Rahul is based in Summerfield, North Carolina, USA.  He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and was raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe.  He started playing polocrosse at a young age thanks to his childhood best friend’s family being involved with the sport.  After immigrating to the USA, Rahul took an almost 7 year hiatus before picking polocrosse back up.  Of course, after his very first practice in the states, he was once again hooked!  Since then, he has been fortunate to represent the USA on multiple occasions including several outbound and inbound international test matches, and most recently, at the 2019 World Cup in Warwick, Queensland, Australia.

When he first got back into the sport, he served as the assistant coach for the club that he first started with – Orange County Polocrosse Club.  He later transitioned to the Carolina Polocrosse Club where he initially served as the assistant coach before taking on the head coaching role for several years.  Lastly, he served as the American Polocrosse Associations Eastern Zone Umpire Representative for a few years before being nominated to his current role as the APA Chief Umpire.

Rahul’s wife, Sarah, also plays for Carolina and the two of them were honored to both be a part of the 2019 World Cup Team where Sarah served as vice captain.  Sarah found polocrosse through Pony Club and was a member of the 2004 international exchange team.  She is a graduate A from USPC and I’m addition to polocrosse, she has evented through Preliminary, competed in dressage through third level, fox hunted for many years with Sedgefield Hunt and has competed in Hunter/Jumpers.

Rahul and Sarah have two young boys (Krish – 3 and Kiren -1) who both seem keen to play.  Krish is already competing in the Chuckles division on his trusty steed Studley (graciously loaned to us by our good friends, the Zito family in Florida), and Kiren will be hitting the field soon.  Rahul and Sarah are really excited to see the boys grow and experience all of the wonders and opportunities that polocrosse and other horse sports have to offer.

 

Horse/ Horses ( Breed, etc)

Keystone Specialist (Special) – Australian Stock Horse / TB cross.

Yahoo Paparazzi (Zi) – Australian Stock Horse / Argentine TB cross.

Mutambi – Thouroughbred.

Carrera – Thoroughbred.

Impi – Thoroughbred.

Tilly – Quarter Horse.

Studley (on loan from good friends, the Zito family) – Miniature Horse

Foal with name TBD – Australian Stock Horse foal from Saussy Farms

Sport/ Discipline

Polocrosse

Level

A division / international

Bits currently being used

Loose Ring Happy Tongue, DC Morgan, DC Morgan Bomber Blue, Loose Ring McHardy, Eggbutt Tube McHardy, 2 1/2 Ring McHardy, Loose Ring Barrel Waterford, Loose Ring UC Lockup, Williams Titanium Lockup, Loose Ring Preferred Contact, Eggbut Moulded Mullen, Loose Ring Control Plate, Kimberly Dee Segundo, Loose Ring Petros Elliptical, Loose Ring Cable Snaffle, Loose Ring Ported Barrel.

Trainer

None.

Goals

Besides continuing to play at the highest level well (and keep up with the youngsters 😂), Rahul and Sarah hope to continue to promote the sport of polocrosse and help promote excellent horse care and horsemanship in all disciplines.  If their two sons continue to show an interest in polocrosse, they hope to encourage hard work while providing them with the tools and resources to excel and reach for the stars.

On Bombers:

Bombers is the definition of “a total package”.  Not only do they manufacture and supply quality hand made polocrosse rackets, they also cater to every other aspect of the sport, including rider apparel, horse tack / equipment, and most notably, unique and specialized hand crafted bits.  In terms of biting and our sport in particular, Bombers approach and philosophy of Pressure = Resistance and Resistance = Lack of Control is spot on in that having control with minimal effort is paramount in order for one to concentrate on their game and play to the best of their and their horses abilities.  After analyzing each individual horse’s anatomy and preferences and transitioning them into their best suited Bomber Bits, we have noticed very obvious and significant improvement in every horse which we have worked with.

Lastly, Bombers professional and knowledgeable customer service is exceptional, and when it comes to polocrosse, Bombers shines, and their dedication and commitment to the sport is unparalleled.