Tamara Banks, veteran journalist and former neighborhood liaison for Mayor John Hickenlooper, says a polo game at R&L Farms in Elbert County cranks her adrenaline and renews a love of horses she’s nurtured since she was 5 years old.
Q: How do people respond when they discover your secret passion is polo?
A: They are surprised to know that someone my size can be just as competitive as a man and can enjoy a dangerous, competitive and predominantly male sport. I’m 5-feet-1 1/2 inches tall and I weigh 118 pounds, but in my mind I always think I’m 7-feet-3.
Q: What makes the game so dangerous yet
rewarding?
A: Those horses are usually right off the race track and can easily reach speeds up to 20 or 30 miles per hour. If you get run into by a horse or a ball smacks you in the head, the injuries could be terrible. But I love trying to hit the ball. You keep missing it and missing it, until finally you hit it! When you do it right, when you hit that sweet spot and you can hear it ringing throughout the field, it’s like hitting a home run.
Q: Besides a sense of accomplishment, what else does polo give you?
A: I get to get dirty, and it’s OK.
– Sheba R. Wheeler
