Your news: Polo success for Cranleigh pupil

Will Millard, currently in Year 7 at Cranleigh Prep School, has represented the school in various national riding events since he joined.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Jan 2017, 08:00 BST

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Will MillardWill Millard
Will Millard

He began his polo career on Teddy, one of his hunting ponies, when he was only eight years old.

Keen to pursue this sport, he soon started playing polo with the Crawley and Horsham Pony Club.

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Initially he played Jorrocks (6-U11), then moved on to Handley Cross (9-U14) and is now playing at Surtees level (9-U14).

In 2016, he won the Pony Club Tic Tac Trophy for the Best Playing Pony and Rider Combination.

Will’s neighbours, Jack and Ralph Richardson, are both professional polo players who represent England.

They have been fantastic mentors to Will and he often practices polo with them.

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Whilst playing for HPA (Hurlingham Polo Association) at Hipwood level last year, Will was spotted and asked to join the Young Development Pathway.

Following this, he was invited to train at The Kurland Polo Club in Plettenberg, South Africa, for ten days in 2016.

This was a great experience for Will to train under the careful guidance of the renowned Buster MacKenzie.

Also known as the Silver Fox, Buster is an international player, a key figure in South African polo, and a highly respected coach.

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There were four boys in the group and they played every day, before taking part in a Polo Parade through Plettenberg.

Will returned to the UK with lots of exciting stories, for exmaple, how he was woken up by baboons banging on his bedroom door, or how he found a Puff Adder in the garden.

With four polo ponies of his own, Will is really looking forward to next season, having trained by playing Arena Polo at Hickstead over the Winter.

A highlight of last season was playing at the grounds of the Black Bears and King Power Polo Teams. His Polo Handicap is currently -2.

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Related topics:PoloCrawley