Are you ready for a two week experience that will change your life. A rigorous training programme, to learn and master one of the most exciting and seductive sports in the world. Push yourself to your limits and out of your comfort zone. Welcome to the Polo Challenge.

The Polo Challenge has been carefully designed by Christian Byrne and his team of polo professionals to take the right individuals from complete novices to polo players in just two weeks. From their base at Polo Valley in Sotogrande, one of Europe’s leading polo destinations, they put the challenge participants through their paces across two intense weeks, learning the game from scratch under the instruction of world-class polo professionals.

“The idea behind the Polo Challenge was to create a really intensive polo programme where participants have no option but to be totally absorbed in the life of a polo player, with no excuses for not pushing yourself and reaching your full potential.”
Christian Byrne, Polo Valley Director

To get through the two week programme you will have to overcome mental and physical barriers like never before. With four hours of saddle time per day be prepared to keep pushing your body to it’s limit. Study the game and learn about tactics and patterns of play. Overcome fears of galloping horses at 35 miles per hour, whilst swinging a polo mallet elegantly towards the ball as you shoot to goal; this is polo.

The reward for pushing yourself to the limit is worth it. The Polo Challenge culminates in a Grand Finale pro-am match played on the championship polo fields of Sotogrande. Participants take to the field alongside professional players in their respective teams and play out a highly competitive game of polo in front of their watching families and the glamorous summer crowds.

Win or lose the challenge participants come off the field with broad smiles and weary bodies. They’ve given it their all over the most intense and immersive fortnight of their lives and they’ve come out of it as accomplished polo players. Back at Polo Valley Christian and his team host an awards ceremony and throw an Asado party to congratulate the players and celebrate with their families.

“The Grand Finale pro-am match is the participants reward for two weeks of hard work. It's an amazing feeling for them to take to the field and play alongside high goal professionals with their families in the crowd cheering them on. The Asado party is our thank you to the participants, their families and everyone who works so hard to make the Polo Challenge a great success.”
Christian Byrne, Polo Valley Director

My Challenge: Alec Dabell, Polo Challenge Participant

Sunday, 6.30am, the alarm went off. And thus, it began. The first full day of the Polo Challenge. The Polo Boot Camp. Two solid weeks of intensive training, the likes of which I had not experienced since my Army days.

Fortunately, the first day did start with a gentle introduction as we kicked off with an hour of ‘Vinyasa flow’ yoga ensuring we were well stretched and limbered up in preparation for the day ahead. This was followed by a delicious breakfast (an essential fixture of the challenge programme), two hours of riding lessons and our first ‘stick & ball’ session that was up next.

The pace quickly picked up and by the time it reached Wednesday, the horse’s day off, we finally got the chance to catch our breath and work on our very tired and aching limbs. This is though, exactly what we needed. We just weren’t that aware of it, or if we were, we had let our awareness fade.

Polo is a very physically and mentally demanding team game. You need to build your core strength, improve your flexibility, work on your balance and coordination and always, always, warm-up and warm down.

At the start of the second week, the dynamic shifted ever so slightly as we were separated into teams and the build-up to the ‘Grand Finale’ was on.

The practise match was on Thursday. This allowed for a rest on Friday before the Official Polo Challenge Pro-Am Match on Saturday. Thursday, for some, was our first real experience at playing polo at this level on a proper match ground and the team’s first time to put the learnt tactics into practice. It was also, for me, a great chance to take stock of how far we had come; how much we had improved and how we had grown into a team albeit still with some facets we had to work on before game day.

The Big Day arrived. The essential morning stretching during yoga preceded a most glamourous trip to the Santa Maria polo ground in a fleet of Rolls Royces. We warmed up in our respective teams with real purpose, the last chance to practice before the game started.

The match itself was exciting and dramatic. Horses galloped, mallets swung, interceptions were made and goals were scored. In the end we were all winners. Better players as individuals and far better players in a team with new friends and memories to last a lifetime. We have all moved forward as sports-men and women and as people.

My most sincere thanks go to all of the Polo Valley Team for making this possible, but above all, my greatest thanks goes to their wonderful ponies for making it happen!

The Programme 2020

Week 1: 13th-21st June | Week 2: 18th-26th July | Grand Finale: 25th July

Polo kit included: boots, helmet, polo whites, match shirts and training kit
4 hours of polo, riding tuition and match practice per day
Daily workshops on game tactics, rules and strategy
16 hours of yoga and strength training
Accomodation at the Polo Valley Guesthouse, just 65 steps from the main stables and training field
Full board with poolside lunches and evening barn asados.

Are you up to the Polo Challenge? Email: info@polovalley.com | Call: 020 8246 5300