POLO TRAINING SQUAD SURREY
Junior Polo Development Programme
“The Minninnooka Training Squad is designed for riders who want to progress beyond weekly lessons and develop their polo skills through structured coaching, teamwork and match experience.”
Foundation · Development · Advanced · Why squads
Why squads
More than individual lessons. A programme built for growth.
The Minninnooka Junior Polo Development Squad is designed for young riders who are passionate about horses, polo and personal development. More than just riding lessons or polo coaching, the squad provides a structured pathway for riders to develop their riding skills, horsemanship, game understanding and confidence within a supportive team environment.
Individual lessons teach skills. A squad place builds riders and players through structure, repetition and consistency: regular coaching, a wider range of horses, and a development plan that takes a rider from lessons to playing and competing with confidence.
Every squad follows the Minninnooka Method: honest assessment, a clear development plan, technique built through repetition, and skills established before speed or pressure are introduced.
"The players who develop fastest are the ones who turn up consistently, with a plan, over time. That is what our squads are built to support."
The Minninnooka Method — every squad is coached using the same structured approach: honest assessment, clear development plan, technique built through repetition, skills before speed. Read more about the full coaching philosophy.
Three squads
Find your group
Placement is based on each rider's assessment, current capability, confidence, commitment and development needs. Foundation, Development and Advanced are progression levels based on ability and readiness, not fixed groups — a rider can move up as they develop the skills and independence the next stage needs.
Who Can Apply?
The Junior Polo Squad is designed for ambitious riders who are keen to develop their riding, horsemanship and polo skills in a structured team environment.
Riders do not need to be the most experienced or talented players to be considered. We are looking for riders who demonstrate a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, consistency in their training and strong team values.
Squad places are offered on an individual basis, with selection — and ongoing suitability — based on:
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Positive attitude
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Consistent attendance
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Willingness to learn
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Good sportsmanship
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Respect for horses and teammates
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Commitment to personal improvement
Our long-term goal is to secure sponsorship that allows committed riders to access more training, more matches and greater opportunities. Sponsored places are reviewed against attendance, conduct, commitment and individual development — not attendance alone, using the same standards as every rider.
Choose your commitment
Squad membership starts with Junior Membership — £45 per month, covering Foundation and Development. Riders are placed within Foundation or Development following assessment.
Includes:
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15% member lesson rate
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Individual initial assessment
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A development plan
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Priority access to squad lessons, camps and training days
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Group theory sessions
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Opportunities for extra training when published
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Supervised horse preparation, grooming and untacking connected to booked sessions
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Eligibility for Minninnooka teams and selected competitions
Does not include: guaranteed additional riding, unrestricted yard access, unbooked attendance, individual supervision outside scheduled sessions, or the right to remain at the yard for unlimited periods. Lessons and activities are booked and paid for separately.
Riders ready for the next stage of commitment can move up to Advanced membership. Advanced places are limited by horse and staff capacity.
Advanced Weekend Membership
£225
PER MONTH
Regular, structured development
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Up to one additional confirmed yard ride per week, on Saturday or Sunday, separate from the required weekly lesson
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One group lesson each week is required, booked and paid for separately at the Advanced Squad rate of £40
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A development plan, reviewed regularly
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Priority access to Minninnooka teams and selected competitions
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Grooming, tacking and yard responsibilities as part of every visit
Advanced Full Membership
£325
PER MONTH
Maximum development and immersion
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Up to two additional confirmed yard rides per week, from the published Tuesday to Sunday squad times, separate from the required weekly lesson
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One group lesson each week is required, booked and paid for separately at the Advanced Squad rate of £40
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A development plan, reviewed regularly
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Priority access to Minninnooka teams and selected competitions
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Grooming, tacking and yard responsibilities as part of every visit
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Places limited by horse and staff capacity
Every visit — lesson or additional ride — is requested through the app or with a manager and confirmed before attendance, subject to a daily capacity limit and to suitable horses, weather, welfare and staffing. Chukkas and private lessons are booked and paid for separately at the rates on our price list; off-site competitions and events are priced separately too.
Areas of learning
A full programme, not just lessons
Players develop across five areas that together build a genuinely complete horsewoman or horseman.
Young Horses
Working alongside young horses in early training — handling, leading, basic work on the ground and introduction to being ridden. Invaluable experience that develops patience, feel and horsemanship in equal measure.
Stick Work
Dedicated stick and ball sessions focusing on the full range of shots — off side, near side, tail shots, cut shots — built through slow work and progressive drills until each becomes instinctive under match conditions.
Horsemanship
Horse care, management, schooling and welfare — developed through daily yard involvement. Players learn to read a horse, prepare it correctly and understand what it needs at each stage of training and competition.
Training & Improvement
Understanding how to bring a horse back, reshape its responses and rebuild its confidence. Working with horses in retraining develops a player's ability to read behaviour and communicate clearly with difficult or sensitive animals.
Fitness
Polo is a physically demanding sport. We help players understand the specific fitness demands of the game — core strength, balance, stamina, hand-eye coordination — and how to develop them as part of their overall programme.
Game Theory
Tactical understanding, positioning, decision-making under pressure and how to read a polo match as it develops. Covered in chukkas, match play and dedicated review sessions.
Consistency builds players. Squads build consistency.
Why this works
Riders improve fastest when they ride consistently, work with the same coaching team and play regularly with the same group of players. Squad training lets coaches build long-term skills instead of starting again every week, helping riders develop confidence, teamwork and game understanding much faster than occasional lessons alone.
That consistency is the whole idea behind the squad structure: fewer one-off lessons, more genuine progression.
"Confidence comes from preparation. Preparation comes from repetition. Repetition needs time and structure — and that is what a squad gives you."