A polo team from Philadelphia made history in central Virginia on Sunday when they became the first all African-American team to win a national title.
The Cowtown-Work to Ride team took home the gold after beating out the crew from Baltimore in the National Interscholastic Championship at the Virginia Polo Center.
The top polo players say it feels great to be a part of this monumental achievement in their sport.
Brandon Rease, of the winning team said, “If you get involved with it and want to do really good in it, you just practice every day and, a sport is a sport, no matter if it’s for black, white, anything.”
This was the 42nd year for the tournament. The Philly team also had to beat out groups from California, Texas and Canada to be named the champions.
Who knew a bunch of black kids in Philadelphia would forgo basketball and football to play polo? The Philadelphia youth polo team, the Cowtown/Work to Ride based in Fairmount Park, is an all-black team and a force to be reckoned with in the world of polo.
The team won the 42nd annual USPA National Interscholastic Championship tournament over the weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
“It was awesome,” Cowtown/WTR Coach Lezlie Hiner told the Philadelphia Inquirer about her team’s 24–17 victory over Baltimore in the title game. “We’re known as a come-from-behind team, but the boys were so explosive in these games.”
The stars of the team are brothers Kareem Rosser, 18, and Daymar Rosser, 16, of West Philadelphia, and Brandon Rease, 15, of North Philadelphia. Kareem was named the No. 1 All-star at the competition and plans to attend Cornell after he graduates from Valley Forge Military Academy.
Lezlie Hiner started the team back in 1994 with the goal of exposing the sport to underprivileged kids. In exchange for horse-riding lessons, kids would help around the barns and take care of the horses.
Source: http://www.thefloridastar.com/?p=1422
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