Aliah Debejian plays for Cornell interscholastic team

By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

Aliah Debejian, a senior at Liverpool High School, will compete this weekend in the National Interscholastic Polo Championship in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The triple threat — Aliah also plays field hockey and golf for Liverpool — is one of three players on the girls Cornell Interscholastic Polo Team, which won the Northeast Regional Championship on March 18 at Yale University. The Cornell girls beat Yale 17-9 in the semifinals and squeaked past the Buffalo Polo Club 16-14 in the finals.

That’s not bad for someone who’s only been playing polo for three years.

While she is an experienced equestrian, Aliah’s passion for show jumping and hunt seat competitions began to wane a few years ago. Then, in the summer of 2015, she saw an ad for polo lessons.

“The Skaneateles Polo Club was trying to promote polo, mainly for younger people,” Aliah recalled.

After the Skaneateles polo clinic, Aliah was asked to join the Cornell Interscholastic Polo Team.

Polo, Aliah found, had the spark she was missing from traditional English riding competition.

“With hunter/jumper, it’s one person, you and the horse. In polo, it’s a team effort. You’re bouncing ideas off each other,” Aliah said. “You’re communicating with your human teammates as well as the horse that’s underneath you.”

Each Wednesday after golf practice, Aliah rushes home to change before making the hour-and-a-half drive to Ithaca for polo practice. Her teammates are Ithaca High School students Freida Witmer, a senior, and Jasmine “Jazzy” Umrigar, a junior.

“My team has come a long way,” Aliah said. “I haven’t been playing as long as some of my teammates. We’re all different, but we work very well together as a team.”

Aliah said she and her teammates have grown close over the past couple of years.

“In the sports I’ve played in the past, girls will fight, and it’s just not like that with Jazzy and Freida,” she said. “I was really shy three years ago when I started polo, and it’s brought me out of my shell.”

Polo is Aliah’s “happy place,” said her mother, Brenda Debejian.

“It was a great opportunity just to have that for three years,” Brenda said of her daughter’s interscholastic polo career. “The girls really have played well this year. I’m so proud of them.”

David Debejian, Aliah’s father, noted that Aliah’s riding has improved and she has adapted well to the fast pace of polo. Brenda said Aliah’s field hockey experience helped Aliah transition into polo.

“Aliah has faced a tremendous challenge being new to the sport,” David said. “She never wavered. … Her determination has paid off.”

Aliah’s parents have seen her passion for all things equestrian evolve from her horse-themed 4th birthday party to show jumping to interscholastic polo.

“I’ve always been drawn to them,” Aliah said, adding that she hopes to have horses of her own someday.

While her senior year is drawing to a close, Aliah said that does not spell the end for her polo career. She applied to colleges with solid polo programs, and she has been accepted to the University of Connecticut’s animal science program and Roger Williams University’s environmental science program.

“I love both, so it’s going to be a really hard decision,” Aliah said of choosing a college. “I like a little bit of everything, but I’ve never found anything that really speaks to me. But I guess that’s what college is for.”

The National Interscholastic Polo Championship takes place from April 11 to 15 at the Virginia Polo Center in Charlottesville, which is home to the University of Virginia’s intercollegiate polo team. The Cornell team plays Friday, April 13. If Cornell wins on Friday, the team will go on to play Sunday, April 15; if Cornell loses on Friday, the team will play Saturday, April 14.

Results will be posted on uspolo.org.