Women’s Polo team wins 2006 national championship

For the second year in a row, the University’s Women’s Polo team has won the national championship.

The team comprises six student-athletes and the thousand-pound horses they call their co-stars.

The team last month defeated Colorado State University 18-14 to win the 2006 National Women’s Intercollegiate Tournament held at Cornell University.

The win capped a perfect 27-0 season and yielded the UConn club sport’s fifth national title in 11 years.

The team, which was formed in 1976, previously won championships in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2005. It also enjoyed an undefeated season in 1998.

“This kind of season is fairly rare, but sometimes a team is so good, no one can defeat it,” said James Dinger, an associate professor of animal science and the team’s volunteer coach for 20 years.

For the past three years, Matt Syme, a former UConn Men’s Polo captain, has served as volunteer coach for the men’s and women’s teams, devoting more than 20 hours a week to the sport he picked up while a student at the University.

The Women’s Polo team entered the national championship tournament as Northeast Regional Tournament champion and was one of seven teams competing for the title.

The others were Yale and Cornell universities, the University of Virginia, Colorado State University, Oregon State University, and the University of California at Davis.

UConn defeated Oregon State 34-3 in the first round to advance to the finals against Colorado State.

UConn’s team is one of about 25 in the nation, which is divided into four regions.

Love of the sport
While for many the mention of polo conjures up images of well-to-do players swinging their mallets on perfectly manicured country club lawns, Dinger describes college-level arena polo as more akin to “hockey on horseback.”

Unlike athletes who play more high-profile collegiate sports, UConn polo players are not drawn to the team by substantial scholarships or the possibility of playing for professional teams after their college careers end.

There are no professional polo teams.

They also have no tutors to accompany them on the road during their long season, which stretches from August to April.

Yet they must meet the NCAA grade average requirements.

The women on the championship team play for love of the sport and actually pay $250 a semester for the privilege.

They often devote more than 20 hours a week to polo, caring for the horses and washing their tack after practice and after the men’s games before they go home.