Adrian Wade discovered polo through his love of horses. Born in Barbados, he grew up in Singapore where the polo ponies he rode were also required to race on the flat -
Adrian was the jockey. He also rode in eventing and show jumping alongside his identical twin brother Jonny.

When English high goal polo patron David Jamieson visited Singapore, he ‘discovered’ the Wade twins and told them that if they needed a job in polo, he had one for them. “As soon as you realize you can get paid to play polo, that’s all you want to do,” said Adrian. They took up the offer and came to England to learn about making horses and playing polo with the Tramontana polo team that was headed by Carlos Gracida.

Adrian’s big break came with a call up as a 3-goal player to join the Ellerston high goal team featuring Gonzalo Pieres and Gonzalo Tanoira. “They were good to me,” Adrian said. “They made everyone play like a team.”

Adrian went on to play high goal in the USA with Gracida and was soon playing on both sides of the Atlantic. He played for England twice in the Coronation Cup.

He always enjoyed umpiring and became a professional umpire in the UK some 10 years ago, while joining Umpires LLC more recently. “You’ve got to be a diplomat,” he said of his profession. “Stay calm, be fair and don’t hold a grudge.” Adrian umpired a lot as a player and drew a comparison. “You can have two good umpires that are players,” he said. “But they may each umpire from a different perspective. As professional umpires, we are trained to be on the same page.”