UK Polocrosse Magazine Spring 2009

SPRING 2009 - OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE UK POLOCROSSE ASSOCIATION

www.polocrosse.org.uk

RISEBRIDGE HONEYChampion Horse National Championships 2008

CHairmaN Dave Brookes [email protected] House Farm, Main Rd, Wharncliffe Side, Sheffield, S35 0DQ T 01142862869 M 07802 922897

seCretarykaren [email protected] Long Furlong, Haddenham, Bucks HP17 8DQ

T 01844 29929 M 0776 468 5094

viCe-CHairmaNkiM [email protected] Hedleston Road, Grantham, NG31 7FE

T 07904 604834

treasurerpenny [email protected] Cottage, Risebridge Farm, Goudhurst, Kent, TN17 1HN

T 01560 211682

sports developmeNtiain [email protected] 25 Norwich Street, Cambridge, CB2 1ND

M 07799 360439

membersHip seCretaryJan [email protected] Barn,Upper Goosehill, Broughton Green, Droitwich, WR9 7EDT 01905 391537 M 07957 544913

CHief umpireWayne [email protected] Cranbrook Rd, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 4AZ

T 01580 752051 M 07935 656569

direCtor of CoaCHiNgChrisTine [email protected] Manor, Kirby Grindalythe, Malton, North Yorkshire, YO17 8DF

T 01944 738714

This is my second year of editing the UK magazine and I am proud to say that we are going to press much earlier!

However, I can’t really take the credit for this. We have been very lucky to have Danny Duhig on board to do the design work this year and once again I must say a massive thank you to Penny Webb for collecting together a lot of the articles that you see in the magazine. Also, thank you to Guy Robertson who wrote one test series report, an article on buying young horses and the Highlanders club report!

I said last year I would like to see someone other than Guy on the front cover and I have got my wish (sorry Guy) so thank you to Jason and Honey for playing so well at the Nationals to win best horse.

Also a huge thank you to all our sponsors, NFU Mutual, Neo Ice, Action Shots Photography, HKM Sports Equipment, Joules Clothing, Highlanders Polocrosse Club, Equiextreme, Bombers Equestrian Equipment, Carr, Day and Martin, Bennett Polocrosse Equipment, The Worshipful company of Saddlers, Risebridge Australian Horse training, Heather Harding, Zamar, Simple Systems and Denne Country Store.I hope you all enjoy reading the magazine and I hope to see you all during the 2009 season!

IAIN HEATONEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

UKPAEXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

exeCutive offiCerJeff [email protected] 4 Heol Bryn Glas, Meadow Farm, Llantwit Fardre, Mid Glamorgan, CF38 2DJ

T 01443 208264 M 07968 769448

players rep. riCharD [email protected] 67 Beecham road, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire, CV36 4RJ

M 07782 381117

trusteeeriC [email protected] Barn,Upper Goosehill, Broughton Green, Droitwich, WR9 7ED

T 01905 391537 M 07771 551993

trustee JuLie [email protected] 4 Heol Bryn Glas, Meadow Farm, Llantwit Fardre, Mid Glamorgan, CF38 2DJT 01443 208264

NortHerN regioN gaiL [email protected] Laithe Farm, Staups Lane, Todmorden, Lancashire, OL14 8RRT 01706 815623 M 07876 473111

easterN regioN Lorraine [email protected] Freshwaters, Harlow, Essex, CM20 3QBT 01279 834692 M 07841 515899

midlaNds regioN Jan [email protected] Bearcroft Barn,Upper Goosehill, Broughton Green, Droitwich, WR9 7ED

T 01905 391537 M 07957 544913

soutHerN regioN Wayne [email protected] Cranbrook Rd, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 4AZ

T 01580 752051 M 07935 656569

welsH regioN Mark [email protected] Gell Farm, Nercwys, Nr Mold, Flintshire, CH7 4ENT 01352 770234

Also a Special Thanks goes to Action Shots Photography for providing all the photos from the National Club Championships 2008 for use in this magazine. Other photos provided by Barney James (UK vs Aus Test Matches), Kim Kneese (UK vs USA Test Matches) and Daniel Duhig.

