Along the Sideboards
By Alex Webbe
March 16, 2009
The Camacho Cup international competition between the United States and Mexico turned out to be the surprise of the year with over 4,000 screaming fans cheering the players on at The Villages Polo Club in Central Florida.
A patchwork group of US players that included John Gobin (6), Carlucho Arellano (5), Kris Kampsen (6) and Tommy Biddle (7) gave the team from Mexico all they could handle. (The US might want to re-think the selection process for national teams in the future).
Playing under the guidance of Memo Gracida (8), his son Julio (5), brother Carlos and Pelon Escapite (6) took the coveted trophy by a 16-15 score with Memo scoring the winning goal in the final 48 seconds of play.
In the end, it was the heart of the US players that had them leading by as much as six goals in the early goings. By the end of the game it could truly be said that all eight players left absolutely everything on the field.
The Duchess of York’s departure was delayed while a golf cart was used to jump start her helicopter, but she was well received and took great joy in the festivities surrounding the event at The Villages Polo Club.
The recent re-emergence of international competitions on the US fields has re-kindled a drive for annual eventsLive. It has even been discussed that these international competitions might replace the 40-goal Challenge, since the absence of true 40-goal teams in the event has been the case for the past three years.
Adolfo Cambiaso showed up in Wellington last weekend. It appears that he might be returning to the United States next year to play for George Rawlings and his Crab Orchard team. And while Hobe Sound Polo Club isn’t exactly up and running, it continues to host international team practices and special youth eventsLive. Everything in its own time.
The opening rounds of the USPA Piaget Gold Cup got underway with Black Watch, Lechuza, Audi and Zacara scoring opening round wins. Lyndon Lea won’t be joining his Zacara team until this week-he’s in England on business.
Outback Polo continues to flourish during these uncertain economic times. The March 14-goal league will field nine teams while the 8-goal has five teams in competition.
Gulfstream Polo Club has four teams entered in both the USPA Delegates Cup (8-goals) and USPA Bronze Cup (12-goals).
The March Casablanca Invitational has attracted the same four teams that competed last month in 12-goal play while Port Mayaca has four teams competing in the $15,000 14-goal Live Oak Challenge.
Slovakia’s Ivan Weiss (1) is the latest to join the pilgrimage to the sands of South Beach, entering a team in the annual Miami Beach Polo World Cup. Ivan has elected to take the field-or rather the beach- with Canadian 6-goaler Todd Offen and American 8-goaler Shane Rice. The 12 to16-goal event is scheduled for the weekend following the US Open Championship. This year the Miami Beach Polo Club is offering a new twist-“Girls on the Beach”. Four to six teams are being organized for its debut.