NEWS

Yale Polo Club (Bethany, Connecticut) is delighted to announce a new management team effective Thursday, September 1, 2022. Patrick Marinelli and his fiancée, Kate Griffin, will be moving on to new opportunities at the end of the summer. Marinelli, will be greatly missed and was instrumental in growing the programs at Yale, traveling and coaching interscholastic teams to two national tournaments this spring. The new management team will include Julian Penados taking over as Polo Program Manager and Coach and Niki Cogliano assuming the role of Barn Manager and Riding Program Instructor. Both Penados and Cogliano have already been working with Yale Polo for more than three years, so they bring experience and energy to the program.

Penados began riding during summer camp in his homeland of Guatemala at eight years old. When his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of eleven, he joined the Work to Ride Program. There, he learned not only riding, but every aspect of horsemanship. He went on to play interscholastic polo his last year of middle school through high school. After graduating in 2019, he became a USPA Intern at Yale Polo & Equestrian Center, where he has continued to grow as a horseman and player for the last three years, taking on the role of Equine Manager and Assistant Coach. Penados will coach and organize all aspects of the many polo programs operated out of Yale Polo Club. Penados will also be pursuing his degree at Gateway Community College starting in September.

Cogliano started riding at eight years old and has volunteered, taught lessons and run camps since she was 14. She graduated with a B.S. in Equine Business Management from Post University. Upon graduating, she and a business partner opened Red Skye Farm in Bethany, Connecticut, where they offered riding lessons as well as Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. In 2018, Cogliano took over the business and built the lesson program into what it is today. Cogliano will be responsible for the management of the facility, horse care and day-to-day aspects of running the business, as well riding instruction. When not involved with horses, her other passion is dog agility with her two dogs, Emma and Sadie.