By Kimberly Hosey
Interviewed by Anu Bhardwaj
Melissa Ganzi, widely recognized as one of the top women polo players in the world, also took home the overall MVP award after the Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo tournament. She hopes to inspire more girls and women to take up the sport. Image: Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo
AlUla, Saudi Arabia—The second Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo Tournament opened Friday, Feb. 11, to an audience including celebrities, royals, and special guests watching competitors including the world’s top polo players. But some spectators and participants were paying attention to more than the action of the game or the scores at the return of the world’s first desert polo event (the tournament took a hiatus during the pandemic, after debuting in 2020).
The “sport of kings” is starting to welcome queens.
Coinciding with the most gender-balanced Olympic games in history, the sport of polo is becoming more inclusive. For the first time, a polo match in Saudi Arabia welcomed an international player who is a woman.
Melissa Ganzi, the American polo player who made headlines as well as the president and co-owner of Grand Champions Polo Club in Florida, has a reputation for rising to meet challenges.
One of her biggest challenges came during the pandemic and between the two polo tournaments—and though it didn’t have anything to do with COVID-19 or polo, it affected her outlook on everything.
“My biggest challenge was overcoming breast cancer,” Ganzi told The State of Women. “I’m a breast cancer survivor.”
Diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in October of 2020, Ganzi underwent radiation treatments and is now cancer-free.
“I think going through something like that makes you stronger,” she said.
It’s a strength she tries to channel into her work on the field—and as a role model for girls and women. Ganzi is no stranger to “firsts” in the world of polo. She was the first woman to play snow polo in the United States, Austria, and St. Moritz, Switzerland. In 2019 she became the first woman to win the Snow Polo World Cup at St. Moritz.
Star Melissa Ganzi—as well as her horse, Mecca—were recognized at the tournament’s closing ceremonies. Image: Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo
“I’ve always been an equestrian, and I played lots of team sports as a youth, so polo was sort of a natural fit,” she said.
The milestones and victories are amazing, Ganzi said, but more gratifying are those who follow her lead.
“After I did those things and I won all those tournaments: After doing that, there was another woman that played in St. Moritz. … And there’s other women who have played in Kitzbühel. And this December in Aspen, we had six teams [at the World Snow Polo Championship]—and four were captained by women,” Ganzi said.
The influence of a role model to not only set a new standard for what success looks like but to inspire others to follow their example can be powerful, and Ganzi takes the responsibility seriously.
“To me, that was a huge difference, because [that level of women’s involvement in polo] didn’t happen before. And a little piece, hopefully a little bit of that was because they saw me and they wanted to do it. And I think that that’s important,” she said.
Supporting women and girls in sport uplifts everyone
Unique challenges to playing in the desert, like an inflatable ball, added uniqueness to the tournament, which is the first world desert polo tournament. Image: Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo
Women’s rising involvement in polo is an inspiration to all women, said Saudi Prince Salman bin Mansour Al Saud, who competed in the tournament for Team Saudia.
The young polo enthusiast, who took leave from his university studies to play, admires players like Ganzi and said he had practiced in training sessions with her as well as Sheikha Alia Al Maktoum of the United Arab Emirates.
“This is an inspiration and a motivation for all young women—at ages, all levels. You can start from zero and reach your potential,” he said.
He added that the inclusion of women matches the overall goals of Vision 2030, a blueprint for taking Saudi Arabia in an updated and more sustainable direction.
As he sees it, women and girls can be just as skilled—or more so—than their male counterparts, and the future will be better with them on the field.
“My only advice is work hard, chase your dreams, and be addicted to polo like me,” he said, laughing.
Prince Salman went on to be honored as the most promising player of the tournament on Saturday.
Changing mindsets can get more girls on the field
The local Team AlUla beat Team Richard Mille to win the second Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo tournament—and Richard Mille star Melissa Ganza won Most Valuable Player. Image: Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo
Ganzi agrees. While she plays polo with men and women more often than she plays ladies’ polo, she said she finds both rewarding and treasures the opportunities to be the point of contact and inspiration for girls to enter the sport—even those whose families have men who play.
“At home in Wellington, Florida, we’re starting our season, and all of the girls of the 10-goalers only play polo with me,” she said of the daughters of prominent Argentinian polo players.
Seeing someone they can relate to can be the encouragement they need, Ganzi said.
“They had a whole season in Argentina and they didn’t play,” she said. “And then they came back to Florida, and they saw me and then they wanted to play polo. So to me that means something … I can help them play polo.”
Ganzi, dubbed the “star of Team Richard Mille” and praised for her control, knowledge of the game, multiple goals and as a “supporter of polo the world over,” earned the award for the most valuable player of the tournament.