The best polo teams in the world

Polo has often been referred to as ‘the sport of kings’. It has today become a spectator sport in the field of equestrianism. The game has traditionally come to be enjoyed by members of the high society, supported by sponsorship. It is believed that the sport traces back its origins from the 6th century BCE to the 1st century CE as a prolific past-time played by nomadic Iranian and Turkic peoples. In Persia, where the sport evolved and developed, it was at first a training game for cavalry units, composed of elite troops. A notable example is Emperor Saladin, who was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty and swore by the ability of the sport to inculcate skilled cavalry mastery. He a skilled polo player advocated for the inc of it in the royal curriculum. By the middle ages, the sport’s awareness has spread into south-eastern Asia, especially the Indian subcontinent, where it has become a prominent sporting activity. The modern version of polo originated in India, having been born in the eastern state of Manipur. It is now popular around the world, with well over a hundred member countries in the Federation of International Polo, played professionally in sixteen countries.

Being one of the oldest known team sports, Polo has seen legions of gifted sportsmen deck its halls of fame. It showcases the powerful bond between a player, his fellow team players, and their equine partners. Every move in the game is an exhilarating display of athleticism and poise, strongly rooted in centuries of evolution. Very few teams can carry through the responsibilities that the sport entails with grace.

A lowdown on the best polo teams in the world.

1. 1. Ellerstina: The renowned Ellerstina Polo Team was co-founded in 1992 by ace Argentine polo player Gonzalo Pieres, with Australian Kerry Packer. Since its establishment, Ellerstina has become one of the most prominent polo teams, having won the Argentine Polo Triple Crown twice, both in 1994 and 2010. In 1990, Gonzalo Pieres decided to retire from a prosperous professional high-handicap polo after winning his sixth Argentine Open Polo Championship title with his team La Espadaña. Shortly after he was persuaded by his Australian millionaire friend Kerry Packer, to join him to launch a polo team to play in the high-handicap tournaments of the Triple Crown. It was out of this friendship that the Ellerstina Polo Team was born. Ellerstina made its debut in the 1992 season, and since then it has become one of the main high-handicap teams showing one of the most superlative games in the history of polo obtaining the Triple on two occasions Argentine polo crown.

2. 2. La Dolfina: La Dolfina is a prominent Argentine polo team that was founded in collaboration by Adolfo Cambiaso and Bartolomé Castagnola in 2000. Based out of the city of Cañuelas, Buenos Aires Province, the team has won almost all of the significant polo tournaments in Argentinian circuits, including the Abierto Argentino (Argentine Open) nine times: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015, thereby becoming one of the most successful teams since its establishment in 2000. The team also won the Abierto de Hurlingham (considered the second in importance after Campeonato Argentino) in 2011 and 2012.  In 2013 La Dolfina won the Argentine Triple Crown of Polo which is considered the highest honor in the polo world, defeating Ellerstina in the finals of both Tortugas and Hurlingham Opens with scores of 16–14 and 18–16 respectively, then defeating Alegria by 16–11 in the most coveted Argentine Open Final at Palermo. In 2014 the team won again the Triple Crown, defeating arch-nemesis Ellerstina in the three finals. With these victories, La Dolfina became the second team able to win the Triple Crown in two consecutive years, since Coronel Suárez (1974–1975).

3. 3. La Natividad: The La Natividad Polo is one of the most important comprehensive polo organizations in the world. The club was founded and led by Bartolomé Castagnol. It is today based out of a  headquarters in Cañuelas. Today, the team itself is sponsored by Bartolomé Castagnola and made up of his sons Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola and Bartolomé (h) “Barto” Castagnola, Pablo “Polito” Pieres and the South African Ignatius “Nachi” DuPlessis.

4. 4. The Dubai Polo Team: The Dubai Polo Team is considered to be one of the most successful polo teams of all time, playing at the highest level globally. The Dubai Polo Team has won the British Open for the Gold Cup and the Cartier Queens Cup many times. Ace polo sportsman Adolfo Cambiaso is a regular player on the Dubai Polo Team alongside Ali Albwardy and Ali’s sons Tariq and Rashid. Other prominent players to have been on the team include Lolo Castanola, Lucas Monteverde, Pablo Mac Donough, Piki Diaz Alberdi, and more recently Bartolome Castagnola and Jeta Castagnola.