Residents in one Aiken County equestrian community recently came together and enjoyed dinner and a polo match in support of a local child.
On Sunday, June 5, New Bridge Polo & Country Club held a fundraising event for the Bear Coscia Medical Fund.
Bear is the 3-year-old son of local pro polo player Ruben Coscia. Bear was recently hospitalized and in need of emergency surgery on his appendix as it had ruptured.
He remained in the hospital for just shy of two weeks and in that time the New Bridge community came together and formed this event. The main goal was to gather funds to assist the family with any and all medical bills from the hospitalization.
The night began with individuals who purchased VIP tickets enjoying a white party and dinner at the club. All proceeds from the VIP tickets went directly to the medical fund.
VIP patrons also were offered the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for different items and bid on the polo players for a long-shot competition that took place later in the evening. There were 250 people in attendance just in the clubhouse, this number does not include those who purchased a tailgating ticket for the event.
Katie Roth, editor, and publisher of the New Bridge Polo Magazine said “it was an amazing turnout” and that she was “blown away with all of the support” for the fundraiser and family.
The main event of the evening was the all-pro 18 goal game. The players competed in four chukkers, instead of the traditional six. There was also a special twist of a two-point line during the match.
Cooper Home & Stable/Tipler Law came out on top with an 11-4 win, but if you asked anyone, they were all on Bear’s team that evening.
Following the match, the eight pro players of the evening took each other on in a long ball-hitting contest in which the pros were raffled off to patrons. The patron who had the winner of the competition got half the prize pool while the Bear Coscia Medical Fund received the other half.
Bear’s father had a bet on him of $800, although it was Dennys Santana who came out on top in the long ball competition.
The fun-filled evening wound down with an award portion where Ruben Coscia was given the Most Valuable Player award for the night. He and his wife, Andrea, were also presented with a framed photo that was used on the poster for the evening to remember the night.
For more information, visit the New Bridge Polo & Country Club at newbridgepolo.com or call 888-462-7656.