Mike Azzaro is an American professional polo

Polo

Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...

 player from San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

. Azzaro, whose current handicap

Handicapping

Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated...

 is 9 goals, held the sport's highest handicap (10 goals) for over 10 years. Azzaro was awarded Polo Magazines Polo Excellence Award for young player of the year in 1987 and 1990 and the award for player of the year in 1994. Known for his aggressive forward style of play, he has always been a crowd favorite. With Memo Gracida

Memo Gracida

Guillermo "Memo" Gracida Jr. is a Mexican polo player whose international career includes several record-setting achievements, including the most U.S. Open victories and the most consecutive years as an American 10-goaler...

, he formed one of the most powerful duos in Polo. Both of them live in Wellington, Florida

Wellington, Florida

Wellington is a village in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. As of 2006, the village had a population of 55,584 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Wellington is part of the South Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

.

Biography

He was first awarded the highest handicap in 1994 after having reached the finals of every high goal tournament in the Palm Beach season as well as winning the U.S. Open in California. In 1995 he was lowered back to 9 after the 1994 season and U.S. Open in which teams he was on did not perform well. In 1996 after having a great season he was raised to 10 goals a rating he then held until the mid 2000's.

In 2009, he was to captain the U.S. Team against Mexico in the Camacho Cup. However he had an injury that ended his Florida season. He bounced back in the summer by captaining the Luchese team to one of the three finals of the Santa Barbara season.

Among his many accomplishments and recognitions is the standing ovation he received while playing the Palermo Open in Argentina with the La Mariana team (Sebastian Merlos, Pite Merlos, Milo Fernandez-Araujo) in 1995. While the team lost it further cemented Azzaro as a prominent figure in Polo.

Teams he has played for include the Black Bears, Maple Leafs, Michelob, Gehache (U.S. Open Winner), Outback (U.S. Open Winner), Isla Carroll (U.S. Open Winner), Pegasus, Templeton, Old Pueblo, Luchese, Evergaldes, Grants Farm Manor (U.S Open Winner), Hanalie Bay, Ellerstina, White Birch, Retama II (U.S. Open Winners), Les Liones, BTA.