Project Spotlight: Golden Goals Project

By Mary Anderson     9/21/11 7:00pm

Duncan College junior Ameer Jumabhoy exemplifies the Rice belief of forward thinking to influence not only the campus, but the community at large. According to Jumabhoy, who has played polo from Australia to Argentina, he aims to give back to the community through his charity, The Golden Goals Project.

In this project, he joins his passion for polo along with helping children in need. In the charity, sponsors pledge to donate $10 whenever Jumabhoy scores a goal, which goes directly to the Texas Children's Cancer Center. Jumabhoy plays polo in Houston's La Sarita Polo Team, an extension of the polo team based in his home of Singapore.

Jumabhoy is also focusing on how to make the polo world known at large, which could open the possibility for more Golden Goals opportunities. Jumabhoy truly promotes his passion in a selfless way in not only to better the community, but the globe for a better future.

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Jumabhoy has a strong connection to the efforts of the Golden Goals project, as his father and aunt were both diagnosed with cancer in May 2010, making the initiative much more personal.

"[When they were diagnosed] it left me with a lot of emotions," Jumabhoy explained. "I wanted to join the fight against cancer in my own way."

His father, who plays polo along with his brother in Malaysia, helped him thrive in the sport.

"He instilled the love of the sport in me," Jumabhoy said. " I'll always be thankful [to him] for giving me the opportunity to experience a game like polo."

The empathy he has towards families who are affected by cancer truly shows how he is refusing to sit back, and choosing to reach out to others through the Golden Goals Project.

The Golden Goals Project began when Jumabhoy approached the Texas Children's Cancer Center with an idea to merge polo with charity. The charity is funded by 31 sponsors giving $10 per goal through his competitive polo season. So far, Jumabhoy has scored more than 70 goals. Jumabhoy also interacts with the kids he supports of the Texas Children's Cancer Center, taking the time out to show them different aspects of sport from seeing polo matches to riding the horses.

"I love to work with kids and I'm happy to get to know them better," Jumabhoy commented. "I think it's important for the kids to see polo in a new light and in a way they haven't seen it before, but I also get to raise money that would help with their chemotherapy treatments."

The Golden Goals Project is truly expanding and ideas are already planned to incorporate the charity into several other sports. Jumabhoy has the potential to bring his charity initiative across the world, which he aims to do by making polo well-known in many continents.

Jumabhoy aims to bring polo on a much more global front, which he is continuing to do with good friend, fellow international polo player and Ralph Lauren model, Nacho Figueras. Together they are working alongside Ralph Lauren's Global Head of Marketing, to see how they can familiarize more people about polo.

"I see myself as an ambassador of the sport," Jumabhoy remarked. "[Figueras and I] both see polo on a tipping point and view it becoming on much more of a mainstream profile."

By promoting polo across continents, Jumabhoy hopes to open more opportunities for Golden Goals to grow. As this is simply the beginning, there are no limits that Jumabhoy should be able to take Golden Goals Project. Jumabhoy has the potential to have a lasting impact in not only the polo community, but throughout the globe as well.

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