We might say only in polo, and only lawyers might do this in such a way. “Our aim is to generate personal and professional links among lawyers through polo,” explained Bérèterbide, passionate founder of Lawyers Polo and lawyer at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Paris.

The Lawyers Polo Association now has more than 350 members who share a career in law and a passion for polo and horses.

The tournament will kick off with an elegant black tie reception in an exclusive villa in Sotogrande on Sep 20. The play‐off games will take place over three days, and the final matches will be played on Sep 24. An awards ceremony and a closing reception will follow the final matches.

Six polo teams of international polo playing lawyers will be participating in this year’s Lawyers Polo tournament. Lawyers from Argentina, Austria, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Macao, Malaysia, Portugal, Slovakia, Singapore, Switzerland, Chile, Venezuela, United Kingdom and United States have already confirmed their participation.

“We chose Santa Maria in Sotogrande because it is one of the best polo clubs in the world which attracts every year many of the best international polo players. Polo has been played in Sotogrande since 1965 and the high goal tournament series go back to 1971. The Lawyers Polo tournament in Sotogrande is attracting a large number of polo playing lawyers from all over the World. Sotogrande and Santa Maria are ideal venues for hosting a first class event,” explained Bérèterbide.

The previous tournaments organised by Lawyers Polo took place in Buenos Aires (2008), Madrid (2009), Toronto (2010), Dubai (2011), Paris (2012) and Bangkok (2015).

Arena Polo kicks off at Hickstead

Team line-ups for the 2016 Bryan Morrison Trophy have been announced for the international contest at the All England Polo Club, Hickstead on Mar 5. England will be led by 10 goaler Chris Hyde, alongside Jonny Good (8 goals) and rising star Ed Banner-Eve (4 goals).

England take on the USA, fronted by legendary 10 goaler Tommy Biddle who will play alongside Pelon Escapite (7) and Kareem Rosser (3).

Polo Times will be awarding the Polo Times Best Playing Pony Award and its sister publication will be awarding The Polo Magazine Most Valuable Player Award for the Bryan Morrison Trophy.

Meanwhile, the Arena Gold Cup at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, which Bryan Morrison founded and is being driven on by his son Jamie, still a formidable force as a player and polo entrepreneur, is well underway with the first four games completed.