Sekou McDonald did not come to polo through family tradition or privilege. Born in Kingston and raised in Point Hill, St Catherine, he migrated to the UK shortly after leaving high school. His early life was shaped by modest means, discipline and the influence of his aunt and her husband, Ned, whom he regarded as a father figure.
In 2018, McDonald returned to Jamaica to bury Ned. What followed was a period of grief and depression that left him searching for direction. Polo entered his life not as a long-held ambition, but at a moment when he needed structure and purpose. That encounter would eventually lead him to create 876 Polo, now recognised as the UK’s first Jamaican polo team.
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Falling in Love with the Sport
McDonald’s introduction to polo came in 2021, when a friend invited him to a match in an effort to lift his spirits. After the game, he was given the chance to try polo himself, despite never having ridden a horse before.
“I had the opportunity to try polo for the very first time without ever riding or playing before, and I was instantly hooked,” he recalled.
The learning curve was steep, but the demands of the sport appealed to him. Polo required routine, discipline and focus, elements that helped him regain a sense of direction. Rather than serving as a distraction, the sport imposed a structure that demanded commitment and consistency.
He began training regularly, taking lessons that quickly became part of his weekly routine. “My first lesson turned into two, then three, and the rest is history.” McDonald would go on to compete at club level in exhibition and invitational matches across the UK. Over time, what started as a personal outlet evolved into something more deliberate.
Building Something Bigger than Himself
As McDonald became more established in the sport, he became increasingly aware of how few people like him were visible within it. As a Black Jamaican man playing polo in England, he stood out immediately.
“There aren’t many who fit that category or mould,” he noted. “In fact, most people thought I was Nigerian.”
Rather than ignore those assumptions, McDonald chose to address them directly. He founded 876 Polo to make identity visible in a space where it was largely absent and naming the team after Jamaica’s international dialling code was a part of that deliberate choice.
“I decided I would make my own team using the Jamaican area code, so there’d never be any doubt about who I was and where I’m from.”
What began as a personal response to loss had now taken on a wider purpose. The next step was to test whether that vision could hold up beyond the UK.
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Taking 876 Polo International
In March 2025, 876 Polo returned to Jamaica for an international exhibition match at Kingston Polo Club, facing a combined UK and US side in a closely contested 4–4 draw. For McDonald, the match represented a full-circle moment — bringing the sport that had helped him rebuild back to home soil.
The match demonstrated both the athletic demands of the sport and the team’s intent to engage Jamaican audiences at home. The Kingston fixture featured an international line-up including McDonald alongside Florito Curti, Shiv Rambarran and Charles Chambers, reflecting the team’s global composition while maintaining a clear Jamaican identity at its core.
The response from attendees, many of whom were watching the 876 Polo team play for the first time, was encouraging. “There was a real sense of appreciation for the athleticism and agility required of both rider and horse,” McDonald said. He also credited institutional backing for the success of the event, noting that “the Jamaica Polo Association has been incredibly supportive and has actively encouraged our efforts to engage a wider Jamaican community in polo.”
The match confirmed that 876 Polo’s ambitions extended beyond symbolism, laying the groundwork for something more permanent.
The Rum Challenge Trophy: A Flagship Event
Later in 2025, 876 Polo reached a defining milestone with the staging of the inaugural Rum Challenge Trophy at Guards Polo Club in Surrey. Hosted and contested by 876 Polo in partnership with Bentry Capital and La Hechicera Polo Team, the tournament marked the first time a Jamaican-led team had anchored a major invitational at the prestigious venue.
The naming of the event was intentional. “The Rum Challenge Trophy came to be named as such since Jamaica is known for its rum and the opposing team, La Hechicera, is in the rum business,” McDonald explained. Beyond symbolism, the event demonstrated the team’s organisational ambition and its ability to operate at a high level within the sport.
The tournament also highlighted the calibre of players associated with 876 Polo. McDonald competed alongside fellow Jamaican polo players Freddie Farquharson and Alexander Thwaites. Farquharson is an established figure in the local game, leading the West Indies Petroleum (WIP) to victory at the 2024 Willie deLisser Polo Cup. Their involvement reinforced the Rum Challenge Trophy’s competitive standing and helped establish it as the team’s flagship annual fixture.
Reflecting on the event, McDonald said the day stood out “not only because my team won, but because I have seen the growth of the brand through the incredible press that followed by PoloCam, and the interest it garnered from serious polo aficionados and the energy and joy that was palpable on the sidelines.”
A Growing Force
For McDonald, 876 Polo is still very much a work in progress. The ambition now is to deepen the team’s competitive footprint while continuing to use the sport as a vehicle for Jamaican visibility.
“We want to increase our presence in the polo world by entering tournaments in the UK, growing our annual Rum Challenge Trophy, and there are plans afoot to take the team to the US, parts of Africa, and of course — home to my beloved Jamaica,” he said.
At the core of that vision is a wider belief about Jamaican potential. “We as Jamaicans are resilient and powerful,” McDonald added. “Our presence is a force to be reckoned with in any sport to which we apply our hearts and minds.” It is a conviction that underpins the team’s philosophy — Beyond the Game. Beyond Boundaries. Beyond Expectations.
Beyond expansion, McDonald is clear about what he hopes the team represents. “I’d like to highlight that a great polo team can come from a small Caribbean island and do great things in such a niche space,” he noted, adding that the message extends well beyond polo itself.
