Hope for Irish polo as Waterford’s Evan Power takes up the reins

IT has been half a generation and more since polo’s Irish leading lights Richard Le Poer, Tommy Beresford and Sebastian Dawnay took up the reins as professional players, and the future of the sport was looking bleak. That was until the young Evan Power set his sights just this year on a professional career, first in Spain’s famed Polo Valley and then, through sheer skill and determination with the help of patrons John Cooper and Louisa Watt the rest, as they say, is history.

Evan Power is flying the Irish flag as a young professional polo player

Since moving to England last summer, Evan had based himself for the season at Windsor, the Queen’s polo ground and on returning home to Waterford, has frequently been at Stradbally with Lord Richard Le Poer, tuning up young ponies for the 2020 season.

The young Evan Power in the 2018 Irish polo season, showing the potential he had to take him to professional polo in England

The professional polo player’s life has been a huge learning curve for him but one that his family background assured that he was more than up for. “What is really pushing me is my grandfather always saying that Irish polo is going and I keep saying why, who is letting this happen?” asked 19-year-old Evan Power when he spoke recently with Pynck.com near his home in Waterford. “It shouldn’t be happening and because I love the sport so much I want to be the best I can be. I have bought five ponies since I have come back from England, former racehorses and I am making them as polo ponies.
Evan’s grandfather is the renowned horseman, Jimmy Keane. While the Irish summer for him is all about polo, he frequently leads out hunt packs during the cold and dark winter months and when it comes to the horse, what he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing.

Evan Power began coming into his own professional polo career during the 2019 English season

Jimmy was Master of Horse for Sebastian Dawnay’s father, the late Major Hugh Dawnay, and the pair travelled the world as part of a successful polo team. Now, with his encouragement and support, his grandson Evan has taken up the reins. “I am lucky I got into England, to have gotten the opportunities,” said Evan. “It is where polo is. John Cooper was phenomenal, and from there it just took off and Louisa Watt and her team Brown Rudnick, they were the main teams I played for.” While in England, Evan formed part of the 8 goal team with Louisa Watt, going on to win the Berkshire Cup. At just 19 years old he can also claim success for the 6 goal team he was on last season that won the Roehampton Trophy, one of the oldest cups and among the most renowned in a tournament at Ham Polo Club. As Evan winters over, riding out from Joseph O’Brien’s yard at Coolmore Stud and in between, making polo ponies out of former racehorses with Richard Le Poer his future should be bright, but it isn’t.

Young Irish polo player (second on right) played the number 2 position, quick and fast on the field with seasoned professional Ed Van Reeves, Matthew Perry, patrons Louisa Watt and John Cooper

“I have help from the patrons I am with but an Irish sponsor would help,” he said. The last few years playing in Ireland I wasn’t improving much. I was playing young horses and I wasn’t improving but I want to keep everything I do Irish, but Irish polo has gone the way of running after the ball and it is not about hitting the ball. I learned a lot from the minute I hit English polo and it has been great.”
In the classic tradition of Irish polo Evan plays a strategic game, just as Major Hugh Dawnay taught along with his grandfather, Jimmy Keane. Polo is about knowing where each of four opponents is at any given time in a match, whether they are playing their designated positions and if they aren’t, then an easy mark.
Evan is in the right place at the right time, and at the right age to make a career while flying the flag for Ireland and someday when he is much older and he returns home for good, the skills he has learned and has yet to learn can be brought home, maybe for the next generation of young Irish players.
“You have to want to do it,” said Evan. “It is a great sport to get into, to play. I always want to remember that the horses don’t need you, you need the horses.”