WOMEN IN POLO rowing up in the north of Nigeria where polo is part of the culture , Neku ’ s love for horses grew from a young age , but it was only when she was 13 that she started playing the game . Initially , her desire to one day be a professional polo player was met with much resistance from her family and friends because of their old-fashioned views that women shouldn ’ t play , ‘ but they eventually came around later ’ says Neku .
‘ Despite their initial protests , my parents were wonderful and instilled in me strong values that helped shape who I am . Plus , my dad was a fighter pilot , so that ’ s where the adrenaline side of me comes from .’
A queen in the sport of kings
Her rise to polo fame is rather unique . After studying her passion ( a BSc in Equine Sports Science in the United Kingdom ), Neku worked her way up to 0 goal , playing professionally as a low
goal player . But it was at age 20 , when she was teaching and managing a polo club in upstate New York , that her career really took off . She was interviewed for an equestrian magazine who , after some research , discovered she was the first black female to play professionally . She made the cover . This brought international media attention and the offers to play for large brands started coming in , which in turn produced more opportunities to play higher level polo .
For the next five years polo took her around the world where she played medium , and sometimes high goal , in various national and international tournaments . She played both as a patron and on various teams owned by her sponsors , all the while advocating polo as a sport for all , not just as an all-male sport for the elite .
‘ It was great to play with passionate and strong patrons , as well as a lot of fun putting together my own teams the way I wanted to .’
An inspiration
Neku did a tour around the world with Trace Sports during the peak of her career , filming short videos with the aim of making polo look ‘ cool ’. ‘ I found that girls needed a female role model to make it look like polo is a cool thing to do . I also wanted to get across that you don ’ t need to make unnecessary sacrifices to be who you want to be .’
When she returned home to Nigeria , Neku noticed an upsurge of young girls taking up the sport , a number of whom said it was her who had inspired them . ‘ I felt like I achieved something really huge .’
‘ Noblesse oblige ’
‘ I hold the concept of “ noblesse oblige ” quite strong . Nobility obligates you . Wherever we can , we have a human obligation to assist other human beings . So being involved in your community should be a natural part of every human that can .’ »
CHASING DREAMS
Uneku Atawodi ( or just ‘ Neku ’ as she prefers ) was the first black female professional polo player in the world . She ’ s using her celebrity status as well as her passion and drive to inspire women across Africa , if not the globe , to chase their dreams – both on and off the polo field . By Kirsten Curtis
BMW INTERNATIONAL POLO 47