A quick chat with George Pearson
At the Scandinavian Beach Polo World Cup I had the pleasure of meeting one of the rising stars in UK polo and La Martina’s Ambassador George Pearson.
It’s pretty clear we both have Danish genes
The 19-year-old has been on a horse since he could barely walk (his mother created a special “saddle” with a wicker basket to keep the toddler safe) and has excelled in several equestrian sports since, finally deciding that polo would be his preferred sport. He is a third generation polo player, following the footsteps of both of his parents and of his grandfather and George currently holds an outdoor handicap of 2.
While George was studying at Eton and playing polo on the school team he was spotted by La Martina and invited to be part of the brand as an ambassador, which he is very delighted to be:
“La Martina is such an innovative brand and they do great things in polo. I am very happy to use their kit, as I do believe it is the best out there and I love the clothes as well.” –George Pearson
George was one of the chosen to represent England in the FIP World Championship this year in Chile, one of his proudest moments.
George Pearson and his fellow team players who represented England in the FIP World Championship hosted in Chile this spring – Photo from www.telegraph.co.uk
Playing polo in Denmark was a first for George (well for most of the players really) and he was very pleased to be part of the event. His family is from that area and he had been to that very same beach as a 13-year-old and loved the quaint little town of Hornbæk. George mentioned that
“it was a very special thing to play in Denmark as I am half Danish, but please don’t make me pronounce the dessert!”
(the dessert he is talking about is what us Danes make non-Danish speakers try to pronounce, it is spelled rødgrød-med-fløde, so you can imagine what it would be like to try to say that!)
George during the Scandinavian Beach Polo World Cup
George played on Team Stockholm by Rossini Caviar along with fellow Scandinavian horseman Daniel Zetterman. The pair almost looked like brothers and quickly became like brothers on the playing field anticipating each other’s plays and working very well together.
George Pearson and Daniel Zetterman receiving their prizes
After three days of beach polo fun in Denmark, George was straight back on a plane to England to play in the Holden White tournament at his home club Cowdray Park Polo Club , in which he went on to win in the finals this past weekend and he also won the Harrison Cup in the same weekend, a great accomplishment for the young talent.
Talented, energetic and always with a smile on his face George Pearson is definitely one to follow.
As we were both flying on quickly I asked him 6 questions on-the-go:
Favourite place to play: Kurland number 1 field in South Africa
Favourite place for a holiday: There are so many great places but if I wanted to combine a beach holiday with polo it would be hard to beat Apes Hill in Barbados!
Proudest moment in polo: Playing for England in the FIP World Cup in Chile
Toughest moment in polo: Being absolutely thrashed in the final of the Harrison cup last year. It was the third year in a row that I was in the final having never won and I thought it would be third time lucky but instead we got humped!
Favourite brand of polo equipment: Definitely La Martina. It’s high quality and the technical equipment is designed to utilise modern materials and technology to bring polo equipment up to date as it generally very traditional and lags far behind that of other disciplines.
Single best advice someone’s given you: “It’s all very well being super talented and flashy but why try to hit the ball in the air when you can hit it on the ground.” -Memo Gracida