2 . POLOCROSSE UK . SPRING 092 . POLOCROSSE UK . SPRING 09

CONTENTS

10 National Club Championships Results

12 Best Horses 16 UK versus...

22 Thinking of Travelling and Playing Polocrosse

02UKPA Executive Committee

04The UK’s Young Guns

08European Challenge

10UKPA Nationals Results

122008’s Horses Tribute

14Annual Awards Ball

16UK vs Aus Tests Report

17UK Presidents vs USA Report

20A Look Forward to the 2009 Season

21UKPA 2009 Squads

22Traveling & Polocrosse

25Need Help Buying a Horse?

26Club Reports

352009 Fixture List

3

The UKPA have awarded its second and third honorary life memberships. These have gone to Jonathan Beckerlegge and Neville Riley to thank them for their years of service to the Association. They join Genifer Malden, the UKPA’s first honarary Life Member.She was presented with this in 1999 when she stood down as Chairman of Pony Club Polocrose. She was the lady who introduced the game to the Pony Club in 1991.

Jonathan served as UKPA treasurer for 11 years and took the UKPA finances from

a small debt to the strong position they are in today. He has also for years served as the voice of the Polocrosse National championships, providing early morning wake up calls over the loudspeaker system and keeping everyone informed of the days events.

Neville has for years written numerous documents for the UKPA, he drafted the original UKPA handbook and constitution and has organised the order of play and calculated the results at countless tournaments.

Honorary Life MeMbersHips

3www.polocrosse.org.uk

ToM kiTChen DunnLaura Millington Trophy

17 year old Tom is a relative newcomer to polocrosse but has already had some great experiences through the sport. Playing for Pennine since he was a junior, he was kindly loaned the fantastic mare, Francesca, who both Sam and Joel Sics developed their game on. Tom owes a lot to both the Sics boys who he says have helped him the most. He also has high regard for James Robertson, who Tom regards as his favourite player.

Tom’s ambitions within the sport are to make it to the World Cup and “to help develop the sport, especially at Primary Junior level”. Now working for a landscape gardener, he has his level 1 Dry Stone Walling Qualification and also enjoys breeding and showing exhibition poultry. However, he hopes that his future lies with horses and is currently undertaking his BHS qualifications in order to become a riding instructor.

siMon aMorMinter Strover Trophy

16 year old Simon has been a member of Celyn since he started playing. He became well known for flying down the pitch flat out on his fantastic little dun pony in PJ’s and Juniors before moving onto Santi, who he describes as the best horse he has ridden, having bought him through Wayne Henning. The Simkin family are obviously a great influence on the Celyn Juniors and Simon cites Tom Simkin as the person who has helped him the most and his favourite player. His polocrosse ambition for the near future is to be selected for the Australian tour in 2009.

At school, his favourite subject is media games design and in his spare time he enjoys rock climbing and Thai boxing.

YOUNG GUNS

4 . POLOCROSSE UK . SPRING 09

aLex riCharDson Australian Horse Training U21 Horsemanship Prize

Alex is one of the recipients of the U21 Horsemanship Prize after winning the Bomber Prize for the Best U16 last year. Playing for eight years with the Pennine Club, he had the experience of touring New South Wales with the U16’s in 2006, and has now been named as Captain of the current U21 squad. This year has seen him forge a partnership with his new (and favourite!) horse, Run. With his aim of playing in a World Cup in the future, he has a great mentor in Guy Robertson, who Alex also cites as his favourite player.

He enjoys hunting and regards Business Studies as his best school subject, although with his A Levels looming this year, he is looking forward to being able to travel and playing some polocrosse abroad soon!


oLivia MiLLierBomber U16 Prize at National Championships

Olivia Millier was the recipient of the Bomber Prize for the Best U16 at the Nationals after she was awarded the best Horse and Rider combination in the Junior division. She was playing for Celyn Club who she has played for since starting polocrosse about four years ago. Reaching her goal of being selected for the Junior squad, she is working hard to get in the team to tour New South Wales in 2009.

Citing the Simkin family as her mentors in the game, she wants to emulate Sarah Simkin, and has a chance to do so as she is lucky enough to be playing her fantastic chestnut mare, Perdie. Perdie has been one of the best Ladies horses in the UK and has played in a number of test matches at open level and Olivia is obviously learning a lot from her!

A keen Pony Club member, Olivia also enjoys playing Hockey and is a budding artist (and shopper!).

