Horsing Around: Polo for Charity

It might be called the sport of kings, but announcer Mike Rippy of Bluffton insists polo is not an elitist sport.

"It's always kind of presented as an elitist, upper crust thing," Rippy said. "But for every prince or captain of industry that's been a polo player, there's probably been some old cowboy or some old farmer out there that had a few horses that started hitting a ball around."

Rippy will be announcing the polo match at the Rotary Club of Okatie's annual Polo for Charity on Sunday.

WHY YOU SHOULD GO

Aside from watching an action-packed polo match, getting a chance to stomp the divots and enjoying a nice picnic, attendees of the annual event will be helping University of South Carolina Beaufort nursing students.

Profits from this year's event will go to the school's nursing scholarship program and other charities to be announced after the event.

HIGHLIGHTS

As always, polo spectators are encouraged to be creative with their hats and picnics. A mystery judge will wander the field looking for winners of the "best hat" and "best tailgating picnic" contests.

"Polo can be quite the fun fashion place at this picnic," said Lisa Carroll, who handles the marketing for Polo for Charity. "I also call it 'Bluffton's biggest picnic' as far as the tailgating part."

She said you'll see everything from a picnic blanket, some grapes and a bottle of wine to silver, champagne, fancy cakes and hors d'oeuvres.

Also at the event, the Bluffton High School Interact Club will be collecting canned goods to benefit Bluffton Self Help. And the school's Junior ROTC Color Guard will kick off the match by presenting the colors.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Iva Welton of Hilton Head Island was director of public relations at Rose Hill Plantation in 1982 when local dentist Dr. Sandy Termotto walked into her office and told her Rose Hill had a great polo field. The two discussed the idea of holding polo matches at Rose Hill, and after a lot of planning, the first match was held there later that year.

After the matches were put on hold for a few years, Termotto, who was then the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Okatie, contacted Welton again, asking this time if his club could take over the event.

In 2000, the Okatie club did just that, and now it's gearing up for its 17th match.

THE STATS

In past years, somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 people have attended Rotary's Polo for Charity event.

Profits from past matches have gone to various charities, including Heroes on Horseback and the local Rotary club's scholarship program for graduating high school seniors at Bluffton High School.

That's what Welton says polo at Rose Hill has always been about -- raising money for local charities.

"We, as developers, felt that it was extremely important to support the community," Welton said.