Nayarit facility offers polo classes
IAN STALKER
Tommy Elliot has participated in the sport of kings with a future king. And now he enjoys introducing tourists to polo as well.
Elliot is with Nayarit’s La Patrona Polo & Equestrian Club, a facility that invites tourists to sign up for lessons for a game that is believed to have been played in Persia 2,000 or more years ago and is frequently dubbed the sport of kings, with people frequently assuming that polo is solely for the wealthy and blue-blood aristocrats.
But Elliot says his club — which has polo fields and stables and can provide the necessary gear for the game — will cheerfully host those vacationing in Nayarit who want to gain some prowess in the sport.
Progress in learning to play the game in part depends on a student’s equestrian skills but those taking 4 to 8 lessons will be be ready to take to a polo field, says Elliot, who began playing polo at 19 and now serves as La Patrona’s polo and equestrian coach and manager of the polo school.
The club says learning to play polo provides a number of benefits, including added strength and confidence, and developing a greater appreciation of teamwork.
Club lessons include having students mount Woody, a wooden horse designed by polo enthusiast and The Who and Small Faces drummer Kenny Jones, who Elliot met while living in England.
“Woody is a very good device to film the swing and make a video analysis with the client after,” Elliot reports of the motionless, “super safe” creation.
Mexico City native Elliot has lived in Buenos Aires, where polo is popular, and has also played in England, where he was on a polo field with King Charles’ sons, Harry and William, with the latter next in the line of succession to his monarch father.
La Patrona Polo Club — part of the broader Tiera Tropical tourism venture — offers polo lessons Tuesdays through Fridays.
The club’s Sunset Grill & Polo enables people to view Saturday matches that start an hour before sundown in the November-through-July period, while November-May sees Polo Brunch, Sunday games that begin at noon.
“Tourists and locals love watching polo,” Elliot reports of La Patrona, where an open-air, above-ground, shaded structure that has a bar and also serves as a restaurant provides a vantage point for spectators.
The bar has a beer called Gallop, made specifically for La Patrona Polo Club and which comes in a distinctive bottle with a white horse logo.
Polo isn’t particularly popular in Mexico but is building a following in Nayarit, thanks to the polo school.
Meanwhile, the unassuming Elliot says playing polo can be a great way to meet celebrities, with him unknowingly coming across two members of Britain’s most famous family, thanks to his love of the game.
Being unaware of who they were until after the game meant Princes William and Hary didn’t get any special treatment on the field from Elliot.
“I umpired one game they were both playing,” Elliot reports. “It was great not to know (who they were). I did a better job.”
More information can be found at tierratropical.com.mx.