WiLL haLCroWAustralian Horse Training U21 Horsemanship Prize

Will is the other recipient of the U21 Horsemanship Award and has been a regular member of the U16 squad. Having played for Kent Target for roughly five years, he is now part of the U21’s and regards his win against the touring New South Wales side in 2007 as his best moment in polocrosse so far. He has an ambition to play for the UK at Open level in the future. Naming Wayne Henning and Jason Webb as influences in his polocrosse so far, he regards Jason as his favourite player and is looking forward to spending time with him as part of this award.

Will’s favourite horse is Design but he also has other horses that he events and does tetrathlons on at Open Level. Playing the guitar in a band is his main interest outside of horses.

george harDing Bomber U14 Prize at National Championships

George has just turned 14 and although he grew up around polocrosse, he only started riding three years ago. His enthusiasm for the game grew when big brother Oscar put him on Wayward at the Kent Tournament in 2007. Spurred on by the crowd he got a little over-excited in his first game, as after a mid-game teamtalk from Oscar, Jason Webb and Beau Moore he turned the speed on Wayward (aka “the Big Dog Westwood”) and planted a flat swing square across his opponent’s chest. He now knows it’s the wrong thing to do.

His favourite players are Jason, Beau and Sophie Lodder and it is his ambition to win the A grade Nationals with Jason, Oscar, Beau and Jamie Grimmond. Helped by Oscar, he thinks that “everyone is pretty nice to me” and cites the parties at polocrosse as a big draw card! His favourite horse is Wayward “’coz she’s well cool” but he hasn’t forgotten his love of motors with 3 motor bikes, 2 go-karts, 2 field cars and a rally car at his disposal. His favourite food is mussels.



Ireland lifted the title in the European Challenge Championship trophy with France and the UK separated on goal difference in second and third respectively. The UK and Ireland teams were not full strength squads but instead were low goal sides with a handicap limit of four and below for each player. That should not, however, in anyway detract from the standard of play that was seen from the other European countries at the weekend, who all showed that polocrosse is very much on the up in mainland Europe. Teams from Norway, France, Germany and Holland all travelled to Kent to compete against the UK and Irish sides and it was France who caused the biggest upset by pushing the UK into third spot on goal difference. When France and the UK met on the pitch it ended in a 8 all draw and it was the French who lost by less to the strong Irish team, meaning they took the runner up spot.

The French did have a slight advantage over the other European Nations as they brought their own playing horses over from France, while Holland, Norway and Germany were all on borrowed horses. These three sides ended up playing off against each other for the Challenge Plate and it was Holland who emerged victorious, with Norway in second and Germany in third spot. Particularly impressive for the Dutch team over the weekend was Jochem Elsinga in one of their number one spots and he deservably picked up the best number 1 prize. Tania Turner of the UK picked up best number 2 while Paul Scott, the Irish Captain, picked up best number 3.

One player for each team was also given an Ambassadors award, for representing their country well both one and off the field. For Germany, who has just been accepted as an associate member of the International Polocrosse Council, this went to Andreas Rieger, who looked very assured in his number 3 spot, carrying the balll very well in midfield on many occasions and never rushing to make his passes to his number 1.

EUROPEAN CHALLENGERISEBRIDGE FARM 2008

For Norway the Ambassadors award went to Amund Svensen, for not only playing well but for also being the driving force behind polocrosse in Norway since it began there a few years ago. Likewise, in France, Barabara Beaufilis has worked tirelessly for the sport and it was she who picked up the Ambassadors award in the French team.

In the Dutch team it was Fleur Bartels who won the award, for playing beautifully all weekend aboard the borrowed stock horse mare Design, in one of the number 3 spots and it was also one of the Irish number 3’s, Celene Courtney Flynn, who picked up their Ambassadors award. She played very strongly all weekend and in particular against the UK in their final win. Finally, for the UK themselves, it was another number 3 in Sophie Harding who picked up the Ambassadors award; she defended so hard all weekend that after the final match she had to be taken to hospital to have her leg X-rayed in order to ensure that it was simply badly bruised and not broken.

Other awards were give out for the best horse and rider combination, both owned and borrowed horses, and also the best horse. The owned Horse and Rider combination went to Jess Fagot of the UK who scored some great goals up front for the UK, and the best borrowed Horse and Rider combination went to Aimee C.R Johansen of Norway, who, along with Vibeke Svensen whose borrowed steed picked up Best Horse, proved that the Norwegians are very tough in defence. Not very much got past them all weekend and they were both particularly strong as Norway and Holland fought out a 9 all draw.


