… says new “arena polo turf” will guarantee all year round horse riding
President of Port Harcourt Polo Club, Dr Chukwudi Dimkpa, Saturday, made history as he performed the ground breaking of a new Arena Polo Turf in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The ground breaking and flag-off of construction of the Arena Polo Turf during the grand finale of the Golden Jubilee, is high point of week-long activities marking the just concluded 50th anniversary tournament of the Port Harcourt Polo Club.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dimkpa said the 300 seater capacity pavilion Arena Polo, with playing turf covering a space of 50/100 metres, will be constructed and completed at the cost of 220 million naira, is scientifically designed to automatically drain away rain water within 30 minutes end of every rain drops.
He further said the establishment of the facility is significant, is to solve the perennial wet weather condition associated with Port Harcourt, such that usually pose serious challenge to having an all year round Polo play and horse riding in the city.
“Today is a significant day for the club. We are on the verge of defining weather. The biggest problem we have in playing Polo in Port Harcourt is the weather”.
“We normally play three (3)months; we have three months of dry spell and nine months of rain, but with the Arena Polo, we will no longer have that as we can play all year round”.
“It is going to cost us a whooping 220 million naira to achieve this. The pavilion will seat about 300 persons and the space for riding and playing Polo will 50 metres by 100”.
Engr Dimkpa emphasized that the major focus of his administration is to demystify the game of Polo and use the medium of the Arena Polo Turf, which doubles as Polo training school, as avenue to train school children in the art of horse riding, and ultimately to persuade our kids off the streets, and to get them meaningfully engaged.
“The Arena Polo turf will also double as a riding school. We are hellbent on getting kids off the street, we want to get them interested in horse riding”
“We are partnering with schools, so this is the best time to get a proper riding school, so we teach people the game of Polo, the art of riding with the best practice”.
Apart from the intriguing play of Polo and horse riding among competing teams and players from across Nigeria and outside the country, the 50th Port Harcourt Polo tournament saw exciting evenings of daily musical performances, comedy and entertainment, business networking and expo by tournament sponsors and other vendors.
The Golden Jubilee of Port Harcourt Polo Club which began 9th to 15th January, 2022 has ended with glamorous evening concert, presentation of trophies to winning teams, players and awards to deserving individuals and tournament sponsors, including raffle draws and gifting of mouthwatering prizes to winners.
16th January, 2022.
