Casablanca Wins Polo Training Foundation March Challenge; Juancito Bollini Named MVP |
Arianna Delin, Sharon Robb for Grand Champions Polo Club
 Casablanca scored the winning goal in the final two minutes to defeat Grand Champions, 3-2, to capture the Polo Training Foundation March Challenge on Monday at Everglades Polo Club.
Three teams of highly-skilled junior polo players competed in the two-hour event. The teams were GJ Racing (Blake Ashcroft, Justin Daniels, Wes Finlayson, John Hand), Grand Champions (Juancito Bollini, Grant Ganzi, Liam Lott, Guillerhme Maia) and Casablanca (Agustin Arellano, Matias Gonzalez, Ian MacTaggart, Jack McLean). Trailing 2-0 going after two Bollini goals, into the final chukker, Gonzalez opened the chukker with a 50-yard goal. A minute later, McLean scored to tie the game at 2-2. After Bollini came up with a great defensive stop on Gonzalez’ scoring attempt, MacTaggart came back to score the game-winner with two minutes left in regulation. Casablanca and Grand Champions players have competed with and against each other in past tournaments.
“Our team had great chemistry on the field,” Arellano said. “It meshed really well together. We never all played together on the same team before but we all played really well together. “Matias is a great back and crushes the ball. Jack and Ian were great with the ball pulling the team forward. I tried to help in the middle. “We all knew everyone else who was playing and we all watch each other so we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Arellano said. Grand Champions’ Juancito Bollini, a sophomore at Florida Atlantic University, was named Most Valuable Player.
Bollini was inadvertently hit in the mouth with a mallet during Grand Champions’ game against GJ Racing in the final two minutes. He was attended to by paramedics and his father, former 8-goaler Juan Bollini. Bollini insisted on returning to finish the game and compete in the championship final, where he played well despite being in obvious pain. Bollini finished with five goals including three penalty shots. Bollini underwent oral surgery after the game and is recovering nicely. Arellano’s 8-year-old grey thoroughbred mare Milkshake was awarded Best Playing Pony. “My dad had bought her as a 4-year-old and didn’t get along with her at all,” Arellano said of his father, Julio, a top American player and member of Coca-Cola’s pro team. “He let me play her a little bit and I loved her. I ended up buying her from him. She’s turned out to be my best horse.” Arellano enjoyed playing with and against his friends. “It’s so much fun to play against other players your age and to challenge yourself at this level,” Arellano said. “This is so fast, everyone is just running and having fun. It’s great.
“The PTF is awesome, this is what has brought me to the level I am today,” Arellano said. “It’s just amazing. They do such a good job getting all the kids out here to play.” McLean, 14, an out-of-state player, enjoys playing against the best junior players to hone his polo skills. McLean competed in both the PTF March Challenge and Buzz Welker Memorial at Grand Champions Polo Club on Monday. “It was great to play against Grand Champions and win,” McLean said. “Juancito played great despite being injured. Matias was amazing. I was a little nervous because they are the big guys and older. I got to play because they needed an extra player. It was an honor. This was super competitive. There was no holding back. Everyone was going all-out.” McLean is in his third year of playing in PTF events. “This is the best polo you can get in the country for me,” McLean said. “I will keep coming back for sure.”
The two evenly-matched teams survived the first two qualifying rounds. Casablanca defeated GJ Racing, 4-1, and Grand Champions defeated GJ Racing, 5-2. Gonzalez, 16, Arellano, 17, and Daniels, 16, each scored two goals in the six-chukker round-robin. “Our team played great against two of the most important players, Wesley in the first game and Juancito in the final,” Gonzalez said. “My teammates took them out and let me control the ball.” Gonzalez has played with McLean and MacTaggert representing the U.S. in New Zealand. “We thought we could win this,” Gonzalez said. “We knew we had an advantage because we knew each other so well. I really like playing in the PTF and playing with the other kids and giving back to the sport. The other players I played with taught me so I want to give it back and teach them.” The round-robin tournament featured junior players, ages 16-21. Several players who are already competing at the higher levels of polo, including 20- and 26-goal tournaments, returned to play and support the PTF. Most of them have grown up in the PTF tournaments and events.
The Polo Training Foundation is attracting record number of juniors and events through the tireless efforts of Executive Director Danny Scheraga and Assistant Executive Director Jennifer McLeavy along with Chairman Richard Riemenschneider;President Tony Coppola; Vice President Gillian Johnston and Secretary-Treasurer Melissa Ganzi. Johnston, whose work behind the scenes has helped the PTF grow, presented the player awards on Monday. The Polo Training Foundation has been instrumental in the growth of junior and youth polo players by encouraging the sport’s development with training programs, lessons and tournaments for boys and girls. It was created in 1967 to teach the game of polo to youth by promoting youth clinics, interscholastic and intercollegiate competition, good sportsmanship and good will through friendly competition. Honorary PTF Directors are George Alexander, Jr., Daniel W. Calhoun, Jr., Karlene Beal Garber, Orrin H. Ingram, Jesse L. Upchurch and Eugene Burk, Lyn Jason Cobb, Bob Daniels, Glen Holden Sr., Jesse Pruitt, Thomas A. Sikes, Lynn Thompson, John Walsh, Ian W. Angus, Joseoh W. Kozlik, Stephen Orthwein, Russell Sheldon, Jim Zenni, Jr., Robert Donahey, Duncan Huyler, Joseph Meyer and Clifford Sifton. 2015 POLO ON DEMAND Grand Champions Polo Club, featuring five world-class fields, has a full schedule of tournaments from January to May. Let our polo experts create a turn-key experience including top pros to bring out the best in you and your team. Lessons are available. 12-GOAL TOURNAMENTS MARCH: The Top Pony 12-Goal Series; APRIL: Museum of Polo & Hall of Fame Challenge Cup 8-GOAL TOURNAMENTS: MARCH: The Limited Edition 8-Goal Series and USPA Regional President’s Cup; APRIL: USPA Association Cup 6-GOAL TOURNAMENTS MARCH: Madelon Bourdieu Memorial; APRIL: Las Acacias 16-GOAL TOURNAMENTS: MARCH: Santa Rita Abierto; APRIL: John T. Oxley Memorial Trophy GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB WHERE: 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414. INFORMATION: There are great field side views for tournament action at the home base of pro teams Audi, FlexJet and Casablanca. Everyone is welcome to watch high, medium and low goal polo in a relaxed atmosphere that includes a free Argentine asado during the winter, spring and fall tournament seasons and other special events including the April 1-4 Women’s Championship Tournament (WCT) and International Cup in November. Admission is free except for special events. |
