NEWS

I am the director of intercollegiate and interscholastic polo, which covers middle school, interscholastic, intercollegiate and alumni polo. In addition to the 30-plus tournaments we run during the season, some of my favorite programs are I/I club development, the intercollegiate scholarship program, the I/I magazine, the international event and developing new initiatives to keep teams engaged.

It is rewarding to give back to the program that got me started in this amazing sport and share in the excitement with the players each year, whether they are competing at their very first polo tournament or hoisting the national trophy.

I grew up in Salem, Connecticut, started riding at the age of 3 and competed in equitation, jumpers and hunter pleasure with my Morgan mare, Burger. I also played soccer and ran track, competing at nationals in high school in high jump and the sprint medley.

I was first introduced to polo when my brother Tom Wisehart started playing polo at the University of Connecticut. As a family, we would spend our fall Sundays watching his games at the then outdoor Horsebarn Hill Arena. I logged many miles hotwalking for the college team.

I officially started playing the summer after my freshman year at UConn, where I had been recruited for the track team as a high jumper. It took one polo lesson to know I was trading in my track spikes for polo boots that fall. With determined teammates and a dedicated coach in Matt Syme, we won nationals my last two years.

At the University of Connecticut, I earned a bachelor of fine arts in photography. After graduation I worked at Culver Academies for two years as the equestrian team coach and assistant polo coach to Tom Goodspeed. Summer breaks from Culver were spent grooming at Mashomack Polo Club for Woody Keesee and his beloved ponies.

Following Culver, I spent a winter in Argentina working at a green horse operation before moving to Kentucky to start with the USPA in 2009. It was at my first USPA board of governor’s meeting in Aiken, South Carolina, that year when I first met my husband Craig, who at the time was managing Aiken Polo Club.

I now live in Aiken and still play, though I am on a bit of a hiatus since my son, Sawyer, was born last year. Craig also plays and our daughter Hazel participates in pee wee polo in Aiken on her pony, Jelly Bean.

The rare time we get outside of work and polo is all about family. We spend time with the horses, gardening, cooking, playing with our dogs and going on ‘adventures.’ I look forward to one day playing in a polo tournament with my kids.