The National Polo Center (NPC), formerly the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC), located in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, is one of the largest

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

clubs in the world. The club includes several natural grass polo fields, two of which are part of stadiums. Since 2022, the facility has been owned by the

United States Polo Association The United States Polo Association (USPA) is the national governing body for the sport of polo in the United States, and a retail chain that manufactures and promotes a lifestyle sports fashion brand of ready-to-wear casual footwear, apparel, and ...

(USPA).

History

Once home to humble agricultural lands,

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area and the fifth largest municipality in Palm Beach County by population. As of the 2020 census, the village had a po ...

, has been developed into a world-famous equestrian community. The sport of polo has been a major contributor to the city's development. In 1978, William T. Ylvisaker created polo fields and introduced the mallet and ball game to the city. In the late 1990s, private polo fields owned by Summerfield Johnston Jr., Mickey Tarnapol, and John B. Goodman were combined to create a platform for high-goal competition. In 2002, Goodman, patron of the Isla Carroll Polo team, took stewardship of these fields and founded the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC). The club then gained the guardianship of the 26-goal C. V. Whitney Cup polo tournament, named after

Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Cornelius "Sonny" Vanderbilt Whitney (February 20, 1899 – December 13, 1992) was an American businessman, film producer, government official, writer and philanthropist. He was also a polo player and the owner of a significant stable of Thorough ...

. In 2004, IPC set forth on its inaugural season while construction of the clubhouse and stadium were underway. In the following years, more polo fields were added, along with grandstands, private boxes, and other amenities. In 2013, IPC celebrated its 10th anniversary season. From 2000 to 2008, the facility was the home venue for the Palm Beach Pumas, a soccer team within the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. IPC was a major sponsor of the Pumas. In June 2022, the facility was acquired by the

(USPA), and renamed as the USPA National Polo Center – Wellington, more commonly known as the National Polo Center (NPC).

Amenities

The main stadium holds approximately 1,640 spectators, making it the largest structure for viewing polo in the United States. Championship Field is used for Sunday matches during the winter season, and also for USPA junior polo tournaments, summer sports, equestrian-themed weddings, and corporate events. The club has nine polo fields, an Olympic-size pool, a spa and fitness center, and a tournament-approved

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

lawn and club. It also has two tennis courts and a tennis pavilion, a wine room, and the largest collection of polo books in the world. The restaurant seats 120 and is named The Mallet Grille after its sculpture centerpiece, which contains 120 mallets representing the capacity of the restaurant. The club bar is called the 7th Chukker. The Pavilion is located across from Championship Field and is used for special functions, including Sunday Brunch and Polo, which is a mainstay during the 16-week winter season. The Pavilion seats 500 and has a large commercial kitchen, its own culinary staff separate from the club, and a covered veranda with views of the polo field.

Events

Notable polo competitions hosted at the facility include: *

International Polo Cup The International Polo Cup, also called the Newport Cup and the Westchester Cup, is a trophy in polo that was created in 1886 and is played for by teams from the United States and England. Matches were conducted 12 times between 1886 and 1939, su ...

– 2009, 2019, 2023 * U.S. Open Polo Championship The facility has also hosted non-polo sporting events, including the Junior District Lacrosse Championship,

American Youth Soccer Organization The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is one of the two main national organizations in youth soccer in the United States for children aged 4 through 19. AYSO was established as a non-profit soccer organization in Torrance (a suburb of ...

National Games,

Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate frisbee (officially simply called ultimate) is a non-contact team sport played with a disc flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by Joel Silver, Buzzy Hellring, and Jonny Hines in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate rese ...

tournaments, the National Field Hockey Championship, and the National Field Hockey Festival, among others.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.nationalpolocenter.com Sports venues in Florida Polo clubs in the United States Wellington, Florida 2002 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 2002 Polo venues