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April 5th, 2012
05:00 AM ET

From Philadelphia streets to polo champions

Editor's Note: This is the second of two pieces on Philadelphia's Work to Ride program.  Read the first piece, "Brothers from 'the bottom' find solace in polo."

By Sarah Hoye, CNN

Charlottesville, Virginia (CNN) – ­ Last March, a crew of unlikely polo players made history for being the first all-black high school team to win gold competing in the one of the most exclusive sports.

This year they did it again in a nail-biting double overtime shootout during the Interscholastic Polo Championship held at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

The team is made up of players from the Philadelphia-based non-profit, Work To Ride. Founded in 1994, the program provides at risk youth a chance to play polo in exchange for working at the barn in the heart of the city's Fairmount Park.

Read how the close-knit team of top-ranked polo players hailing from Philadelphia's inner-city are breathing new life into one of the oldest sports.

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