RisebRidge AustRAliAn

stock HoRse studRisebRidge AustRAliAn

HoRse tRAining

For more info, photos & videos please visit:

www.australianhorsetraining.co.ukFeel free to contact us on:

0774 991 4267 or [email protected]

PeRfoRmAnce: Polo, Dressage, Jumping, and Hunting, he does it all… if only he was allowed to play polocrosse!

PeRsonAlity:Impeccable manners and a fantastic temperament.

PedigRee:Extremely sought after and successful bloodlines.

PRogeny: “His first crop of two year olds are among the best I’ve broken in…”

PeRfection:“He is the horse I look forward to riding every day… He’s a real crowd pleaser at demonstrations and I trust him with my kids!” Jason Webb

youR HoRse’s futuRe in tHe RigHt HAnds

Jason Webb and his team specialise in starting young horses and solving equine problems using common sense horsemanship based on a modern approach to traditional Australian methods.

Jason has started and produced polocrosse ponies that have won national awards in Australia and the UK and played in International/ World Cup Competitions. With generations of polocrosse players and horse trainers in his family, he has also trained with some of the most successful horsemen in Australia.

“Jason has a fantastic empathy with horses… his work with them on the ground is remarkable” Pony Club DC

“Anyone with horses that need breaking....I strongly recommend Jason Webb” National Showjumper

“Jason handles tricky horses brilliantly” Irish International Event Rider

“Jason produces young horses that are great to work with” Professional High Goal Polo Player

For more information on:

• Starting Young Horses

• Solving Problems (rearing, bolting, kicking, loading etc)

• Training Horses & Riders for Polocrosse

• Polocrosse Ponies for Hire & Sale

• Australian Equine Products for Sale – Stock Saddles, Rope Halters, etc

Please get in touch.

“The Australian Stock Horse has the versatility to excel in a wide range of equestrian disciplines.” Andrew Hoy, Olympic Gold Medallist Eventing

“Australian stock horses make the perfect polocrosse horses with speed, soundness, agility and trainability as their major attributes.” Gerald O’Brien, renowned Australian horse trainer

“Stock Horses are bred to have all you need for the game and seem to take to polocrosse better than other breeds.” Jamie Grimmond, AUS Polocrosse World Cup Winner

then defeated Arden in the final. The quality of play from some of the Kent youngsters was incredibly impressive and showed that there is a great hope for the future for UK polocrosse.

The D grade went to Pennine after a very hard fought final against Solent, who were the defending champions from the previous year. Solent did win the E grade, with Kent Target again in the prizes in second place.

HIGHLANDERSa division winners National Club Championships 2008NATIONALS

RESULTS LISCOMBE PARK 2008

a division Sponsored by Denne Country Store

WinnersHighlanders Warriors

runners upArden

BesT no. 1Guy Robertson (Highlanders)

BesT no. 2Martin Brookes (Highlanders)

BesT no. 3Sarah Simkin (Highlanders)

BesT horse of The TournaMenT Presented in Memory of Miss Muffett by Penny and Jason Webb - “honey” (Jason Webb)

BesT veTeran horse ‘08 season Presented in Memory of Flecha Peron by the Stansfield family - “Chispa” (Tor Phillips)

b division Sponsored by Risebridge Australian Horse Training

runners upNorthern Lions/Crusaders

BesT no. 1Kim Lampard (Kent Target)

BesT no. 2Beth Peaker (Crusaders)

BesT no. 3Elliot Gloyn (Crusaders)

BesT horsePapoose (Elliot Gloyn)

The 2008 UKPA National championships saw plenty of great play and plenty of excitement. The weather wasn’t so great but at least it stayed reasonably dry, apart from one heavy rain shower on the Sunday morning. There was also a slave auction in aid of the Air Ambulance on the Sunday night and this saw nearly £6,000 being raised for the charity by members of the association.

2008 saw the Nationals return to Liscombe Park and also saw the Highlanders return to winning the A grade. They lifted the title two years ago when the Nationals were last at Liscombe and they repeated the feat in 2008 to make it three A grade titles in four years. Arden finished in second spot, again for the third time in four years, going down by 20 goals to 10 in the final.

The B grade was won by a Kent Target who overcame a strong Crusaders side by 13 goals to 9. The final was close throughout with both teams scoring well but Kent crept ahead in the last couple of chukkas and held on to win.

