What happens when you take polo and mix it with an important cause? You get the AFM Give Me Wings Tournament, which is being held at the La Bourgogne Club de Polo on October 21st. This tournament is a bit of a landmark event for Aiken — it marks the first time in nearly 20 years that a 20-goal, professional tournament has been held here.
“I wanted to bring high-goal polo back to Aiken,” said David Meunier, real estate and hospitality developer, the owner of La Bourgogne and founder of the AFM Give Me Wings Foundation. Most of the time, you see 20+ goal polo tournaments being held at exclusive venues like the home of the U.S. Open in Wellington, Florida. But Meunier wanted to make our picturesque horse town the newest destination for professional polo.
Not only does this tournament include a $30,000 prize for the winner, it also benefits Meunier’s foundation. AFM Give Me Wings Foundation is a 501c charity that was born from a personal tragedy. “It’s the worst nightmare, to lose a kid,” Meunier said when asked about the origin of his foundation. In 2022, Anthony Francois Meunier, David Meunier’s son, tragically passed away in a car accident.
In honor of his son, Meunier designed AFM Give Me Wings to serve a two-fold purpose. The foundation aims to support families in need who have lost a child by funding private, in-person therapy services. They also provide young drivers with an incredibly unique opportunity to attend driving clinics taught by two world-class race car drivers.
“So often, young drivers save up their money because they want a fast car… a Mustang, a Corvette… but they don’t have the skills to be safe,” Meunier said about the purpose behind the driving clinics. The clinics are hosted by Simon Pagenaud, an Indianapolis 500 winner and former F1 driver and four-time IndyCar Champion Sébastien Bourdais, and they’re designed to teach young drivers valuable defensive driving techniques. “It happens very, very fast,” Meunier said. “It can be the result of a perfect storm… bad weather, driving conditions, visibility. The skills taught here could derail that perfect storm and save their lives.”
To purchase a ticket for the match or donate to the AFM Give Me Wings Foundation, you can visit afmgivemewings.com. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, hospitality options, or questions about participating in foundation services please contact info@AFMGiveMeWings.com.
Polo Primer
Rules
A polo match is broken up into four to six periods called chukkers. Each chukker is seven and a half minutes long. At seven minutes, a warning bell signals that the chukker is almost finished. If a team scores after that seven-minute warning bell, or if the ball touches the sideboards of the polo field, the chukker ends immediately.
Scoring
In order to score a point, a player must hit the ball between the goal posts — it doesn’t matter how high or low the ball is. Once a team scores, they switch directions and aim for the opposite goal.
Handicaps
While a 20-goal polo match may sound like it indicates the number of scores the game will entail, it’s actually connected to handicaps, a rating of polo playing skills that ranges from -2 to 10. A 20-goal tournament means that the handicaps of the four players on each team add up to 20 or below.
Fouls
Fouls are important in polo but can be difficult to spot, even for professional polo players. A foul occurs if there is dangerous play, specifically when a player crosses in front of the player with the ball. When a foul occurs, the umpire blows his whistle, stopping the clock. A penalty shot is awarded depending on where the foul was committed and/or how severe the penalty was.
