How Janek Gazecki funded Polo in the City out of his own pocket
Janek Gazecki has changed the way polo’s played, and city spectators love it.
He set out to make polo more interesting — and more in keeping with the game’s Australian roots — but Janek Gazecki has sparked a renaissance of the sport that is poised to expand overseas.
The 45-year-old is days away from the 15th annual Land Rover Polo in the City, an event he founded and funded in 2005.
Gazecki was certain the aristocratic sport could gain a following among competitive Aussies. “I thought this game has incredible potential because of the energy and vigour and tradition, but … it just hadn’t flourished (around the world),” says the Polish immigrant who lives in Bondi, in Sydney’s east, with wife Natalie Decorte and their three children.
“The major reasons for this were that it’s very difficult to watch on a full-sized field unless you’ve got massive elevation. There’s also too many fouls in traditional polo.”
Gazecki dreamt up a polo equivalent to Twenty20 cricket, making the sport more accessible and entertaining.
He halved the field size to bring players closer to the crowd, simplified the rules, and designed a ball that prevents spectator injuries while making play easier.
“Players never leave the field of vision and they’re audible as well, so when they’re running past you can feel the thunder of hooves in your gut and sense the energy,” he says.
“In the early years we had a couple of near misses when the ball went into the crowd, so we devised a special ball which is about 5 per cent larger than the traditional ball, but it won’t hurt people.
“It revolutionised polo and turned it into a true spectator sport so we could stage these events in the capital cities, in public parks in the middle of the city.
“We’ve introduced the sport of urban polo to millions of Australians who would otherwise never have seen it.”
On Saturday, 3500 Sydneysiders will practise their divot stomping and champagne quaffing in one of the numerous luxury marquees in Centennial Parklands, kicking off a five-week polo series that will then travel to Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.
Mariano “Nano” Gracida, the Mexican-born son of polo legend Carlos Gracida, who died in 2014, is this year’s celebrity guest, leading Team Hawaii against the Australians.
While the event attracts celebrities and social identities, Gazecki says he set out to make urban polo a game that reflects Australian polo’s humble origins — a sport that was played in dusty outback paddocks by farming families.
“Polo is a pursuit of excellence and I think you can have that premium label for polo — which we’ve retained — without the elitist connotation,” he says. “We’re premium but accessible.”
It’s this fine line that brands such as Paspaley, Cartier and the event’s naming rights sponsor, Land Rover, had to tread when marketing to the Australian public, Gazecki says.
Red tape, resistance from the establishment and even threats from a group he dubbed the “polo mafia” are just some of the obstacles Gazecki had to contend with in establishing his series.
“It didn’t go down well with everyone,” he says.
“A lot of people said: ‘This isn’t polo, and you shouldn’t be doing this.’ We had one player who pulled out at the last minute and ended up in hospital with extreme anxiety because he was basically threatened that if he played with me, he’d never play in that state again.”
Since the demise of the Packer family’s polo empire, Gazecki’s brand, which now includes Polo by the Sea and, as of last year, Polo in the Vineyards, has become the sport’s biggest financier and contributor to the polo community.
“In the last six years we’ve injected just under $500,000 directly into the pockets of players and people who lead horses,” he explains, adding that the event’s revenue is a combination of ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandise.
The event has contributed more than $1m to the sport in the past decade, and in August received a seven-year Austrade grant to expand internationally, with Gazecki’s sights now set on launching urban polo in the US.
“We’ve been in talks with G’Day USA,” he says.
“I came out here at age seven from Poland. We didn’t arrive with bags of money. I had to start from scratch and whatever I put away from my legal endeavours as a lawyer was the seeding capital. This was all done from the ground up.’’
Decorte, who met the entrepreneur at one of his polo events, is also heavily involved in the event and has witnessed its social appeal and awareness grow. The former ballerina, who is expecting the couple’s fourth child, spots fewer fascinators and spindly stilettos around the polo field these days.
As editor-in-chief of online magazine The Polo Project, Decorte, 38, has been pivotal in educating attendees in the art of dressing for the outdoor event and attracting the involvement of high-end fashion brands.
Essentially, it’s about practical elegance and dressing appropriately for the weather.
“We’ve worked very hard to differentiate the polo from the races,” she says. “Polo’s a lot more down-to-earth. It’s not about gambling or the bling.”
Incorporating sun-smart accessories such as wide-brimmed hats and sunglasses, and looking for summer-appropriate fabrics such as linen, cotton and wool are some of the key points when styling a look for the polo.
Decorte also divulges a few tips for those wanting to pass themselves off as polo aficionados.
“A chukka is a period of play, so if you want to sound like you know what you’re talking about, ask something like: ‘What chukka are we up to?’ Or: ‘When’s the next divot stomp?”
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