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.

Spreading the Polocrosse Addiction

Update from Brianna True about the Annual Meeting:

Today my dad Alvin, Chris, Leilani, Susan Poulton and I taught some kids and parents about polocrosse at the Annual Pony Club Meeting. It went great. : ) We had quite a bit of interest from people in Montana, Wyoming, California, Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, and here in Greely, Co. It was awesome to see kids so excited to play with the racquets and balls and even the parents got into it. We passed out information about how to contact people in different regions so they could start playing. :) I can't wait to watch polocrosse grow in Pony Club and around the nation.

USPC Annual Meeting update

The Annual Meeting in Denver, CO kicked off yesterday. Hopefully I will be able to get some updates soon from polocrosse players who were able to attend. I did happen to come across a photo of a great research project about bell boot performance for polocrosse!

U16 Update

In order to let everyone have more time to get horses fit we have extended the date for the first cut (for the team long list) to March 18. This is after the Charlie Horse Tournament and after the clinic held in NC.

Team Apps are still due to me by February 18th and the final application fee is due by April 1.

Any questions contact Donna Ellis.
(Comment if you need her contact info)

U16 clinic in NC

Looks like there is going to be a clinic in North Carolina this spring to show off your skills to the U16 team coach. Keep an ear out for more information. Any pony clubbers who are interested in this tour should definitely sign up! Showing interest now will put you on the development program's radar, even if you don't make it on the team this year. Plus, clinics like this one are an invaluable learning experience that you won't generally get at club practices.

2013 Annual Meeting

The 2013 USPC Annual Meeting and Equine Symposium is being held in Westminster, CO from January 23-27. If you can attend, please keep an eye out for some polocrosse players! I know that a few will be there to share their knowledge. More info to come later on.

http://www.ponyclub.org/?page=AnnualMeeting 

Multi Region Rally in Boyds, MD

Please pass the word on and mark your calendars for the 2013 Multi Region Pony Club Polocrosse Rally! It will be held at the Potomac Pony Club Field in Boyds, MD on Sunday, May 12th, 2013. I will post a link to more info as it is given.

Like us on Facebook!

USPC Polocrosse now has a new Facebook page. Please like us and share with anyone else who might be interested! http://www.facebook.com/UspcPolocrosse

Fun at PC Championships 2012

Just found this picture on the USPC Facebook page. It just goes to show that polocrosse has more fun than any other discipline! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150930162086910&set=a.157395386909.126917.152849016909&type=1&theater

APA U16 Team Application

Attention all players who are 16 or under as of January 1st, 2013! (You are still eligible even if you turned 17 on Jan. 2nd) The link for the inbound tour application is now posted at http://americanpolocrosse.com/ If you are at all interested, please apply! These international exchanges are a ton of fun and great learning experiences. Even if you do not have two of your own polocrosse horses, it is fine if you borrow one. They are looking for high C grade and above horses, and after a few weeks of coaching and some schooling by some amazing Australian players, they may even come back better than they were before. Also, Pony Club backgrounds are considered a plus in picking out the team! It shows that you have already learned correct horse management practices which end up being very important on tours such as this one.

Picture from the 2010 Inbound Tour in Bucks County, PA with New South Wales, AUS.

Starting off the season right

Even though it's still cold outside, the spring tournaments and rallies are coming up soon. It's time to start thinking about practicing your ball skills and getting your horse in shape. To get pumped up for the season I go online and watch as many old game videos as I can find. There are a bunch on YouTube as well as some old Australian Nationals games at www.cowhorse.com.au/

MD Horse World Expo

Sugarloaf Mountain polocrosse club is doing a demo at the MD Horse World Expo this Saturday from 2pm-3pm, John Cook is doing an Intro to Polox Seminar on Saturday from 10am-11am. They also have a booth (#2007) at the Expo all weekend! Stop by if you get a chance. There are some amazing upper level players in this club, and most of them have also been highly involved in Pony Club.
www.horseworldexpo.com/MDmain.shtml

Happy New Year!

In 2013 I am going to try to keep this blog updated more efficiently. To start out with I will be posting this year's APA tournament schedules as I get the tentative dates.
Eastern Zone:
Charlie Horse: March 9 / 10
Sandie Creek: April 6 / 7
Tennessee Valley: May 4 / 5
Carolina: May 25 / 26
Bay Area: June 16 / 16
Sugarloaf Mountain: July 6 / 7
Bucks County: August 31 / September 1
Eastern Zone Mega Clinic (Pinehurst, NC): September 14 / 15
APA Nationals: October 4 / 5 / 6

I don't have a full schedule for Central, Mountain, or Western zones yet. If any of the tournaments will be incorporating a pony club qualifying rally as well I will try to post info as I hear about it.

There will also be several international exchanges occurring this year. The largest will the Quadrangular, held in South Africa. This event is held every four years, in between World Cup years, for the top four placing World Cup nations. This year the participating nations will be South Africa, Zimbabwe, the UK (Australia is not attending), and USA. Many of the team members are pony club graduates. More information to come as the event approaches in mid-July. There is also an exchange with NSW for a youth team in the works to be held in Florida.