Starting from scratch, Mark and Katherine Bellissimo and their team created a fast-paced, high-energy polo event like never before at their North Carolina equestrian center.

Despite rain throughout the day, spectators began lining up hours before the 8 p.m. starting time to witness Gladiator Polo players battle it out in the Tryon International Equestrian Center’s main arena, located in Mill Spring, North Carolina on June 24. By game time, well over 10,000 people were lining the arena.

The numbers rivaled the 10th annual Veuve Clayoquot Polo Classic played in May at Liberty Island State Park, across the Hudson River from New York City. That crowd was enticed by A-list celebrities and a special performance by 15-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and producer Alicia Keys.

Gladiator Polo also drew larger numbers than a typical U.S. Open final, the highest rated professional polo played in the U.S. and the sport’s most coveted trophy.

Remarkably, Tryon, a small town of approximately two square miles at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains, had a population of less than 1,650 as of the last census, in 2010. Still, organizers believe that, had the weather been better, the event probably would have drawn another thousand or two additional spectators.

Putting on this type of polo event was no small feat, considering Tryon has no polo facilities and the only polo player in the area is 1-goal Gates Gridley, who helped manage the event. And it was held at the height of summer polo season, which spreads the best players around all over the country.

The Bellissimos tried out the Gladiator Polo concept in Wellington, Florida during the high-goal season. Even with the concentration of equestrian activities, and the success of the event, the crowds paled in comparison to what the event drew in North Carolina.

Gridley said, “Most of the marketing and advertising was done over social media. The Tryon International Equestrian Center Facebook page has, I think, about 40,000 followers. They had some really good traction on there.

“The marketing team did an amazing job of getting out and really educating a public that didn’t have knowledge of polo before. They did an amazing job [writing] blogs [and explaining] the rules of polo and what to expect when going to a polo match. ...

“We went on the local news to a couple different places—in Greenville as well as Asheville. There was a couple of articles done by local newspapers. It was amazing the amount of people that showed up. I’d say probably 99 percent of the people who were there had absolutely no background of watching polo or anything like that.”

While the equestrian center normally has a relatively large group of riders competing, only a small portion of the crowd were from the horse show.

“There were people from the horse show there, but the reason we decided on June 24 was because it was a down week for the horse show. There wasn’t a ... grand prix that week. The horse show was actually relatively empty compared to what it usually is,” explained Gridley.

The event was held in the center’s George Morris Arena, which measures 310-feet by 250-feet. A regulation-size polo arena is 300-feet by 150-feet so the larger size made for good, fast polo.

“The width of the arena opened up the game so much. There was more play in the middle of the game as opposed to the boards. [It allowed] these players that specialize in outdoor polo, which is a different style of the game, to keep that same sort of style,” said Gridley.

Normally used for jumping, relatively little had to be done to transform the arena for polo.

“We obviously took out the jumps. We used the ESI drags, the same ones we used [in Wellington] this past winter, to flatten out the surface and we put up netting on the outside. ... The dimensions were perfect. We didn’t have to put netting on the sides, which made it a lot better for spectators because they weren’t looking through a net the whole time. The ball barely ever left the arena,” said Gridley.

The arena originally had 3-foot board fencing around it. That was replaced with 4-foot fencing covered in plywood and painted black. The arena goals, custommade for Gladiator Polo and used in Wellington, were brought in for this event.

Like the Wellington Gladiator Polo series, the arena rules were altered to make for a faster, more exciting game. Six five-minute chukkers were played rather than four seven-minute chukkers. Instead of throw-ins after goals, the opposing team immediately gets possession of the ball in front of its goal. And goals were designed to resemble hockey, lacrosse and soccer goals with netting on the top, deeper than the traditional 12 inches, and built coming into the arena at a larger angle.

“We’ve been able to fine-tune what we’ve wanted as far as style of play, rules and presentation,” explained Gridley. “Last winter, we were changing some things, figuring out what worked and what didn’t. By the end ... we knew what we wanted and how to get there.

“We’ve simplified the rules a little bit, and kept the safety of the horses and riders a top priority. We’ve made it more fun to watch. It is much more fun to watch than typical arena polo,” said Gridley.

Players had to be brought in to form two 20-goal teams for the event. “June 24 was an issue, logistically, for the players, but I think all of them had either played gladiator polo in the past or tried out for it this winter. They saw the big picture so it made it a little bit easier,” said Gridley.

“I think if this was our first time running Gladiator Polo, we might have had a little more trouble getting players and horses and everyone there, to a place that is two-and-a-half hours away from Aiken, especially right before most of the players are leaving for their summer seasons in Wyoming and Santa Barbara.

Two of the players brought up their own horses while the others leased horses since most of their strings were already headed to either Santa Barbara or Wyoming. Bradley Biddle umpired the match.

