Polo is the oldest team sport in the world. It's history dates back to the days of nomadic warriors playing across barren fields over two thousand years ago. Although it is widely accepted that the game was played throughout Europe and the Far East, it was not until the mid-1800's that documents supporting the earliest version of rules showed up in England.

In 1876 noted publisher, James Gordon Burnett, brought the sport to New York, where it caught on immediately. Within ten years, major clubs sprang up all over the east, including Newport and Long Island.

Over the next 50, years polo gained popularity in the United States. By the 1930's, polo was an Olympic sport and crowds in excess of 30,000 regularly attended international matches at the Meadow Brook Polo Club on Long Island, New York. The game has produced athletes who would have achieved greatness in any sport: Cecil Smith, the Texas cowboy, who held a perfect 10-goal rating for a record 25 years; Devereux Melbourne, instrumental in formulating modern styles of play; and Tommy Hitchcock, war hero, and the best of the best in international competition for two decades.

In the past 20 years, polo in the United States has undergone an unprecedented and remarkable expansion with more than 225 United States Polo Association member clubs and over 3,000 participating players. The Villages is leading the way in that expansion.