One of the revelations of the just concluded 2022 Yola Polo Tournament was undoubtedly the grand debut of Jalingo Polo Club’s flag bearers as the Dansoja Farms polo team, won the toss during the week-long festival and smiled home with the Wali Adamawa Cup Runners-up prize.
It was the first time ever that a polo team from Taraba State participated in the glamorous national tour of the game of kings.
The Jalingo contingent came, saw and got the admiration of polo buffs at the tournament. Led by ASP Keffas Sallah and their Captain, Filimila Samuel Maisalatin, the Dansoja Farms team was warmly received by host Yola and the Nigerian polo family.
Maisalatin, who led the attack against Jos Malco Energy and Minna Profile teams during their campaigns for M.C Tahir Cup, said plans to establish the Jalingo polo club which started some years back, has now received the backing of the government of the state government and the support of the sports-loving Taraba people.
He expressed his profound gratitude to the Jalingo Polo Club to the Nigerian Polo Federation (NPF) for the warm reception accorded them and declared that polo has come to stay in Taraba State.
The club has over twenty members, (playing and non-plying has an executive Committee comprising prominent personalities like the Honourable Dantanimu Soja who is the President of the club, Alhaji Muneer Adamu ( Secretary) and Coach/Player, ASP Kefas who is the Treasurer of the new club.
He stated that construction of the Jalingo Polo Ground nestling at the Jalingo Stadium is going according to plans even as the entire state is bustling with expectation for the inaugural polo tournament that would be the biggest sporting festival since the creation of the state decades ago.
Both Maisalatin and Kefas appealed to the state government, organizations and other sports-spirited individuals from Taraba and Nigerians to assist the club financially, insisting that non-completion of a standard playing turf, Stables and Club House were some of the biggest challenges facing the club.
NPF Vice President, Tanko Ayuba who received the Taraba Contingent during the NPF meeting in Yola, thanked them for their resolve to be part of the polo family and pledged the support of NPF in promoting the club in Jalingo and the game in the state.
Tanko described the development as a testimony to the rising profile of the noble game of kings that was introduced into the country way back in 1904 by British Naval Officers with Lagos as its birthplace
The NPF boss also pointed out that with the rising popularity of polo in Jalingo and the return of Zaria, Sokoto, and Maiduguri polo clubs to the national tour, the future of the noble game is in safe hands.