August 6, 2021

North America, Polo News

U.S. Polo Assn. and USA TODAY High School Sports Awards (HSSA)

6. August 2021

U.S. Polo Assn. and USA TODAY High School Sports Awards (HSSA) Announce Nation’s Top Student Athletes in the Star-Studded Student Awards Program

The Sport of Polo is Included for the First Time in the 2021 Awards Event

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (August 6, 2021) The USA TODAY High School Sports Awards (HSSA), presented by U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA) has announced the nation’s top athletes in a first-of-its-kind, national student awards show which aired on August 5.

As part of the partnership with U.S. Polo Assn., the ESPY-style award show included for the first time, the country’s top female and male athletes in the sport of polo. Unlike many sports, female and male polo players of all ages play on the same fields together, and at all levels, including professional. In addition, many of today’s great polo players began in their youth, like those being recognized here at this special award event.

The USA TODAY High School Sports Awards, hosted by Michael Strahan and Rob Gronkowski, along with red carpet hosts DJ Khaled and Charly Arnolt, featured top professional athletes like Aaron Rodgers, Shaquille O’Neal, Kerrie Walsh Jennings, Chipper Jones, Laurie Hernandez and many others.

USATODAY High School Sports Awards, one of the most extensive high school sports recognition programs in the country, honors talented high school athletes, coaches and teams. This year, 104 regional and statewide programs culminated to set the stage for the first ever national show, highlighting more than 1,000 honorees in 27 sports categories from 50 states, all vying for the opportunity to be named the top athlete in their sport. The regional honorees and winners were revealed in June and state winners were announced in July. Winners from the state level, chosen from a base of more than 60,000 student athletes and 24,000 schools, made up the honorees for the national show.

All honorees received a special gift box from USA TODAY with commemorative items, including a keepsake co-branded trucker hat from U.S. Polo Assn., the show program and other sponsor gift items.

The national award winner in the girls’ high school polo category was Hope Arellano, featuring finalists, Sophie Grant and Summer Kneece. The national award winner in the boys’ high school polo category was Mackenzie Weisz, featuring finalists Lucas Escobar and Winston Painter.

“On behalf of U.S. Polo Assn., I’d like to congratulate all of the participating athletes and recognize the outstanding winners,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, the worldwide licensor of the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “It’s been an honor for U.S. Polo Assn. to be the presenting sponsor for this star-studded event where we had the tremendous excitement of introducing the sport of polo to this year’s roster of awards. As an authentic, sport-inspired global brand, we love the opportunity to support up and coming student polo players as well as the amazing athletes from so many other sports.”

Finalists and winners for the category of polo were selected through a stringent process that was conducted by the USPA and included acommittee of internal experts and a diverse group of representatives from within the USPA, Polo Training Foundation and the Interscholastic/Intercollegiate Committee. Ultimately, the winners were selected for being the highest performing and most qualified candidates.

“The USPA is proud to have this opportunity to be included in this prestigious student athlete recognition event and to be able to put forth our best student polo players from around the U.S. on this stage,” said Stewart Armstrong, Chairman of the USPA. “It’s the USPA’s mission to support youth polo players through our interscholastic and intercollegiate programs, and we hope to see these deserving athletes on the professional stage in the coming years. Congratulations to all!”

Among the other 27 sport categories for these elite high school athletes, coaches and teams were baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, track and field, tennis, volleyball, wrestling and more. The national broadcast showcased stories and highlights of the nation’s top athletes in each sport and their stellar performances from the past year.

“We were thrilled to partner with a sport-inspired brand like U.S. Polo Assn. and to include polo in our awards this year,” said Crystal Costa, the program’s event director. “Polo is an amazing sport that many people don’t get a chance to see in person. It’s great that we can draw more attention to the sport of polo by including it in an event of this stature for such deserving kids.”

The on-demand awards show can be viewed at Global Polo TV and at USA TODAY, USA TODAY News and USA TODAY Sportswire channels, available on Amazon Fire TV, the Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus and most Smart TVs. It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video Direct and at SportsAwards.USATODAY.com. Stories about the honorees and more program information can also be found at https://sportsawards.usatoday.com/national/honorees/.

For more information, please visit uspolo.org.

