PC Championships East Results

Riding and Horse Management Awards:
First place, First HM - Maryland/Carolina Blazing Saddles
Becher Cole, Ben Grissom, Quinn Riddle, Madeline White (SM)
Second place, Third HM - Carolina/Midsouth Double Trouble
Baker White, Charlie Caldwell, Harry Caldwell, Anthony Lynch (SM)
Third place, Second HM - Delmarva Electric Pretzels
Stephanie Morrongiello, Rachel Schafer, Kristina Seelig, Sydney Shinn (SM)
Fourth place, Fourth HM - Old Dominion Destroyers
Abigail Horn, Brooke DeCant, Lise Mychaleckyj, Helen Farley (SM)

Other Awards:
Best #1 - Ben Grissom
Best #2 - Rachel Schaeffer
Best #3 - Becher Cole
Best SM - Madeline White
APA Sportsmanship Award - Abigail Horn from the Mountain Skyline Pony Club
Cadillac Award for Best Horse - King, ridden by Harry Caldwell
Best Conditioned Horse - Mouse, ridden by Ben Grissom

 

 

 

 

The awards being presented.

Polocrosse Clinics

Clinics are a great way to help spread the polocrosse addiction. Watching it is great, but actually getting the racket in your hand, catching and throwing, and getting your horse used to it all is irreplaceable as an introduction. Many upper level players often are willing and available to come teach clinics to riders who are interested in trying it out, and can bring a collection of rackets and balls for people to borrow. If you are interested in getting a clinician in your area comment on this post and we will try to set you up with one.

Victoria teaching how to catch and throw.

Sara helping a horse get used to the racket.

Back in June, three former Pony Clubbers – Victoria Prince, Sara Cifelli, and Patti Cifelli – gave a polocrosse clinic to the pony clubbers at Somerset Hills PC’s summer camp at the USET facility. There were 17 riders there from approximately age 8 – 14. There were plenty of rackets and balls so that everyone was able to learn how to catch and throw on the ground, as well as some of the basic rules of the game. They practiced unmounted lineups, giving wood, and shooting on goal.

They even had a poster about the sport!

The USET barn in Gladstone, NJ

Following the unmounted session the campers got to try it out on horses. They divided into two groups by riding level so that the ring would not be too crowded. The horses were introduced slowly to the racket and the ball, and while some were a little more worried about it than others to start with, every single horse and pony was comfortable with the ball around them by the end of the session. Everyone showed great potential and some were even doing cantering pickups by the end of the day! It was a lot of fun for everyone, and hopefully we will see some new players at rallies next year. 

Great pickup!

Players Headed to Canada

Three members from the Pony Club Exchange team for the Polocrosse World Cup in England in 2011 will soon be headed to play in Canada. Evan Vallee, Peter Balogh, and Gracie Gill are headed north to play for a few weeks in July. They will be there for the Calgary Stampede and the Stampede Shootout polocrosse events hosted by Polocrosse Canada. These back to back tournaments will be a great experience for players from both countries.

These players will be in Canada in early July and hosting clinics in the area. In addition to being valued PC graduates, they have all been playing polocrosse for several years and are frequent players in the top level in the American Polocrosse Association. Along with their great playing skills, they are also competent riders and should make a great team abroad. Evan and Peter have recently made the long list for the 2015 World Cup Team. Fellow squad member and Pony Club graduate, Jessie Reed, will also be in Canada at the same time representing the WC squad and playing.

Good luck to Evan, Peter, and Gracie in their travels and tournaments in Canada!

Qualifying for Pony Club Championships

As many of you know, PC Championships East is quickly approaching and entries are due by Monday, July 8. The competition runs from July 25 - July 28 in Lexington, VA. All of the info is posted online on the Champs page. In the sport of polocrosse any player who plays in a qualifying rally is eligible to play at Championships as long as they do not incur too many horse management points and are a member in good standing. B/H-A/A members may go with permission of their RS.

The divisions offered at Championships are Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. These divisions may be adjusted depending on the number of entries. Division-specific requirements are as follows;

Novice                     11 yrs. or older          D-3 Flat and up

Intermediate         12 yrs. or older          C-1 Flat and up

Advanced               13 yrs. or older          C-1 Flat and up

Stable Manager    As above                      D-3 HM and up

According to the 2013 newsletter, only one rule has changed this year. Each horse is now required to have (2) five-gallon wash water buckets with sponges for cooling off due to problems in the past with not enough buckets to cool off all of the horses. In Virginia, this will be increasingly important because the weather is generally very hot.  Australian Stock saddles are allowed at the Intermediate and Advanced levels. New Derby polocrosse helmets are also allowed, as long as they are worn with the face mask attached. ASTM/SEI certified helmets must be worn if a face mask is not being worn. 

The officials for Championships this year are;

Sandy Wright - Organizer

Eric Wright - Scorer

Kathy Barker - Technical Delegate

Jessie Barker - Secretary

Susan Poulton - Chief HM

Dalles Lee - Assistant HM

David Thornton - organizing umpires

Multi-Region Rally Results

Here are the results from the Multi-Region Rally on May 12th in Boyds, MD.

Intermediate

Redland Hunt – 1^st – HM 4^th

         Alex, Ella, Jackson, Laura

Sugarloaf Capitals – 2^nd – HM 3^rd

      Karl, Rowan, Zoe, Ela

The Green Team – 3^rd – HM 2^nd

      Courtney, Hunter, Molly, Holly

Full Throttle – 4^th – HM 1^st

      Savannah, David, Emily

Novice A

Tap Out – 1st – HM 2^nd

      Erin, Ryan, Hallie, Carlin

The Pretzels – 2^nd – HM 4^th

      Stephanie, Kristina, Rachel

The Steelers – 3^rd – HM 3^rd

      Natalie, Kimberly, Paxton, Hannah

Charlie’s Angels – 4^th – HM 1^st

      Gracie, Katarina, Alexandra, Amy

Aftershock – 5^th – HM 5^th

      Madisyn, Brooke, Danielle, Tiffany

Novice B

Blazing Saddles – 1^st – HM 6^th

      Ben, Aidan, Abby, Mikayla

Fired Up – 2^nd – HM 1^st

      Katelynn, Piper, Grace, Emily

Chukka Chicas – 3^rd – HM 4^th

      Hannah, Annie, Ceara, Sammie

Bumper Ponies – 4^th – HM 5^th

      Kevin, Courtney, Alexandra, Samantha

Deja Blue –5^th – HM 2^nd

      Tristan, Beecher, Katie, Quinn

Red Hots – 6^th – HM 3^rd

      Mitch, Anthony, Rebecca

Pre-Novice

The Zebras – 1^st – HM 1^st

      Sydney, Rachel, Hailey, Kaycee

In It To Win It –2^nd – HM 2^nd

      Brooke, Ashley, Shyannah

Upcoming Events

The 2013 season has already begun in Texas with a few playdays and fun events, and it is starting on the East coast this weekend! The Charlie Horse tournament is being held at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala, FL. After that there will be two big tournaments in Texas held by Lone Star and Camp Waldemar with some international players from Australia and South Africa. More information will be posted shortly so stay tuned!

Facebook Page

For those of you on Facebook, be sure to like our page at http://www.facebook.com/UspcPolocrosse. I have been better about updating information on there, plus I am also able to share a lot of info posted on other pages.