They say, "A good teacher teaches, a superior teacher explains but a Great teacher motivates.”  I think we  all have that one teacher, who came into our life and changed it for good. Megan Judge is one such teacher who has changed  the life of hundreds and not in a conventional way at that. Rather she did this by using her passion for horses as platform for this transformation. Megan knew  that nothing beats Polo when it comes to preparing kids for life.

It is not a surprise that Megan chose polo as a platform to do what she does. Polo is in her blood and she loves the game of kings. Even today Megan can distinctly remember her grandfather from Topanga, a member of the Will Rogers Polo Club,  galloping down the field on his favorite polo pony. When she was 12 years old she started grooming for him and exercising his horses. He was the one who taught her the basics of riding and schooling. Once bitten by the bug, she could never get over it.  No wonder she chose Cal Poly as her college because it had a polo team.

Once finished with her schooling Megan  used the same criteria to decide upon her future course of action. Knowing that she did not want to return to LA to work or to live and there were no Polo clubs in San Luis.

The only option left was  to start a polo club of her own and  teach people how to ride and  play. The experience of having taught in college came handy and Megan  rolled it into starting the club.
Having mentors like  Rush Sheldon, Eric Wright and Corky Linfoot and later on  Joel Baker and Melanja Jones certainly was a great help to get the club rolling.

Megan have  had many players come through and become instructors as well as managers, veterinarians, farriers,  horse trainers and successful business people. With almost  2, 000 polo lessons under her belt, she is one of the most experienced coaches there are in USA along with impressive success rate with her students, teams and horses. Francesca Finato, Shannon Smull Mendez, Julie Empey, Athena Malin, Jillian Teitje, Kate Cappe are some of the names that have turned professional polo players under her tutelage.

Megan, a women's 6 handicap in the arena, 4 outdoors, 2 goals in the arena for open and zero goal outdoor,  became an honorary certified instructor through the United States Polo Association in 2015. This came as an added qualification long with being certified umpire for many years.   Currently a coach for the Cal Poly men's and women's team, Megan holds the distinction of  taking five girls teams to the national championships from 2013 through 2018 and  two open teams to the national championships in 2016 and 2017. There being only two other women in the country who hold this kind of ratings, Megan, for sure, has come a long way from exercising her grandfather's horse.

Megan Judge
megan@centralcoastpolo.com
805-801-9410