Sarasota Polo Club reins in new leader

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Tom Hughes, with five decades of experience in polo clubs and the sport, has been named director of polo operations at the Sarasota Polo Club in Lakewood Ranch.

Hughes has managed polo clubs nationwide, according to a release, including the Oak Brook, Glendale and Naperville polo clubs in Illinois; the Milwaukee Polo Club in Wisconsin; and the Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut. The Sarasota Polo Club, with nine polo fields and a regulation-size arena, has undergone several upgrades in the last three years, from renovations to the pavilion and clubhouse to installation of a beer garden. Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, developers of Lakewood Ranch, one of the largest master-planned communities in Florida, oversees the polo club.

“We are extremely excited to have Tom joining our team,” SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen says in the release. “His vast and varied experience in all aspects of the game, and his ability to attract new players, will help to elevate the Sarasota Polo Club to be one of the best in the country - even better than it is now.”

Hughes began playing competitive polo in 1966, according to the statement. He's been involved in the United States Polo Association and has played in and umpired in major tournaments in the United States and Great Britain. He says he aims to build on the Sarasota Polo Club's current success.

“We are working with the United States Polo Association to implement many of their new polo programs to grow the sport,” Hughes says in the release. “We have one of the best facilities in the country and we are very excited about our new directions.”