» Other Sports » America Celebrates It's 400th Anniversary With a Great Polo Match Featuring the Cartier USA Team Against the Ritz Carlton England, With the Brits Taking the Cup 7-3
America Celebrates It's 400th Anniversary With a Great Polo Match Featuring the Cartier USA Team Against the Ritz Carlton England, With the Brits Taking the Cup 7-3
Story by: Erin zollars
Posted May 12, 2007
Photos by: Sol tucker
Leesburg, VA --
Nothing says prestigious like an afternoon of polo, but when it is America's Cup of Polo celebrating America's 400th Anniversary there is something to say about an afternoon full of a great spectators sport and a crowd that resembled some of the best dressed people at the Kentucky Derby.
For those who came for the entertainment today, it might have might have left first-timers confused what this event realy is about and why in Leesburg? This is a game usually played on private fields surrounded by wealthy estates. Instead it was more like a day long celebrating that the yound and the old could enjoy. The Urban Nation hip-hop choir took the stage, along with Native American dancers and a K-9 demonstration by U.S. Park Police.
A dramatic performance by the Blackwater USA Parachute Team silenced the crowd, as the jumpers lingered in the sky with huge American and British flags while Journey played "The Star-Spangled Banner."
So what was inside all of these tents that surrounded the playing field? On one side of the field in those line of white tents on the hill, people with VIP sipped wine, ate crabcakes and grilled salmon sponsored by Ritz-Carlton, Cartier, Land Rover and SunTrust. Not a bad combination of sponsors for an event that has not been showcased here locally in this format before.
One thing that I learned today that this sport, which has some of the biggest sponsors is not even a professional sport and more than half of the people in attendance did not even know what a "Chukker" was at the start of the day. It was certainly a learning experience for most and hopefully it will carry to be a yearly event on this historic location in Loudon County, Virginia.
The night was capped off with the British team and the United States team celebrating with a sip of Cartier Champagne on stage and then taking in a hour long concert by the legenday rock band Journey.
Without original lead singer Steve Perry, Journey soliders on after 30 years with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals and the remainder of rhe band as good as they have always been since being founded in San Francisco way back in 1973. Fans braved the thunderstorms that passed through to hear timeless classics such as "Don't Stop Believin" and "Open Arms."
Overall, it was great experience and chairs of the event Tareq and Micheaele Salahi thanked all of the fans for their support and hoped that they would return for the USA vs. Italy next year.