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For Colin Ogawa, polo was his therapy. “It’s nothing like going 30 – 40 mph with 1000 pounds of flesh underneath you. It gets the blood pumping,” he said. Colin’s passion of nearly three decades began in 1979 with the likes of Al Lopaka, Rosey Rosecrans, Sammy Delgado, and Mike Dailey. He started at Mokuleia and his first polo string included ‘hoi hoi,” “fanci,” and “billy bob.” He almost escaped this consuming vice with a brief golf hiatus in the eighties, only to return in force at the Honolulu Polo Club in 1997.

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Colin always played at one speed, “flat out” ~ he was like clock work and everyone enjoyed playing with him in their polo line up. He was tenacious…as anyone on an opposing team can testify to. If you were his man, there was nothing you could do to escape him…he was in your saddle the whole match.

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Mike Dailey who played with Colin the longest, said it best, “no one had more fun playing polo and no one was more fun to play polo with.” Rosey Rosecrans described him best, “in this highly emotional sport, it is amazing that for all the years we played together not once did anyone ever hear Colin raise his voice or ‘loose it’ in a match. This is truly amazing when you know all the characters we play with.”

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Colin played his last polo tournament on Mother’s Day 2002, in the United States Polo Association’s Amateur Cup. His last Sunday with us was on June 30, 2002 when he was awarded the Hawaiian Islands Circuit USPA Sportsmanship of the year trophy by Circuit Governor Mike Dailey. The final game of each season is played in his memory.