Playing the “Sport of Kings”

Polo is considered to be the “sport of kings” with the relatively high cost of equipment and upkeep required to reap the benefits of its favorable socio-economic demographics. Unlike squash which originated in the United Kingdom, polo is a sport which traces its history to developing countries in Central Asia. While squash is yet to be accepted as an Olympic sport, polo was once an Olympic sport but did not maintain its sporting status in the Olympic movement.

Zihan Ahmed, a distant cousin of mine from Assam is a good horseman and enjoys playing amateur polo in his time away from being an IT executive. Zihan’s dream was to enroll in equine studies but he currently spends most of his day as a new business strategist for Google. While I am not a rider myself, I can appreciate the skill of many sports including polo where athletes are to be physically fit, be spatially aware and demonstrate adaptability to swiftly changing conditions. In this regard a polo player and a squash player are quite similar.

Zihan Ahmed, an Assamese cousin playing amateur polo in Argentina.

Crocker Snow Jr., Head Coach of Polo at Harvard University is a former colleague who I have crossed paths with on multiple occasions in international affairs. Our first encounter was at the Global Meeting of Generations in Washington DC in 1999 while I was an undergraduate at Bowdoin College. Thanks to Iqbal Quadir a former mentor to me at the Harvard Kennedy School, I have since had the good fortune of working with Crocker on a variety of consulting projects for economic and social development in emerging markets. It is great to know that Crocker is rounding off his career by following his calling as a high-performing polo coach. My best wishes and much success to Crocker and Zihan with their pursuits in the world of polo!