Sunny Hale

{{Short description|American polo player}}

Sunset "Sunny" Hale (December 30, 1968, Carmel, California – February 26, 2017, Norman, Oklahoma) was a professional polo player and one of the few women to play on pro teams consisting almost entirely of men.{{cite news|last=Fabrikant|first=Geraldine|title=On Horseback, Mallet in Hand, Breaking Barriers for Women|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/sports/on-horseback-mallet-in-hand-breaking-barriers-for-women.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=2&adxnnlx=1387720526-8q+CNwY3GLFgpJIZ1iGGtA&pagewanted=all|access-date=December 22, 2013|newspaper=New York Times|date=December 10, 2013}}

In 2000, she was on the winning team in the U.S. Open Polo Championship, becoming the first woman to do so. At the time of the 2000 championship, she outranked 96 percent of players in the world, including men.{{cite web|last=Howley|first=Elaine|title=Sunny Hale Rules the Game of Queens|url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/features/story/_/id/6478924/sunny-hale-rules-game-queens|work=espnW|date=5 May 2011 |publisher=ESPN|access-date=December 22, 2013}}

Described as "the most famous female polo player in the world", Sunny was active in developing women's polo.

Sunny's mother, [http://www.sshale.com Sue Sally Hale], competed as a polo player in the 1950s and '60s disguised as a man and is credited with breaking the gender barrier in the sport.

Sunny Hale was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 2012.{{cite web|last=Braschayko|first=Karen|title=Dream Jobs: Professional Polo Player Sunny Hale|url=http://www.equitrekking.com/articles/entry/dream-jobs-professional-polo-player-sunny-hale|work=Equitrekking|access-date=December 22, 2013}}