U.S. Polo Assn. and USA TODAY High School Sports Awards (HSSA) Announce Nation’s Top Student Athletes in the Star-Studded Student Awards Program The Sport of Polo is Included for the First…

Europe, Polo News

Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup, Day 2

6. August 2021

Park Place 9 – 8 Bardon

Andrey Borodin’s Park Place had a winning debut in the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup tournament this afternoon but Bardon made them work hard for this victory. Like yesterday’s opening game, there was little air between these two teams in all six chukkas. Park Place, featuring Borodin, Will Harper, Juan Britos and Facundo Pieres, had a narrow 1-goal advantage (4-3) at the half-time break but Andras Tombor’s Bardon were very much still in the mix.

Bardon, who won the 18-goal Indian Empire Shield just last month, may be playing in the 22-goal for the first time but showed today that they mean business. Fran Elizalde, Alfredo Bigatti and Matias Machado made a formidable opposition and those watching live on The Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club or catching it live on Guards TV were treated to some fast-paced polo, particularly in the second half. There were some great horse races between Elizalde and Pieres and Machado and Britos, despite the unseasonal August rain.

With the scores reading 7-7 as the teams headed into the sixth chukka there was still all to play for. Elizalde put Bardon in front only for Park Place to convert a penalty. Then with two minutes left on the clock Park Place took the ball to goal, with Britos in determined fashion firing through the winner. Bardon kept on battling but could not find another to push this game into extra time.

With such close games we are clearly going to be treated to some amazing late summer polo at Guards Polo Club.

Next games: Sunday 8 August

12noon: Park Place v UAE Polo Team

3pm: Bardon Polo Team v Monterosso

Photos by IMAGES OF POLO

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Park Place 9 – 8 Bardon Andrey Borodin’s Park Place had a winning debut in the Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup tournament this afternoon but Bardon made them…

Europe, Polo News

Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup, Day 1

6. August 2021

Vikings 11 – 10 Monterosso

The Vikings team started their Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup campaign with a win, beating Monterosso in a tight game on the Castle Ground at Flemish Farm. Max Voelker was standing in for Vikings’ patron Siri Evjemo-Nysveen and was joined by Vikings’ regulars Chris Mackenzie, Sebastian Merlos and Juan Martin Zubia. Monterosso was fielding a different line-up to this Queen’s Cup, with Matt Perry and Facundo Sola coming into the team to play alongside Monterosso stalwart Ignacio “Cubi” Toccalino.

There was little air between these two teams for all six chukkas, with both squads eager to register a win on the opening day of this new 22-goal tournament. The Vikings had a narrow, 6-5 lead at half-time but this was still anyone’s game. Both Sebastian Merlos and Facundo Sola made the most of any opportunities when they were given space but their great efforts just cancelled each other out. It was also a fairly feisty game with several yellow cards and Cubi Toccalino being sent to the “sin bin” for two minutes in the closing minutes of the fourth chukka. Despite being a man down, Monterosso, who were trailing at this point 7-6, managed to level the scores with Sola successfully converting a penalty three.

Merlos started the fifth with lovely goal to put the Vikings ahead once more but the rest of this chukka belonged to Monterosso. They managed to put some air in the scoreline (10-8), with Cubi and Sola successfully converting penalties. Many might have thought this was the moment that Monterosso would pull away but the Vikings had written a different script. Juan Martin Zubia, who is always an impressive penalty taker, first converted a 30-yard penalty. Then some great team-work from Merlos, Zubia and Mackenzie enabled the Vikings to level the score again, 10-10. Then with 90 seconds left on the clock Zubia converted his second penalty of this chukka, a 60-yarder, to give the Vikings the edge. Despite some frantic play neither team could add to their tally and Vikings won the day.

This is the first time Guards Polo Club has hosted 22-goal tournament in August and the first game did not disappoint. Five, 22-goal teams have entered this new tournament in its inaugural year and it aims to deliver some top quality sport over the next 19 days. The tournament is sponsored by Talacrest, a classic Ferrari specialist owned by former high-goal player John Collins, and all matches are being filmed live at Guards TV.

Tomorrow: Bardon Polo Team v Park Place on The Queen’s Ground at 3.30pm.

Photos by IMAGES OF POLO

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Vikings 11 – 10 Monterosso The Vikings team started their Talacrest Prince of Wales’s Championship Cup campaign with a win, beating Monterosso in a tight game on the Castle…

North America, Polo News

2021 USPA FMB SILVER CUP & 2021 AMERICA CUP

6. August 2021

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 1st, 2021) This weekend determined the teams qualified for the semi-finals of the USPA FMB Silver Cup to take place this Friday and the finals for the America Cup to take place on Sunday. All six teams had a lot on the line during these Sunday games so they all came out full force with something to prove.

