Out of the 5,000 plus students here at Longwood University, who would have thought that among them is a professional polo player?
A native of San Diego, California, Harrison Samaniego is a junior photography major and a professional polo player.
His interest in the sport started with his mother, who played polo during her time at University of Virginia. Harrison began to play when he was just four years old. He competed in interscholastic competition throughout middle school and high school. After high school, Samaniego took a break from school and joined the United States Polo Association (USPA), the national polo team. While playing for the USPA, Samaniego traveled to Wellington, Florida, where several prominent polo tournaments are played and Sheridan, Wyoming.
In the fall of 2013, Samaniego took a big step and moved across the country to attend college at Longwood. Though he can’t fully dedicate himself to polo now as a full time student, he manages to play whenever possible. He played with USPA during the winter breaks of his freshman and sophomore year. During his summer breaks, he plays with the Virginia Beach Polo Club. This past summer, however, he trained in Akon, South Carolina with USPA team and coaches, two of which during their polo careers were the best rated U.S. players.
One might question why someone would leave the sunny and warm beaches of California for the unpredictable weather of Virginia. With his mother’s family residing in Virginia, Harrison had been to the East Coast previously for visits.
“I just ended up really liking it here (Virginia), so I kind of had it in the back of my mind that once I turned old enough to move out on my own, I’d come here,” said Samaniego, “I thought going to school here would kind of get me established.”
Considering his family’s historical ties to Virginia, it would appear him moving to Virginia and coming to Longwood was destined. His great-great grandfather on his mother’s side is John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States. His family still owns all of the late president’s house and property, including Sherwood Forrest Plantation in Charles City, Virginia, where Samaniego lives. His family is also part of Longwood tradition as Julia Gardiner Tyler Wilson, the granddaughter of the President Tyler, is one of the four founders of Kappa Delta, Longwood’s first sorority.
Comparing living on the West Coast to the East Coast, Samaniego states that while the cultures are very different, he prefers living in Virginia, as it allows him more opportunity to hunt and fish. Most of time he is fishing for bass in ponds, but he really loves to go deep-sea fishing for tuna, marlin and dolphin. Still, he states that he does miss his friends from back home as well as surfing after school, since the beach was only 10 minutes away from his home.
For Harrison, when his time at Longwood is finished, he really hopes to play internationally with USPA or use his degree in photography for hunting photography or photographing polo.
