Introducing a new generation to one of the world’s oldest sports

Photos by Courtney Kelly

Thomas Runenacker, Owner Chicago Polo Academy

Chicago Polo Academy is helping introduce a new generation of players to the sport. Located in Maple Park, Illinois, the academy hosts scheduled competitive tournaments and offers riding lessons, polo instruction, and practices for students under the direction of Thomas Rubenacker, who came from Córdoba, Argentina, to establish the program.     

The academy operates on Old Oak Brook Farm in Maple Park, property owned by Douglass Giebel, president of McFarlane Douglass, based in Burr Ridge, Illinois. An active player himself, Giebel shares the same passion as Rubenacker, having grown up playing the sport as a young man, and has opened his grounds to the Chicago Polo Academy for practices, lessons, and matches.

Douglass Giebel and Seamus Tuohy of Douglass McFarlane

Chicago Polo Academy also invites spectators to join the welcoming party, an opportunity to meet the players and learn more about the sport of polo, featuring a traditional Argentinian barbecue and bringing the polo community closer together while linking newcomers with its rich traditions.

For more information, visit www.ChicagoPoloAcademy.info.