The successful tour of the first national team, with Juan B. and David B. Miles, Luis L. Lacey and Juan T. Nelson, placed Argentine Polo in the international limelight. The victories obtained in England and the United States had such derivations that the Argentine Polo Federation, created on November 15, 1921, and the River Plate Polo Association, founded in 1893, decided to join forces to consolidate this early success of our country’s polo.
On September 14, 1922, the legendary Hurlingham Club of Argentina witnessed the creation of the Argentine Polo Association, as the site where its Constituent Assembly was held, a circumstance which coincided with the outset of the Argentine Open Championship. The foundational meeting was attended by clubs from all over the country, was presided over by E. Jewell with the following persons present: Dr. C. Rodríguez Egaña (Rosario Polo Club), Cap. Antonio Miralles (11 De Caballería), F. Videla Dorna (La Laguna Polo Club), E. Jewel (Villegas Polo Club), Francisco Cevallos (Club De Polo Carlos Casares), M. Costa Paz (Los Ceibos Polo Club), Cap. Rómulo Betnaza (Campo De Mayo Polo Club), Alfredo Sonnenkall (Club De Polo 9 De Caballería), Cap. E. E. Padilla (Club De Polo 1 De Artillería), F. E. Lindsell (Media Luna Polo Club), J. A. Monroe Hinds (Corona Polo Club), W. Brooke Naylor (The Sandewners Polo Club), C. N. Land (Santa Inés Polo Club), Charles F. Lacey (The Sandewners Polo Club), F. Lacey (El Colorado Polo Club), E. Maguire (Lincoln Polo Club), C. Crawford Smith (Washington Sporting Club), John Benitez (Los Algarrobos Polo Club), J. H. L. Harrington (Venado Tuerto Polo And Athletic Club) y H. Bryant (Villa Valeria). As an outcome of this assembly the first Governing Committee was formed, presided over by José A. Monroe Hinds, with Francisco Cevallos as vicepresident,J. A. Martínez De Hoz, W A. Benítez, and C. F. Lacey as regular members, and My S. A. Casares, Macarthy Barry, C. Crawford Smith as substitute members.
The initial objective of this Association was to persuade the clubs which had not yet joined to do so. The response did not take long. Shortly after the new institution encompassed 26 clubs and a little over 250 players. A common set of Rules became necessary, so the ones drawn up by the Hurlingham Club in London were adopted as official, urging that they be complied with in order to attain uniformity of play.
Eighty-two years have elapsed since then and there is no doubt that the Association is the mother entity of polo in our country. It is the solid and sustainable platform upon which polo has grown and developed, bringing forth the most valuable yield from the unequalled characteristics of our land to generate the best polo in the world. International acknowledgment of our players and their herds of horses has not abated since then. In terms of quality and quantity Argentine polo remains nonpareil. Without any doubt it has been and is a matter of national pride, and the Association has contributed to maintain that reputation. More than once it was been said that it is not easy to keep under control successes in sport that have reached levels of pre-eminence, but the Association has been up to the challenge skillfully, supplying the organizational infrastructure capable of keeping the status of success and to even improve on it. Building this infrastructure was an early endeavour, as the international victories of 1922 and 1924 led to the construction of two fields on the grounds of the old Sociedad Sportiva, opposite the Palermo racing tracks. The purchase of land in Pilar was added to this, and undoubtedly these two achievements boosted considerably the progress of the game in our country. The complex of fields belonging to the Campo Argentino de Polo was inaugurated in 1928. It is a matter of pride for the city of Buenos Aires to have a ground with stands for over 30.000 people and with an infrastructure that has earned for it with all justice the denomination of the Cathedral of Polo. On the other hand the Argentine Polo Association saw the need to have its own grounds, so as not to depend on the clubs to carry out its tournaments. After the success of the Americas Cup, in 1966 the dream came true, and 64 hectares were purchased in the neighbourhood of Pilar. This polo complex has 9 (nine) regular fields offering the required facilities to stage domestic and international tournaments from August until March every year.