Ladies Polo set to take over Hastings' Elwood Park

Hawke's Bay Ladies Tournament organsier and professional polo player Lucy Coddington with her pony Kanga at Elwood Park, Hastings. Photo / Gemma McKelvie

Female polo players from across New Zealand are set to descend on Hawke's Bay over the Christmas break with their squad of ponies to play in the second annual Hawke's Bay Ladies Tournament.

A total of 11 teams and 38 competitors will be playing over three divisions at Elwood Park, Hastings, on December 27 and 28.

Hawke's Bay has a strong presence in the tournament with over half the competitors based in and playing for the region's teams.

Tournament organiser and professional polo player Lucy Coddington said the sport has seen a massive increase in women leaving the sidelines and entering the playing field in recent years.

"Over the past 15 years the only sector of the sport that has continued to grow is women's polo," she said. "It's grown because women want to play and they are no longer stopped by men."

Coddington will be playing for Good Question in the high goal at the tournament, alongside Jane Diepraam, Edwina Simcox and Laura Harris Malone.

The five-goal player spends her year with her husband Jonny, who is also a professional polo player from Hawke's Bay, chasing the summer polo seasons.

They spend the majority of their time playing in England, Barbados and New Zealand – based in Hastings with Hawke's Bay Polo Club.

Having played all over the world, the experienced English international said when she began playing it was rare to see a woman on the polo pitch.

"There was certainly not enough to play all-women tournaments," she said.

Coddington said getting more women involved was also about breaking barriers down in male dominated countries, not just the sport.

She said England are ahead of polo super nation Argentina when it comes to having the best female players in the world, but this will change.

"It has finally become accepted by the majority of the Argentine polo community, probably because they've had daughters and once, they have a daughter they understand they want equality."

The ladies tournament gets under way at 10.15am on Sunday with the four-goal division, followed by the six-goal and 12-goal in the afternoon.

Times of the high-goal matches can be found on Hawke's Bay Polo Club's Facebook page.