The teams were named after surrounding cities: Charlotte and Greenville. Carlucho Arellano, Mariano ‘Nino’ Obregon and Pelon Escapite wore the Greenville shirts for the team sponsored by Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, while Santi Torres, Jared Zenni and Facundo Obregon represented Charlotte, a team sponsored by Circle K. The event was presented by Coca-Cola.

Prior to the match, players signed team banners, spectators took photos with people dressed as gladiators and there was plenty of entertainment to keep everyone busy with a live band, a horse simulator, face painting, a carousel, games and magicians circulating through the crowd.

At game-time, Escapite struck first, kicking off a spectacular performance. Charlotte’s Facundo Obregon answered with a penalty conversion. Facundo scored the only goal of the second, while the players raced back and forth, wrestling for control. Arellano finally found the mark in the third, and repeated the effort a few minutes later. In between Facundo hammered one in, keeping the score level at 3-3 at the half.

Before the game and at halftime, two kids’ teams, that traveled in from Aiken, South Carolina with Tiger Kneece, played a chukker, demonstrating to the crowd that any age is appropriate for taking up the game.

“The kids’ games have been crucial. ... To the crowd and the parents of kids that are watching, it [shows that it is] accessible ... because everyone has to start somewhere,” said Gridley. “It is a lot different going out there and seeing people like Facundo Obregon play, but it is good for [the crowd] to see kids playing and see that there is a ladder.”

During the match, announcements were made for those interested in lessons to go to the Gladiator Polo website. According to Gridley, at least 116 people enquired about taking lessons that night and 35-40 have requested lessons since then. The key is having an accessible polo school for those interested in lessons. “I’m running the polo school here. We have six lesson horses ranging in age from 8-14, that are all nice and quiet,” said Gridley.

Even more, Tryon is a 1,660-acre facility with almost 1200 stalls, so if interest continues to grow, there is room to add more polo facilities as needed. And, the facility will host the FEI World Equestrian Games in September 2018.

In the second half, Facundo Obregon shot a rocket to goal for two points. Escapite responded with a Penalty 2 conversion. All scoring drives were cut short in the fifth, leaving Charlotte still on top 5-4 going into the final chukker. Escapite continued to dazzle the crowd and had it on its feet with a pair of goals to take the 6-5 lead for Greenville with time running out.

Charlotte couldn’t break through Greenville’s defense leaving Greenville the winner of the $21,000 check and each player with a celebratory bottle of Coca- Cola. Escapite, the crowd favorite, was named MVP for his Herculean efforts.

Escapite said, “As a player, that kind of atmosphere is unbelievable and it makes you want to give it your all on every play. When you’re playing, you’re surrounded by people cheering for you and against you. It’s just a great environment. It was great for the families here and great for the sport.” After, Escapite headed to Bliss, Michigan for the summer.

Gridley described Escapite’s style as that of a hockey player. “Pelon played really well. He’s got a lot of experience in the arena and it definitely showed.”

He continued, “It was amazing. The crowd was extremely engaged, especially for a crowd that had no background watching polo. It felt like you were at a hockey match. The players did a really good job of getting the crowd involved the entire night.”

Organizers hope to change people’s perspective of the sport from immediately thinking of the “Pretty Woman” movie with women wearing big hats and drinking champagne. Instead of polo just being a backdrop to a party, as it is at most other high-profile events, the idea is to get the crowd fully focused on the game. That is the best way to get people wanting to learn to play themselves.

“One of our goals with Gladiator Polo is we want [spectators] to think of it more as if they are going to a hockey match or football game. Even with no background in polo, people were emailing and calling, asking when the next event was. That is how we gauged our success,” said Gridley.

“I spoke with Nino Obregon a little bit after the game and he said this had something on the U.S. Open as far as the amount of engagement. That is just because we are bringing the crowd into a close space, so all the action is happening in your face as opposed to 100 yards away from you,” said Gridley.

“Tonight was just unbelievable. It was something unique. I’ve never played in front of a crowd that big before,” Mariano Obregon said after the game. “Everyone was cheering so loud and it was just a great experience. I’m really hoping that we get to do it again.”

Arellano was equally impressed. “That crowd really gets you going. We were down by one or two the whole game and they lift you in those moments. You get into it and you put your heart into it to get the people behind you. It was just an incredible night.”

In hopes of maintaining the momentum created by the first event, a second match is planned for September 1 in Tryon. In addition, organizers expect to have an expanded Gladiator Polo season in Wellington this winter and Gridley will continue the polo school there as well.

“We’ll definitely have more than four teams. We are still figuring out the details, but we have had so much player interest, the sky is the limit as far as this winter goes. I think it is going to be a huge improvement because we have had time to organize and see the players and really build the sport,” said Gridley.

– By Gwen Rizzo