As the oldest of equestrian sports, polo has a glamorous past and an exciting future. Developed as a training game for cavalry units, usually the king’s guard or other elite troops, in time it became a Persian national sport played extensively by the nobility.

The sport spread and was eventually introduced to the United States in 1876. Chicagoland’s polo history dates back to 1879 when the first recorded match was played in Lincoln Park in Downtown Chicago. Over the next 140 years, the sport prospered in and around Chicagoland with as many as fifty polo clubs hosting competitive professional and amateur polo. Several well-known Chicago families were avid polo players and helped bring attention to the sport, including the Wrigleys, the McCormicks, the Armours, and the Butlers.

​Historically, the Chicagoland area has been host to a number of notable and historic polo events, including the East vs. West match that drew over 40,000 spectators to the Onwenstsia Club in 1933. The Oak Brook Polo Club held 24 U.S. Open Polo Championships from 1954 to 1979, and the first all women’s polo club, sanctioned by the United Polo Association, was the Naperville Women’s Polo Club which was founded in 1982.

Las Brisas Farm and Polo Club is excited to add to Chicagoland’s deep polo history. This season, the club will host several USPA tournaments and will be the home to both the GSquared (12 Goal) and Las Brisas (8 goal) polo teams.