The morning game took place at 10 AM between Lucchese and Antelope. Both teams needed to win to help their standing for the semi finals. Lucchese put the first two goals on the board with some dynamic polo between Keko Magrini and Jeff Hall. Penalty shots helped keep Antelope in the game with two conversions from Tomas Garcia Del Rio in the first half. After the third chukker, Lucchese had an advantage over Antelope 5-3. Antelope had a comeback in the fourth chukker with a beautiful goal from Grant Palmer and two more goals from Del Rio. However, Lucchese had a goal from each player in the fifth chukker to put them in the lead yet again. The final score was 12-9 to Lucchese.

The second game between Farmers and Merchants Bank and Klentner Ranch already had both teams secure in the semi-finals. Regardless, they both still fought it out for bragging rights and confidence. FMB took the lead in the first half 7-6. But, Klentner Ranch turned it on in the second half, especially Santiago Toccalino, with seven goals by himself in three chukkers. The result was 16-11 to Klentner Ranch.

The featured match at 4 PM had BenSoleimani.com vs. Santa Clara. Juan Curbelo took the place of Luis Escobar on the family team of Santa Clara. BenSoleimani.com had a good first half by capitalizing on the new team makeup of Santa Clara by catching them on some fouls and converting four penalty shots. After a good half-time pep-talk, Santa Clara came back in the fourth chukker with two goals from Juan Curbelo and a penalty conversion from Lucas Escobar. It came down to the last chukker with some very strong play from Santa Clara that won them the game 11-10.

At the end of these three games, Klentner Ranch will face off against Antelope and FMB will go up against Lucchese for the USPA FMB Silver Cup semifinals. The finals of the America Cup on Sunday will be between Santa Clara and BenSoleimani.com.

www.sbpolo.com

Photos by David Lominska /Polograpics.com

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SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 1st, 2021) This weekend determined the teams qualified for the semi-finals of the USPA FMB Silver Cup to take place this Friday and the finals for…

North America, Polo News

U.S. Polo Assn. Announces Matt Coppola, Professional Polo Player, As Brand’s Newest Global Brand Ambassador

6. August 2021

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (July 27, 2021) – U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand for the United States Polo Association (USPA), welcomes American polo player Matt Coppola as the multi-billion-dollar, sport-inspired brand’s newest global ambassador. Now 26, Coppola has been playing professionally since he was 14 years old and played in the semi-finals of the 2011 U.S. Open Polo Championship at the age of 16. Today, he is one of the highest handicapped American players.

The scope of Coppola’s year-long role as global brand ambassador is broad and designed to shine the spotlight on the dynamic crop of young and talented polo players coming up through the ranks. Coppola will be outfitted in U.S. Polo Assn. apparel and gear both on and off the field, will post regularly about his polo-related and other daily activities on social media, and will engage in media requests for interviews and campaigns.

“U.S. Polo Assn. is proud to welcome professional polo player Matt Coppola to our outstanding roster of global brand ambassadors for 2021,” said J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, which manages the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. “Coppola is an exceptional polo player who has come up the ranks quickly in the U.S. He is an excellent representation of what our brand is all about – sport-inspired, youthful, vibrant and fun.”

Born and raised in Wellington, Florida by show jumper Jesse Coppola and professional polo player Tony Coppola, he developed a love for horses at a very young age. Today, Coppola travels the United States and Argentina to play professional polo throughout the year and works with his father to help give racehorses a second career in polo. Coppola is also a graduating member of Team USPA, a prominent program developed and managed by the USPA to develop young American polo players for the highest levels of competition.

“I could not be more excited to represent U.S. Polo Assn., with whom I have worked over the years through the brand’s sponsorship of the GAUNTLET OF POLO,” said Coppola. “As a professional polo player, it’s meaningful for me to represent a brand that’s authentically connected to polo and gives back to the sport and its players.”

Coppola has competed in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 GAUNTLET OF POLO® competitions in Wellington and has triumphed in many of these prestigious tournaments. With a shooting accuracy of more than 70 percent, Coppola, who played for Las Monjitas, ranked second out of all the players in the 2019 GAUNTLET and first for shooting accuracy in the U.S. Open Polo Championship. In 2021, he played in the GAUNTLET with Park Place, alongside Andre Borodin, Hilario Ulloa and Juan Britos, winning the prestigious C.V. Whitney Cup and making the finals of the U.S. Open Polo Championship.

To learn more about Coppola and to see him play in these exciting events, visit globalpolo.com.