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Become a club2026-08-12T10:42:07+01:00

Become a Club

Below are the guidelines for setting up a club. The HPA is an affiliation of clubs and a club must be provisionally affiliated before it can accept members. Any playing member of an affiliated or provisionally affiliated club automatically becomes an associate playing member of the HPA and is thereby granted a handicap by the HPA. Provisional affiliation is granted by the Stewards of the HPA, who normally meet four times a year, in February, April, June and November. Clubs are then recommended by Stewards to Council for full affiliation.

The first step is to complete the  New Club Application Form online.

This gives the HPA all the relevant information about your polo facility, and we will work with you to ensure that you have everything in place. Once the provisional application is accepted, we will schedule an inspection – a payment will be required of £300 to secure an inspection.

CLICK HERE to view a sample set of club rules

INSPECTION

Once the application and fee have been received, the facilities will be subject to an initial inspection by an official of the HPA. The club grounds and/or arena will be inspected and assessed as to whether they are suitable for the level of polo to be played. An inspection costs £300 for outdoor clubs, but is included in the application fee for Arena clubs.

The inspection will look at the size and condition of the grounds and/or arena, access, parking, water, pony lines, office set up, and any other facilities. A report will be written which will set out any shortfalls that will need to be rectified for full affiliation.

If the club passes inspection you application will be submitted to the Stewards for their assessment of the application.

CLICK HERE to view the inspection check list.

HPA Approval

The application for provisional affiliation will then be put to Stewards for their approval. If provisional affiliation is granted by the Stewards, the club will be informed in writing and only then may the club admit members to the HPA.

Outdoor clubs will appear in the Blue Book and Arena clubs in the Green Book, provided that provisional affiliation has been granted before the respective publication goes to print. A representative of a provisionally affiliated club may attend and speak at Council meetings, but only representatives from fully affiliated clubs hold the right to vote.

One-off application fees:

Outdoor or combined: £1000

Arena: £500 (includes initial inspection)

Once provisional affiliation has been granted the club will need to pay the annual affiliation fee each season on top of the one-off initial application fee.

Application for Full Affiliation

A club must apply to the HPA for full affiliation within 3 years of being provisionally affiliated. The application must reach the HPA by 31 August for Outdoor clubs and 31 December for Arena only clubs.

Clubs must be able to demonstrate;

• They have performed the duties required of them from the HPA.

• They have acted in the interest of their members to help promote and provide tournament polo on a regular and organised basis.

• They have encouraged new members as well as existing members to join the club.

• The positive impact on the local and regional polo community since being provisionally affiliated.

• A Provisionally Affiliated club must be able to demonstrate the long-term ability and interest to sustain club polo activities for its members.

Second Inspection

If required, a second inspection will be carried out before the end of the polo season by an HPA official and the report, along with confirmation from the HPA office that the club has fulfilled its duties correctly and on time, will be put to Stewards.

An affiliated club should have an HPA Licensed Coach available for its members. Clubs that hire out horses must have a valid Riding Establishment Licence (REL).

Overseas Associations who wish to affiliate with the HPA must follow the below steps to complete the online application form.

To apply to join the HPA as an Overseas Association, your association’s primary contact should create a personal account in their name at hpa.sport80.com. Once this is set up, contact enquiries@hpa-polo.co.uk and the Sports Manager will create an association account.

Once the Sports Manager has set up an association account, you can log back into Sport 80 and complete the affiliation form by following the below steps. Once this form is complete, the affiliation will be pending approval from either the HPA Stewards (for new affiliations) or the HPA office (for returning affiliations).

Please follow the below instructions to complete the online affiliation process:

  1. Please log into the account you created at hpa.sport80.com and click to log into the organisations account, not your personal account.
  1. This will open your organisations account. You can flick between your personal and organisation account by selecting the name in the top left corner. There is no need for you to be in your personal account unless your personal details change. As the primary contact you will be the point of contact between the HPA and your club/association.
  1. Once in your club/association account select ‘account’ on the left and then ‘Organisation affiliations’.
  1. Press ‘Add Organisation Affiliation’ and complete the form. Please note on the first page of the form you are an ‘Overseas affiliation/club’.
  1. The second and fourth page of the form is for the information that will appear on our new club search.
  1. The form will then say pending approval which just means our office will double check the form is completed before it goes live on our website.
  1. Once the form is completed there is nothing more to do. We will send an automated e-mail requesting the affiliation form is updated and re-submitted each December prior to the year book going to print.

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