Meet the Team of Franklin Polo Academy -
Meet the Team of Franklin Polo Academy -
James Armstrong (Co-Owner, Director of Polo Operations & Instructor)
USPA Certified Polo Instructor (Level 1)
James was born and raised on a farm in South Africa, where he learned to ride and play polo from his father, starting at the young age of 10. At the age of 18, James immigrated to the U.S. to pursue his dream of becoming a professional polo player. For over 25 years, James has played in the U.S., competing for some of polo’s most prestigious titles. At the height of his career he was rated at 6 goals. Since 1994, James has managed and played on the Franklin-based Riverview Polo Team, owned by local businessman Orrin Ingram. Some of the team's achievements include winning the $50,000 USPA International Cup twice, the BMW International Series in South Africa, the Music City Challenge Cup and Chukkers for Charity. James has competed professionally in South Africa, Spain and Argentina. He also manages Nashville Polo club, a private club here in Franklin. James started Franklin Polo Academy, along with fellow pro and teammate, Stevie Orthwein. He is married to Lexie, an accomplished amateur polo player herself and a talented artist. They have three young boys and live on a farm in Williamson County. He is also an affiliate real estate broker with Jones Properties, specializing in residential farms, equestrian properties and residential homes in the area. James is one of the initial founders of “Chukkers for Charity," an annual fundraising polo match held at Riverview Farm. Over the past 19 years, Chukkers has raised over $2,000,000 for Saddle Up! and the Rochelle Center.
Steve Orthwein Jr. (Co-Owner & Instructor)
Stevie is a 3rd generation polo player with roots in St. Louis, Missouri. After learning to play polo on his family farm, Stevie attended the University of Virginia where he played on the Intercollegiate polo team from 1998—2002 and won the National Intercollegiate Championship in his 4th year. In 2003, Steve moved to Wellington, Florida where he has played professionally with a 4 goal handicap on numerous medium and high goal teams. Steve has also been a three-time member of the US Polo Team competing in the 1998, 2005 and 2008 FIP World Championships. In 2008, along with his father and brother, Stevie founded the Port Mayaca Polo Club located in Port Mayaca, Florida. The club operates throughout the winter months, has 10 polo fields, and stabling for hundreds of horses. Stevie has played in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, France, Brazil and Malaysia. In 2013, Steve married Margaret Lipman of Nashville, Tennessee. They have a daughter and son, and the family spends much of the summer months in Nashville where Stevie plays polo with the Nashville polo club, and then the winter months in Wellington, Florida.
Sammie Uys (Event Coordinator, Marketing Manager, & Instructor)
USPA Certified Polo Instructor (Level 1)
Sammie is from Huntington, WV and grew up riding horses of many disciplines. While attending Ohio University, she showed on their three (Hunt, Western, and Dressage) intercollegiate equestrian teams. Out of curiosity, she scheduled a polo lesson in Lexington, KY with some friends and immediately fell in love with the sport. After a packed summer season of galloping racehorses in the morning and learning how to play polo in the afternoons, Sammie started grooming and training horses for James Armstrong in Florida in December of 2010. Between working for James on and off during the years, she traveled her way around multiple states and polo clubs working for other pros, sponsors, and teams, and spent numerous hours in the saddle with green horses. Sammie managed FPA full-time for the first four years and then took a step back to focus on her and her husband’s mechanic business. She continues to handle the event planning, marketing, and some polo instruction. She would love to open the doors for everyone to experience the thrilling sport of polo.
Lisa & Joel Mooney (Event Coordinator, Official Announcer)
Lisa & Joel started their adventure to Franklin, TN in 2017 for their daughter, Caroline, to play on FPA’s interscholastic polo team, essentially being the final player they needed to complete the inaugural team. After a couple years of driving up to Franklin from Georgia basically every weekend, Lisa took a job in Tennessee to be able to move her family here full time so that Caroline could be closer with her team for practices.
Lisa came on-board in 2022 to assist James and Sammie with event coordinating and advertising. She has a background in hospitality and event management.
Since Joel announced polo matches back in Georgia at Chukkar Farm Polo Club, and it only seemed natural for him to take on the role of FPA's official announcer at all of our public events. He is a local high school art teacher and has a rich sports background as a former athletic director and coach.
Allyssa Morgan (Instructor)
Allyssa moved to Franklin in 2018 and promptly joined FPA’s Interscholastic polo team until she graduated in 2019. She has been riding horses of other disciplines for 13 years and got her start in polo 8 years ago at a small farm in Virginia. While doing a work-to-ride program, she found her passion for not only training horses, but enjoying the position of a horse camp counselor and instructing new riders and players.
You can find Allyssa instructing the beginner classes at FPA, working alongside our full-time groom, Franco, and playing any of the horses needing to be exercised during weekly practices. During her downtime, Allyssa focuses on the training of her client horses at another local farm.