Along the Sideboards
By Alex Webbe
November 16, 2009
Alan Meeker and his 16-goal Crestview team closed the medium goal season in Aiken with style, scoring a 9-8 overtime win over Winfield to capture the 2009 USPA Continental Cup.
Crestview’s Alan Martinez was named MVP while Horacio Onetto’s (Winfield) Josefina was named Best Playing Pony.
The finals of the 2009 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup staged by the Grand Champions Polo Club took place on the Number 1 field of the International Polo Club with Isla Carroll meeting Boca Developers in the deciding game.
Five goals by Kris Kampsen set the pace for Isla Carroll but it was team captain John Goodman who scored the winning goal in the closing seconds of play.
Although this was scheduled to be the last tournament of the Grand Champions fall season, by popular demand, club president Melissa Ganzi has extended the season another week.
Some of America’s top players have been participating in the Ellerstina Gold Cup in Argentina without a great deal of success. The combination of Ben Soleimani, Fred Mannix, Jeff Hall and Nick Roldan lost three straight games as Mansour, but it was by a combined total of four goals! Nick will continue to play as the Camara de Diputados Cup (24 to 31-goals) kicks off this week.
EFG’s Jim Whisenand was on hand Sunday morning at the Grand Champions Polo Club recapping his latest polo trip to the Nine Dragons Hill Polo Club in Shanghai where he competed with a Quantas-Equus team of Luis Escobar, Sebastian Amaya and Dino Asvaintia.
“It was a great tournament,” said Whisenand, “it gets better every year. I’m definitely returning again next year. Whisenand touted the fact that there were now over 50 polo players in China.
Horace Laffaye’s much anticipated bookThe Evolution of Polo is out in a limited edition. The book is a chronicle of the game of polo and how it has evolved over the centuries. We find ourselves transported from continent to continent and from century to century as the story unfolds.
A must read for any serious polo devotee.
The efforts to establish the Outback Polo League on the fields of the Hobe Sound Polo Club appear to be gaining momentum. Under the direction of the league mainstay, Phil Heatley, a number of teams have been identified that are scheduled to play at both the 8-goal and 14-goal level.
The 2010 Polo Hall of Fame inductees have been identified and offer a varied field. Players Julian Hipwood and Luis Lacey have been selected alonq with Iglehart Award inductees Joe Muldoon and Dave Rizzo have also been named for Lifetime Contributions to the Sport of Polo.
Elmer Boeseke’s Red Ace and Hector Galindo’s Khaki have also been honored by the Hall of Fame as “Horses to Remember”.
The Villages Polo Club of Central Florida has named 39-year-old Stuart Campbell as its Director of Polo as it moves into the second half of its eleventh year.
A new twist that will be offered under Campbell will be the availability of club horses that will allow players to fly in or drive to The Villages without trailering in their horses and be able to experience The Villages polo experience.
“My goal is to make The Villages a fun place to play polo-a place where people line up to play,” he said.
Campbell wants to grow the club by not only recruiting players but by cultivating local talent as well. “I want to get some new local players,” he stresses. “I want to get my hands on interested kids and adults who I can train through polo lessons, clinics and camps,” he added. “We have to build the club from within as well as by attracting outside talent.”