Lucky. That’s the word Aisha Quaintance will repeat several times during her interview with CLICKPOLO. Being a professional technology consultant from Silicon Valley, with deep roots in Palo Alto, Aisha found that polo was slowly starting to develop in her area. “I was so lucky that professional polo has been brought into my backyard in Santa Clara with Taqueada. I’ve been training for the past year with Ciro [Descenzani] who brought professional polo to Silicon Valley. I was kind of in the perfect place at the perfect time. I took a polo clinic and the rest is history. I was immediately hooked”.
After a year playing at Taqueada Polo Club, Aisha decided to go one step further and own her team, Bits & Bytes. “I wanted to bring together my two passions. Polo and technology. I felt that the role of technology was so big in Silicon Valley but it was missing knowing about professional polo and I want to get Silicon Valley excited about it. On the flip side, I want to represent the world of technology in polo. Technology is the future and does so much for us every day. I want to have the chance to represent this industry in the world of global polo”, Aisha told CLICKPOLO.
-Aisha, can you tell us what you felt the first time you saw a polo match and the first time you played?
"It’s funny. I had never seen a polo match before I played. I jumped on a horse and decided to take a professional polo lesson with Ciro from Taqueada and it was so much fun, I felt so much adrenaline and as I started to learn more about the game and the sport I saw it was really a team sport where you have to talk and communicate with each other In order to hit a goal. I also love the idea that you are in the present moment, everything happens so fast that you have to be in the present and not think in the hustle and bustle from Silicon Valley. By the time I saw my first match I couldn’t wait to be the next person on the field."
-How has it been going so far?
"It has been great. I jumped all the way in and I'm just excited to see how far we can go. The team aspect is what I enjoy most. I have always been a group person. In fact, I owned one of my old companies in the past and I felt a little bit lonely although I was successful so I ended up going back to technology consulting with a group of people. I find that team set nature to be successful together translates onto the polo field."
-As a person who is new to polo, do you think the sport has helped you in other aspects of your life?
"It all comes back to being present, working with your team and being humble. There’s always something new to learn and you have to work together to be successful. That is how we work in Silicon Valley with many entrepreneurs. We are all in together and there’s a trust factor. It’s incredible to get onto the polo field and translate many of the skills that we use when we are starting companies to the team, the teamwork and the camaraderie on to the polo field."
-How do you see polo in California and most precisely in Silicon Valley?
"I am so lucky that Taqueada brought professional polo to Silicon Valley. I’ve been working with Ciro and have been coached by him in the last year. He has a great relationship with Memo and to have people like Memo and Santi who are willing to play with us is great. I see there’s a huge possibility for the world of polo to come here and take advantage of all the things California has to offer, both in places like La Herradura in Southern California and like Taqueada in Northern California."
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