Welcome to Irish Polo
Foundation
Our Vision
Our vision is for polo to be played by young athletes in every county in Ireland.
Our Mission
To generate funding to provide opportunities for young people to play the game of polo in Ireland and to support the development of a thriving polo horse industry
Our Strategic Focus Area
- Investment in young athletes.
- The development of current and new regional High Performance Centres.
- To work in partnership with Pony Club Polo, Schools and Universities (SUPA) and Polo Clubs.
- To support the creation of a sustainable model to achieve long term success.
Our People
James Kennedy
Director - Chairman and Founder
James Kennedy is the chairman and founder of the Irish Polo Foundation. He has played Polo for over 30 years, based in the South East of Ireland. He represents Irish Polo on the Sports council for affiliates in Horse Sport Ireland and he is a director of Pentathlon Ireland.Mr Kennedy has extensive experience at senior management level and is currently the Chairman of the National Standards Authority of Ireland. He has having enjoyed a distinguished career in the facilities management, multinational healthcare and agri-services industries in Ireland.In previous roles, Mr Kennedy served as interim CEO of Horse Sport Ireland, Vice President of European Operations with Bausch & Lomb Inc and Chief Executive of Thomas McDonogh & Sons Ltd. He has also served as President of the Chambers of Commerce of Waterford; the South-East region and Ireland. A science graduate of University College Cork, he is a native of Co Limerick.
Richard Tyrone
Irish Polo Captain and Ambassador
Richard de la poer Beresford is the Captain of Irish polo team and plays and trains with Irish thoroughbred horses. All of Richard’s polo horses are Irish Thoroughbreds. He is also the Founder & Director of Curraghmore Whiskey.
Kristina White
Founding Member
Kristina is one of the founding members of the Irish Polo Foundation and comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge. She is Chair of Curraghmore Polo Club.
Kristina has been breeding and sourcing sport horses for many years right across the globe, mainly trading in the USA, Sweden and Italy.
Her polo playing has highlighted the inequalities between the numbers of men and women taking part and she is committed to levelling out this playing field.
Kristina wishes to see women playing at all levels in polo.
Eddie Kennedy
Supporter - High Performance coach - Berkshire Polo Club
Eddie Kennedy is the High Performance Coach for Irish Polo Foundation. He is from Dublin and started his career as a stunt rider in the movies. He has painted horses all his life and exhibits in Galleries in London. He started his polo career with Memo Gracida, the famous ten goal Mexican polo player playing in the U.K.He later managed his Maple Leaf team for five years with 100 polo horses. As the Maple Team was being disbanded, Prince Jeffri of Brunei arrived in the UK as a new Patron and bought the String of horses and the Coworth Park Polo Complex. The complex was expanded and the strain increased to 200 horses. This was a great opportunity of management for Eddy to work with the best players in the world including all 7 of the famous Heguy brothers, who were rated as ten goals, which is the best handicap in the world.Later he went to Dubai where he set up a brand new polo club and equestrian centre.For the past ten years he has been teaching almost exclusively at the Berkshire Polo Club and the Guards Polo Club-near Ascot UK. In addition he has run clinics in Moscow,Zurich and India.He has started the high Performance programme in Ireland which has been set up to coach coaches, coach umpires, coach players and beginners.
Sebastian Dawnay
Supporter - High Performance coach
Sebastian Dawnay from Waterford was the Irish Polo Captain for a number of years, he represented Ireland in the UK in Europe and the USA. As a professional player he played in 4 English gold cup finals and won one. In arena polo outdoors he won 6 gold Cups and two silver Medals out of nine years Finals.He is now a senior coach in the UK and is part of the IPF High Performance Group. Sebastian owns and manages an Art Studio based near Ascot and holds an annual art exhibition in central London.
Laura Hatton
Social Media and Marketing Manager
Laura is the Social Media and Marketing Manager for Irish Polo Foundation. Laura read Classics at the University of Newcastle, following which she travelled extensively. Back in the UK, Laura has forged a successful career in the world of Marketing, Branding and Social Media. Her love of horses has followed her everywhere and, although a novice to the sport of Polo, she is an enthusiastic participant and is keen to encourage other women and younger people to play the game.
Denise Power
Non Executive Director
Denise power was the first woman to join the Whitfield Polo Club and has been playing polo since. She was Polo Manager for the Curraghmore Polo club for a number of years. She plays polo in the USA and plays at AIPC and Curraghmore on a regular basis.
Ambassadors
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Michael Herbst – Polo Wicklow.
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Charles Betz – President of Supa Uk and Ireland.
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Eileen Flint – Founder of the Yale Polo Club USA.