- December 13, 2025
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Little girls love horses.
That truth was cemented long ago. It doesn't apply to every preschooler or elementary schooler, but it does for many.
They admire the beauty of the manes flowing in the wind. They gravitate to the majesty of a gentle canter against a scenic backdrop.
Coming of age, though, can mean setting such interests aside. Only a select few convert their love for horses into competition.
The Sarasota Polo Club, based in Lakewood Ranch, has welcomed more of those female athletes onto its grounds.
A new 6-8 goal women's league has been added to the club's 2026 schedule. The league will run on Fridays from Jan. 9 through Feb. 20, broken into two month-long tournaments. Four-person teams will consist of one professional and three amateurs.
Well before a female-only league was realized, the idea of it had circulated among the club's management.
"We've always internally discussed whether we should do something or not," said Mason Wroe, the club's director of polo. "The past several years, women's polo has taken off, and it's one of the fastest-growing parts of the United States Polo Association."
The Sarasota Polo Club's only precedent for such a league is the Sarasota Women's Challenge. Structured as a week-long tournament with four flights of play, it's become an annual staple of the yearly calendar.
The A Flight of the 2025 edition — playing 14-16 goals, the highest difficulty — was won by G3 Polo's Kris Gali, Kylie Sheehan, Mica Saracco and Summer Kneece.
Even with the new women's league, that challenge will remain, scheduled for Feb. 26 through March 1.
"Some years it was through-the-roof, tons of teams," Wroe said. "Some years, a little slower. But our idea was always that we had to have it. Good or bad. Large demand, small demand. It's important that we always do it."
It wasn't the only avenue for female involvement at the Sarasota Polo Club.
There's an interscholastic high school program and polo school offered as well. According to Wroe, both feature large contingents of female participants.
But doubts still lingered about whether the numbers were there to create and maintain a quality, competitive women's league.
"One of the concerns I had in the past is, 'Do we have enough people to make it work?'" Wroe said. "We're more isolated over here. We kind of have our own membership... a lot of people go to Wellington."
Home to the United States Polo Association National Polo Center, Wellington is Lakewood Ranch's biggest competitor for polo talent, despite sitting a considerable 143 miles to the southeast. The area is also home to the Women of Wellington Polo Series — one of the state's few tried-and-true women's leagues.
There was something to be learned from the standard they set.
Leanne Moll, a Sarasota Polo Club member and -1 goal player from Bradenton, understood that. She spent the last year traveling to women's tournaments across the country and consulted several competitors and organizers of the Women of Wellington league.
Approaching club management, Moll brought up the idea of the women's league. They ran with it from there.
"It kind of became a 'Why not me? Why not us?' scenario," Wroe said.
Times are still in the works for league matches, but as of Nov. 28, Wroe said early afternoons are most likely.
The Sarasota Polo Club is actively coordinating with the Women of Wellington, as well as other nearby clubs, to determine when professionals will be available. Amateurs can be local to Sarasota/Bradenton or come from around the state.
The relationships between pros and the club's female sponsors like Moll — as well as Margaux Buchanan, a 0 goal player from Bradenton — will be crucial to recruiting the sort of talents who can uplift the league.
But the Sarasota Polo Club also believes the chance to earn a salary will be attractive enough to bring in the professional players necessary to field teams.
"Just like the men — their counterparts — they're trying to make hay when the sun shines," Wroe said. "This is their time to play as much polo and make as much money as they can... this is a business opportunity to come and play polo and develop relationships, like in any career."
In a perfect world, the endgame of adding a women's league has the Sarasota Polo Club as an even more attractive polo destination.
The Sarasota Polo Club is dreaming of a future where numbers are never a concern, whether that means men or women.
"We want (the women) to participate in a pro-am tournament Thursday/Saturday or play Ranch or Sunshine (two leagues for club members)," said Paige Lautzenheiser, the vice president of operations. "The goal is for them to come, fall in love with this club, stick around."
A women's league is an exciting proposition for the club. Strides have been made before, but for Wroe and company, the new league should spark interest.
More of those little girls might one day find themselves at the Sarasota Polo Club.
