Harvard but it was his son Adam Snow, a Yalie and currently
the second highest rated professional American polo player, brought
home the Cup. Also on the field were some of the biggest names in
the recent history of American Polo: investor George Haas and Hall
of Famer Bill Ylvisaker, of Saratoga Polo, media investor Adam Lindemann,
publicist and polo patron Ashley Schiff, who all played vigorously
for the Bulldogs.
Covering the field for the Harvard Side in addition to team captain
Crocker Snow were event co-chair and Darien dermatologist Rhett
Drugge, international investor Amir Farmin Farma, manufacturing
executive Michael Levin and restaurant mogul Bruce Colley.
Event organizers Brett Johnson and Rhett Drugge were Harvard classmates
(Drugge captained the 1979, 80 and 81 teams) who sought to rebuild
Polo at Harvard and raise money for worthwhile causes; the event
was such a success its first year out they expect to expand it in
subsequent years to further benefit their fundraising efforts and
the undergraduate teams.
|
