Playing for a purpose
ACHAMPAGNE bar, afternoon high tea, an exiting hat competition, and men and women playing one of the oldest team sports in recorded history were at the heart of the annual ChukkaHanover Charities Polo Competition last Sunday.
Flocked by socialites from across the island, and even a few from foreign lands, the sport, which started more than 2,000 years ago, was the showpiece at the Chukka Blue Polo Club in Sandy Bay, Hanover, as they raised money for charity.
Between the parishes of St James and Hanover, western Jamaica was the place to be last weekend, as people with philanthropic hearts raised funds aimed at changing the lives of those in need.
The polo match was t he culmination of a weekend of activities, and many turned out for the Sunday lyme, which saw Team Billy Craig competing against Team Main Events, and The Tryall Club, Round Hill and Tropicars playing for a purpose.
The latter three competed for the Chukka Foundation Cup, while the other two played for the Round Hill Cup. Team Round Hill was the big winner.
Again this year, the women were creative, and those with the competitive instinct, such as Liceo Montessori’s Spanish teacher, Carmen Cedeño, Norman Manley Law School student Tameka Bryce, and Dynamic Event Services’ Dollis Campbell, wore the prettiest hats.
Nine women competed for the first-place Schatzie Boutique prize, which was won by Cedeño, with Bryce, who looked pretty in pink, tak ing home second-place winnings of prizes to Chukka Good Hope.
Cedeño’s ‘Out of Many, One People’ hat was a hit. Designed specifically for the event, the Liceo Montessori executive placed flags representing all the nationalities that can be found on the rock around the rim of her hat.
Sponsors included Red Stripe, Jamaica Tourist Board, Main Events, Pier One, PureNational Ice, Porsche, Hawkeye, Dynamic Event Ser vices, Tex tron, and Clarence Bailey Transportation.