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	History of the CSU Polo Club
		Prior to 1988, the club boarded the horses privately and held practice at an off-campus facility. In September 1988, the polo ponies were moved to the newly constructed Equine Teaching and Research Center at the Colorado State Foothills Campus, and the team began practicing in the indoor arena weekly. In May 1989, both the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the National Championship games and both earned Reserve National Champion titles.
	With increased enthusiasm and support in 1990 from faculty and administration within the Equine Science Program, the Polo Club began a more focused approach to playing competitive collegiate polo, resulting in two consecutive National Championships in 1990 and 1991.
	In recent years, Colorado State Polo has gained national exposure, drawing outstanding men and women players nationwide.
	Since 1996, the Polo Club has earned both individual and team awards at the regional and national levels.
	In 1999, the men’s team won the National Championships. In the spring of 2002, the men’s team took 2nd place at regional's and the women’s team won the regional championship. Both teams went on to nationals where the men finished 3rd and the women took 2nd after some very close and intense games. Several of the players, both men and women, were named to the All American team and the All West team. In 2005 the women's team finished 4th at Nationals. In 2006 they won the Central Regional and were National runners up.

History of Polo
		The history of polo involves three main eras: origins in ancient Asia, the British discovery, and the trip across the oceans to the Americas. The beginnings of polo started in Asia. “Let other people play at other things. The king of games is still the game of kings.” This verse is inscribed on a stone tablet beside the polo grounds south of the fabled silk route in China. Polo is often referred to as the “game of kings” and this is very true for the ancient world.
	Polo started somewhere around 2,500 years ago. It is believed that polo was the first and is the oldest team sport. From its beginning polo was considered a noble art of warriors and kings. As light cavalry armies and empires spread through Asia Minor, China, and India so did the game of polo. Darius the 1ast king of Persia referred to his nation of Asia Minor as “Chaugan” or Mallet. The ancient royalty of India passed on the game to royalty of England as the English colonized the world.
	As with the ancient world the game of polo passed from the British cavalry to British royalty. A British officer witnessed the royalty of India playing the game and it quickly spread throughout the regiment. In the later part of the 19th century polo was being played by nearly every regiment of the British and Indian armies. According to PoloUniverse.com the first actual official rules were instigated by the British Calvary. British officers took the game back to England where it is still played today by royalty like Prince Charles and his sons. Up to this point polo had been adopted by many continents and this would also be true for the Americas.
			The development of polo in the United States and Argentina would spread polo to even more audiences. In 1876, polo was first played in Manhattan and from there the lure of polo expanded. By 1890 there were enough clubs to form a national association. In the early 20th century polo was an Olympic sport and crowds of over 30,000 regularly witnessed matches at the Meadow Brook polo club on Long Island. The United States Polo Association or USPA official web site states that currently there are over 275 clubs with over 3,500 players.
	Even a past president has been a member, President Teddy Roosevelt. The USPA created the official rules and regulations of the game which are accepted by the entire polo community. Untied States Polo Association 2002 rule book, holds rules like horsemanship, line of the ball, and handicaps of players. A handicap is a rating system which awards teams free points so at the start of a game the teams were evenly matched. A rgentina followed a very similar growth. In 1873 polo was brought to Argentina and it exploded. By 1892 there were more clubs in Argentina than in England.
	Today Argentina is considered the polo capital of the world. The best polo ponies and players come from Argentina according to Polo Players Edition magazine. The web site Polostancia.com tells us that the traditional royal sport is now played in 48 countries and across five continents. Winston Churchill sums it up best that “A polo handicap is your passport to the world.”