Fombell Farm Riding Facility Focuses on Fundamentals of Polo

What is one of the world’s oldest known team sports?

Nope, not football. Good guess, but baseball is not it. Everyone loves hockey, but that’s not the one.

It’s Polo, a ball game that is played on horseback. Polo is a traditional field sport played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ball through the opposing team’s goal. Each team has four mounted riders, and the game usually lasts one to two hours, divided into periods called chukkas or chukkers.

If you thought polo was only for the elite, you’d be mistaken. And, actually, there’s a facility right in our backyard.

Ople Farms, owned and run by Elizabeth and William Kofmehl, provides recreational opportunities for individuals and their families to take part in arena polo at a stunning, privately-owned facility in Fombell.

Elizabeth is an American Polo Player. Originally from Pittsburgh, she grew up in Wellington, Florida from 1985 till 2000 where she learned the sport of polo from her neighbors the Cartas, Gracidas, Arellanos, and her adopted Uncle Steve Leninski. She sold her show ponies for polo ponies at age eight and played in every sanctioned kids tournament. Elizabeth traveled to play in numerous Women Championship Polo Tournaments playing 4-16 goal polo. She founded the Polo Girls team and blog where she shared her travel and passion for the sport of polo. Elizabeth is a certified instructor with Polo Training Foundation and a coach with the United States Polo Association. She has been a member of USPA since 1987 and a member of Darlington Polo Club since 2007. Now, managing Ople Polo Club located in our backyard.

“Polo to me is about friendship, freedom, and teamwork not only with the players but with your horses,” she said. “Polo is an incredible sport which few get the chance to experience. I want to provide a place where you can learn and love the sport in a safe, family friendly environment.”

The Academy at Ople Farms is a private riding facility that focuses on the fundamentals of polo, offering training for beginners to advanced riders. Ople farms features a beginner polo progression league, and is the home to Pittsburgh’s USPA Interscholastic Polo Team, which competes at a local & national level.

“We offer clinics for furthering your education in the saddle and on the ground,” Elizabeth said. “We look forward to introducing you to the sport of polo.”

And although Pittsburgh is known for its mainstream sports, polo has a rich history in the Western Pennsylvania area, specifically in Zelienople where games were played on the strip at the airport.

According to the Zelienople Airport’s website, “The land on which the airport is located was a strip mine in the early 1940’s owned by Tasa Coal. When the coal was depleted and the land partially graded, it was sold to Halstead, Inc. in the late 1940’s for a private landing strip for their company plane. As the original landing strip was grass, it also provided an excellent field for polo matches.”

Elizabeth said polo is growing in popularity in this area. Ople Farms is currently facilitating a high school team which welcomes any student from any high school in the area to join. They currently have 12 players and hope to have 30 by summertime.

But, according to Elizabeth, Polo is for everyone of all ages.

“You are never too old to learn a new sport,” she said. “Especially polo. I have taught people who have never even sat on a horse and are now striking a ball while cantering.”

Ople Farms offers numerous amenities that make it an elite training facility including: a 16-stall barn, large turnout pastures, two arenas, and a viewing room with accoutrements. They offer riding lessons, clinics, practice chukkers, tournaments, and much more. And, their season runs all year.

Visit the website for Ople Farms here. Follow them on Facebook here.