Women’s Championship Tournament
A Sunny Day For Women’s Polo
By Alex Webbe
If no one else was aware of the position women have taken in polo, Sunny Hale was. The daughter of pioneer woman player Sue Sally Hale, Sunny announced in 2005 that a new USPA women’s Championship Series Tournament was created. The move was made to target that April’s USPA meetings to bring more participation and involvement from women players in the USPA.
Today that effort is being materialized in the Women’s Championship Tournament (WCT) Finals. This world-class women’s polo event was designed to showcase the highest level of women’s polo in the United States. The WCT format includes WCT Qualifier tournaments played across the country and abroad throughout the year, culminating in the WCT Finals that are scheduled to be played at the International Polo club in Wellington.
Sunny Hale, the highest-rated woman polo player in the world was also the first woman to play on a winning US Open Championship team, Outback, followed in her mother’s footsteps in assisting women to participate in all levels of polo in this country.
Her creation of the WCT acknowledged the fact that over 20% of the USPA membership-a membership that was not always open to women-needed to promote themselves.
Sunny’s vision was “to increase the level of women’s polo competition in the United States, help promote the awareness of talented women polo players globally and showcase the growth, handicap and skill level in the sport that they have achieved worldwide.”
The opening night party and tournament draw is scheduled to take place at the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame on Wednesday, April 1, 6:30-8:30pm with activities culminating with the WCT finals on Sunday, April 5.