May/June 2024 Issue

Page 32 May/June 2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Wells Sets Record with 14 National Girls Polo Championships By Suzanne Bush Kelly Wells of Marlan Farm in Freeland, MD says she “dabbled a bit with polo as a teenager.” She grew up immersed in polo but pursued equestrian glory in the show ring. “My dad played polo and my uncles played too. I did a lot of showing and focused on that.” Until she went to Cornell, where she “broke out of the show ring,” and went wholeheartedly into polo. The road almost-not-taken has led Wells to extraordinary success as a player and a coach. First stop: Garrison Forest, the private college preparatory school in Owings Mills, MD, a school focused on preparing young women for success in col- lege and beyond. The school was looking for a polo coach in 1997, and Wells was looking for a job. “I have a degree in teaching,” she says, “but I didn’t think that I would be teaching polo until I got the job at Garrison Forest.” She stayed at Garrison Forest “cutting my teeth there,” for six years. It was an outstanding program in which to begin her career. Garrison Forest’s polo team had amassed 14 National Interscholastic Championships, capped by a run of seven titles from 1992-1998. Arena Polo vs. Outdoor Polo Wells coaches arena polo, which is somewhat different from outdoor polo. To begin, arena polo is played indoors, in a ring measuring 300 feet by 150 feet. The arena is surrounded with four-foot walls. Compare that to arena’s “cousin,” out- door polo, which is played on a 10-acre field and no walls. Both versions have seven and a half-minute chukkers, or periods. In arena there are generally four chukkers, whereas in outdoor polo there could be up to six chukkers, depending on the play- ers’ handicaps. High goal match- es would have six chukkers, and feature teams with combined handicaps of 20 or more. These matches are the most competi- tive. Polo handicaps range from minus two, which is a novice player, to ten. For perspective, higher handicaps in polo are good; higher handicaps in golf? Not so good. A Nearly Unbroken Record of Success After leaving Garrison For- est, Wells started down another path, and in 2004 she began coaching polo at her own farm in Freeland. It was the open- ing chapter of a stellar record, culminating on March 10, 2024, with a spectacular performance, as detailed by the United States Polo Association (USPA). “Sunday’s win marks another victory for Maryland Coach (Continued on page 33) Left to right, Kylie Beard, Sierra Blevins, coach Kelly Wells, Rory Knox, and Izzy Brockett celebrate their victory in the US Polo Asso- ciation Interscholastic Polo Championship at Brookshire Polo Club in Texas in March. The win was Wells’ fourteenth national inter- scholastic championship. Photo credit: Read Knox