Marianela Castagnola is a professional polo player, instructor, and horse trainer from the famous polo town of Cañuelas, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. Cañuelas is the home of the la Dolfina polo team and world champion polo player Adolfo Cambiaso, Marianela's lifelong friend and polo mentor.

MAKING HISTORY: Playing polo alongside Adolfo and her cousin, Lolo Castagnola as she grew up, it was only natural that Marianela would also want to become a polo professional. Known to skip classes in favor of afternoon polo with the boys, she soon began to take her polo as seriously as they did, making her own horses and playing in every tournament possible. In 1997, Adolfo formed the first La Dolfina polo team with Lolo, Marianela, and Guillermo Caset to compete in the prestigious Copa de Republica, a 0-40 goal nation-wide tournament with the finals played on the legendary polo grounds at Palermo. The team won. 

Marianela became the first female polo player to ever play on the legendary #1 field at Palermo and to this day remains the only female player to have won the Copa de Republica.

Marianela made history again in 2013 when she played in and won the first women's polo tournament ever held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's team.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE: Turning professional at age 18, Marianela is considered to be one of the best female polo players in the world with a current 8-goal (W) and 2-goal (HPA) handicap. Her playing career began in the United States where she won every tournament she played as a professional. As word of the quality of horses she trained spread, Marianela began exporting her stock of polo horses to London. She soon followed and began working as a professional at Ham Polo Club in 2000. Mari has played in and won many tournaments in many countries during her long professional career including the USA, Jamaica, Germany, Dubai, Spain, Brunei, the UK, and at home in Argentina.

Today, in addition to her ranking as one of the top female polo players in the world, Marianela coaches, conducts polo clinics, and specializes in instruction for children, introducing them to the sport as soon as they are old enough to hold a mallet.

PERSONAL LIFE. Much of her focus continues to be on breeding and training quality polo horses. The operation is a family business with her husband and partner, Lucas, who is also a professional polo player. Their two young sons are already riding and learning the sport from their parents and the family splits their time between their homes in Argentina, England, and Brunei.