Recreation
Polo for women produces big hit
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
The crowd beneath the canopy fell silent. A ringing cell phone was left unanswered. Even the champagne flutes were lowered as Lexy Mackenzie lined up for a foul shot with two minutes remaining in the first annual Wahine Cup polo tournament in Waimanalo.
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"It was my first game ever," Mackenzie said later. "I hadn't even ridden a horse in three years."
Heidi Thomas, left, of Team Divas, takes a whack at the ball while Dory Weymouth (2) and Michelle Brousseau (4) give chase during the first Wahine Cup polo tournament.
With the score tied 3-3, Mackenzie knocked the ball into play from 60 yards out, initiating a mad scramble in front of the goal. Somewhere in the ensuing mess of horses, mallets and flying turf, Heidi Kapioleilanionalanielua Thomas managed to connect with the ball to give Team Divas a historic 4-3 win over the Wahine.
And then the champagne started flowing again.
By all accounts, the Honolulu Polo Club's first all-female polo match in 15 years was worthy of a few good toasts. Attendance for the match was about twice the norm, with roughly 100 well-heeled well-wishers filling the stands and picnicking along the sidelines. And the eight players who competed were sent home with more than just dirty boots. Each received a plaque, a silver cup, a champagne flute (filled) and other goodies courtesy of the club.
"We had a lot of fun," said Alice Lombardo, who had been pushing the idea for four years. "We all laughed and had a good time out there so I know we can entice everyone to come back.
"We're trying to get more female participation," she said. "It's been a man's game for some time."
With less than one week to organize the match, Lombardo and D.J. Colbert (whose respective companies, Beachcomber Realty and Prosperity Corner, sponsored the event) did, however, get a much welcomed helping hand from the men of the game — Honolulu Polo Club members who gave up their Saturday game and loaned their mounts to horseless riders.
Players were recruited from around the state, although a few, like Mackenzie, had never played a competitive match.
To a woman, the players said the experience was both unique and rewarding.
"It was kind of surreal because I've watched it all my life but I've never been on the inside," said Mackenzie, daughter of renown player Stuart Mackenzie. "It was interesting to finally see what it was like. I really enjoyed it."
Mackenzie said she especially enjoyed the chance to play with other women.
"I liked playing with women because the men can get really aggressive," she said. "Women are right in there, but they play differently."
Or, as Tiare Paty, a groom who manages more than 20 horses for the club, said: "You don't get yelled at as much."
The day's MVP honors went to Jovanna Giannasio, who graduated from Punahou and is now a senior at Skidmore College in New York. Giannasio, who took up indoor soccer as a freshman in college, scored three of the Divas' four goals.
"I've only played (polo) with women," she said. "It's such an incredibly normal thing that I almost took (it) for granted."
Like Paty, Giannasio said there are clear advantages to women competing with other women.
"It's such a positive environment," she said. "With women, it's like, 'Please pass me the ball. Thank you. Nice play.'
"A lot of women feel that when they play with the men, they can't really be as aggressive," she said. "With women's polo, it's hands open, very positive. Not that playing with men isn't fabulous, but playing with girls is just so much fun."
