Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410030072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The party roared on and didn't even skip a beat when the Gone Away Farms team scored with seconds remaining in the sixth and final chucker to tie their opponents, Team Michelob, at 11-11.
"GOAL!!!," screamed announcer Ted Hinder, a former polo player himself.
"That sounds like that Australian rules football," replied a woman in attendance, sitting with her back turned to the field and a favorite beverage in hand.
It was the seventh annual Roanoke Symphony Polo Cup, a fundraiser for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra held at Green Hill Park.
Outfits with matching hats were as abundant - and as bright - as the sunlight. More than 20 blue and white tents housed everything from vegetable dip to pink chablis.
And for the first time, professional polo players were on hand to demonstrate their skills.
Adam Snow of South Carolina, one of the best American players in the sport, headlined Team Michelob. Three other professionals played on the four man teams - Lito Salatino and Edgar Cato for Team Michelob and Martin Estrada for Gone Away Farms.
Roger Steele, who operates a beef cattle farm in Botetourt County, was the only local player on either roster. Steele, who began playing the sport 25 years ago during his prep school days, has been helping organize the teams for the fundraiser since its inception.
Until this year, club teams of amateur players vied for the Symphony Cup.
Before the match, Steele was checking the polo ponies that he owns. Most players bring six ponies to a match - one for each seven-minute chucker, or period. Polo ponies can cost up to $50,000.
Steele, the only local player to own a stable of polo ponies, starts the match on the horse with the calmest disposition and ends it riding the most aggressive.
The ponies cut, turned and galloped across a field 300-yards long and 160-yards-wide.
The players smacked and chased a hard plastic ball toward goal posts on both ends of the field.
And while many partied, others watched the match paying no attention to the social extravaganza going on around them.
"We're really interested in polo," said Charlie Carter as his wife kept track of the action through a pair of binoculars. "We want to learn more about it."
The Carters traveled from Forest in Bedford County to see the match.
"It's something different," Charlie Carter said.
Baird Thompson, who promotes the sport for Michelob, said the Symphony Cup is a success.
"I think some club teams with players who perform at a pretty high level will pop up around here," he said.
Baird said Green Hill Park's polo field is unique in the United States.
"It's beautiful. The mountains are so close. They cut a polo field out of the side of a hill."
Team Michelob's Jamie Reynolds of Greensboro, Ga. also said he's impressed by the Roanoke Valley. Reynolds has played polo all over the world.
"I'll be back," he said.
by CNB