Overview:
Haitian American polo participant Kitana St. Cyr carries ahead a century-old legacy of Haitian excellence within the sport, inspiring the following era to dream past boundaries.
By Gaëlle Timmer
When Kitana St. Cyr first picked up a mallet, she wasn’t intimidated; she was impressed.
“I used to be by no means scared,” she advised The Haitian Occasions with the quiet confidence that has outlined her journey ever since.
She first mounted a horse at age 9 in Haiti, using with a stability and agility that felt instinctive. On the time, St. Cyr was already a aggressive swimmer in Port-au-Prince. However what started as a childhood fascination quickly become a deeper ardour—one that will finally carry her into worldwide polo arenas few athletes from Latin America or the Caribbean have ever reached.
After surviving Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, St. Cyr relocated together with her household from Port-au-Prince to Florida at age 14. There, she started constructing a brand new life in a rustic the place polo—an elite, resource-intensive sport lengthy related to wealth and exclusivity—stays out of attain for many. Her presence on the sphere challenges these norms and broadens the picture of who belongs within the sport.
Now based mostly in Palm Seaside, Florida, St. Cyr stated she got here to polo naturally via her love of horses. “I simply liked being round them,” she stated. “The connection, the vitality—it makes you need to be higher on daily basis.”
That bond advanced into years of dedication, early mornings on the secure, and relentless observe classes that refined each her method and psychological self-discipline.
“You be taught persistence,” St. Cyr stated. “It’s not nearly energy or velocity, it’s about staying calm beneath stress, trusting your instincts, and dealing in rhythm with the horse.”
That rhythm carried her to one in every of her proudest milestones: a second-place end on the 2025 Open de France Féminin, a world match in France. It was a private victory, but additionally one thing larger: a uncommon illustration in a sport with few gamers of comparable backgrounds.
“It was an unimaginable feeling,” she stated. “Not only for me, however for each younger Haitian or Caribbean lady who would possibly see this and notice she will be able to do it too.”
Carrying a Haitian Legacy
Although St. Cyr competes primarily within the U.S., her story connects to Haiti’s polo legacy, one reaching nearly a century. Within the Nineteen Twenties and Nineteen Thirties, polo was a part of Haitian society, performed by native fans and expatriates on the fields near Port-au-Prince. For many years, the game lay dormant till Claude Alix Bertrand, a Haitian athlete, revived it with the founding of the nation’s first nationwide polo workforce in 2013.
Bertrand’s mission went past sports activities. His purpose was to reclaim a chunk of Haitian cultural historical past and present the world that excellence can thrive wherever, even in sports activities usually seen as unique. His work positioned Haiti on the worldwide polo map as soon as once more and impressed a brand new era to see prospects in surprising locations.
St. Cyr’s rise continues that legacy. Whereas she represents the Haitian diaspora, her accomplishments converse to the identical delight and perseverance that drove Bertrand’s dream.
“Haiti has all the time had energy and sweetness,” she stated. “I would like individuals to see that in the way in which we play — with coronary heart, with pleasure, with braveness.”
‘She’s a Cultural Disruptor’
Stephane Jean-Baptiste, one in every of St. Cyr’s early supporters first met her via a mutual contact who labored to raise underrepresented voices in sports activities and tradition. What struck her instantly, she stated, was St. Cyr’s composure and sense of objective.
After seeing St. Cyr prepare and advocate for her personal alternatives, Jean-Baptiste stated it was clear she belonged within the KE Muse Program, an initiative that uplifts girls who’re reshaping narratives of their fields.
She stated she has watched St. Cyr develop with deliberate focus, growing a stronger sense of self-discipline and cultural consciousness as her profession has superior.
To her, St. Cyr represents greater than athletic promise. “She’s a cultural disruptor in a legacy sport,” Jean-Baptiste stated, noting how St. Cyr’s mixture of grace and grit challenges expectations for younger Black Haitian girls in elite equestrian areas.
One second nonetheless stands out to her: the behind-the-scenes work that hardly ever will get public consideration. She recalled St. Cyr coordinating workforce logistics, discovering sponsors, and holding morale regular via early exercises, journey points, and different setbacks.
Supporting St. Cyr, she added, felt much less like a routine sponsorship and extra like a dedication to amplifying what is feasible for the following era.
“It was a dedication to showcasing what’s potential,” Jean-Baptiste stated. “She’s not ready for the world to catch up, and neither are we.”
A Position Mannequin for the Subsequent Technology
St. Cyr is aware of how for a lot of younger Haitians polo might really feel distant, a sport of privilege, performed removed from dwelling. She needs to vary that notion: “For those who love one thing, don’t watch for permission,” she stated.
“Even when nobody round you is doing it, you is likely to be the one who begins the trail.”
St. Cyr says she needs to see extra Haitian and Caribbean athletes venturing into non-traditional sports activities and discovering their help programs to make their ambitions potential.
Past competitors, she envisions a broader mission: nurturing a neighborhood the place Haitian and Caribbean riders can see themselves mirrored in each area.
As she continues to coach, St. Cyr is already considering past the following match. Her targets embody mentoring youthful gamers, touring to Haiti to attach with native equestrian applications, and serving to broaden alternatives for women excited by horses and polo.
For St. Cyr, polo has turn out to be as a lot about connection as it’s about competitors, connection to the horse, to her teammates, and to the heritage that grounds her. That connection ties each journey again to one thing bigger-a shared heritage, a historical past of resilience and a perception that Haitian excellence can gallop confidently into any area. “When individuals see me play,” she stated, “I hope they see what’s potential.”