Above: From left, Garvy Beh, Joevy Beh, Chevy Beh, and Dato’ Beh team up against BHC Coworth Polo Club.

In order for an individual to get their name on this prestigious board they have to do something significant such as representing the country in certain sport because the award is presented by the Master of Wellington College.

The finals was between Thailand and Malaysia and the score ended at 7-6. It was a close game, won in front of a large crowd, with the home team just managing to defeat the visiting Malaysians. The hosts organized a fun carnival before the polo match which included food, games, shops and exciting events like the Human-Horse race and the thrilling exhibition game featuring Regents A and B.

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Unfortunately Garvy damaged his wrist in this tournament and so missed the first few games of our season. However, the A team of Andreas Papoyans[L], Luke Walsh[BI] and Hugo Singh [Wc] still managed to beat both Marlborough and Millfield in fine style in January. The same team followed this up with a good wins over Harrow and Eton.

Polo has a venerable history as a club sport at the University. In 1953, three students leased a field north of Grounds off Old Lynchburg Road and scheduled matches, which U.Va. consistently lost, with schools like Cornell and Yale. Today, that same land is the Boca Raton of collegiate polo; it has extensive stables, outdoor and indoor arenas and a grassy polo field with a view of the mountains. “U.Va. might have the best polo facilities around and students only pay a very low fee to use them,” says Yen Ling “Joevy” Beh (Col ’11), captain of the men’s team. “Our winning teams certainly benefit from that.”

The men’s polo team was undefeated this year and won the National Intercollegiate Tournament. “There was great chemistry among the teammates,” says Beh. In their final match against Texas A&M—which was also undefeated—Beh, C.B. Scherer (Engr ’12) and Mauricio Lopez (Col ’12) scored 20 goals to beat Texas by three.

The women’s team was an underdog going into the nationals. One of their starters, Meg Greenhalgh (Col ’12), was hospitalized for an illness during the entire tournament and Emily Dameron played as a substitute. “In the second-to-last match, Emily made every single penalty shot, which is a difficult thing to do,” says Christina Fernandez (Col ’09), captain of the women’s team. In the final against No. 1 ranked Cornell, Fernandez led her team to victory, contributing nine goals to a final score of 19 to 17.

Being national champions doesn’t mean U.Va. polo players are resting on their laurels. “I spend all my time at the polo center. We take care of the horses, we practice and we play,” says Fernandez. “The horses do a lot of the work on the field, but we do a lot of work for the horses.” U.Va.’s horses are donated by alumni and many of them are retired from the professional polo circuit.

As Dameron secures the buckles of an English-style saddle around her horse, she explains that hard labor goes hand in hand with the thrill of the game. “I think I play better after I’ve been thrown by a horse,” she says. “Adrenaline suits me.”

(source: http://uvamagazine.org/sports/article/half-horse_half-human/)

This year the Harriman Cup celebrated its 25th anniversary. What is the Harriman Cup? The Harriman Cup is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of polo and supporting the collegiate polo programs at Yale and the University of Virginia. Over the past two decades, over $600,000 has been raised for the schools’ undergraduate polo teams. The Harriman Cup was founded in 1984 by Zene Colt, Dick Cauley, Mike McGhee, Tom Shuman, Mike Schram, Steve Orthwein, Sandy Carden and Bill Ylvisaker.

The weather was beautiful last Saturday afternoon. Yale proved victorious and after the game the real festivities began. Word was that the New York Post’s Gossip columnist Richard Johnson was in the crowd which proved to be true. and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with talented designer Zang Toi You might remember seeing Zang featured in the “Real Housewives of NY.” He’s one of Jill Zarin’s favorite designers. Joevy is Chevy’s younger brother, and he’s the captain of UVA’s undergraduate polo team, which is currently the National Champion among collegiate teams.. There was beer pong, football, and tailgating (some in limo’s!). A true gathering of the blue bloods.

Pictured below is This is Chevy Beh, who flew in all the way from Malaysia to play. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the game. He’s only 23, and he’s already a principal at Compradore Capital. Also below is is Doug Palermo playing polo. His daughter is Olivia Palermo who you might recognize on MTV’s “The City.”

Also pictured below pictured with Zang Toi, and Shaokao is Niki Cheng. The Chengs own BoConcept, and were awarded the Best Small Business Award this year by Mayor Bloomberg. Also in the picture is Tyler Rollins who went to Yale and owns an art gallery in Chelsea. Apparently, Lady Gaga was hanging out at his gallery while he was hanging out with us at the Harriman Cup. Oh, if only he could be at 2 places at once.

For more information and photos on The Harriman Cup 2009, feel free to visit   Socially Superlative.

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