The C grade went to a very strong and young Kent Target side. They comfortably beat every other team in their pool and

Hors

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Hors

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KeNt mara - b division wiNNers

ardeN - a division ruNNers up

C division Sponsored by HKM Sportswear

runners upArden

BesT no. 1Sammy Rowden (Kent Corsairs)

BesT no. 2Tom Beney (Kent Corsairs)

BesT no. 3George Wilson-Fitzgerald (Arden)

BesT horseMonnie (Sammy Rowden)

d division Sponsored by Carr, Day & Martin

runners upSolent Titans

BesT no. 1Tom Kitchen-Dunn (Pennine)

BesT no. 2Kathy Hopkins (Solent)

BesT no. 3Beccy Rowley (Pennine)

BesT horseParis (Dan Kelly)

e division Sponsored by Equiextreme

runners upKent Arrows

BesT no. 1Tim James (Arden)

BesT no. 2Kat Forrest (Solent)

BesT no. 3Dawn Goodfellow (Highlanders)

BesT horseSonny (Joe Hopkins)

Junior division Sponsored by Heather Harding

runners upArden

BesT no. 1Laura Hughes (Celyn)

BesT no. 2Emily Gilfillan (Pennine)

BesT no. 3Amy Hughes (Celyn)

BesT horseEsperanza (Amy Hughes)

BesT horse & riDer CoMBinaTion Olivia Miller / Purdy (Bomber Nell Trophy & Prize)

primary Junior division Sponsored by Highlanders Polocrosse Club

runners upPennine

BesT no. 1Josie Cameron (Centaur)

BesT no. 2Stuart Dyson (Pennine)

BesT no. 3Katie Newbrook (Centaur)

BesT horseTia (Katie Newbrook)

BesT unDer 14 pLayer George Harding (Kent Target) (Bomber Nell U14 Annual Trophy)

The Junior division was once again played as a round robin and this year saw Celyn emerge victorious as they defeated Arden and three Pennine sides to lift the title. Arden did the best of the other sides and picked up the second place. In the primary Juniors in was Centaur’s year as they won the division, with Pennine in second place and Arden in third.

Thank you to all the executive members and all the members of Liscombe Park who worked so hard to make sure it all ran smoothly.

Also a huge thank you to all our sponsors, NFU Mutual, Neo Ice, Action Shots Photography, HKM Sports Equipment, Joules, Highlanders Polocrosse Club, Equiextreme, Bombers Equestrian Equipment, Carr, Day and Martin, Risebridge Australian Horse training, Heather Harding and Denne Country Store.

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KeNt Corsairs - C division wiNNers

peNNiNe - d division wiNNers

soleNt sHarKs - e division wiNNers

CelyN - Junior division wiNNers

CeNtaur spirit - primary Junior division wiNNers

HORSES

MONEDAOwned by U21 Squad member, Sammi Rowden, Moneda deserves her place on this page having won numerous best pony awards in Juniors, C and B grade over the past two years, culminating in Champion Junior Horse (2007) and Champion C Grade Horse (2008) at the last two UKPA National Championships.

The 14 year old 14.3hh fleabitten grey mare was first sat on by Sammi at a winter practice at Kent Target. With the famous Sammi smile getting wider by the minute, Wayne Henning, who was looking after the mare, was quick to point out that she was for sale! Originally from Argentina, Moni played to a high level of polo but due to her age, Wayne was asked to sell her into polocrosse for her Argentine owners.

As with so many of our top junior ponies, these ex-polo ponies make fantastic schoolmasters and are quick to learn the game. In the case of Moni her “agility and speed but above all her bravery make her the great horse she has proved to be”. As Paul, Sammi’s dad says “Any horse brave enough to try pushing against the formidable pairing of Kerry Bean and Tangles in the area especially one so much smaller gets my admiration!”

After over 18 months of family ownership Moni is starting to allow a bit of her personality to show through. She is still a delight to look after but with more affection and she has taken up the role of queen bee in the Rowden’s herd of mares!

Agility and speed but above all her bravery make her the great horse she has proved to be

13

Chispa

As the first recipient of the Fletcha Peron Award for Outstanding Veteran Horse, Chispa really is a legend among UK polocrosse ponies.

This strong 15.2hh chestnut mare is described as being in her twenties and is currently being played by Tor Phillips from Arden. Heather Wigglesworth, Chispa’s first owner takes up the story.

“I bought her from my good friend, polo player Oli Whitely, after he gave her to Graham Spackman to play. When I first tried her at Oil’s I experienced her habit of fly leaping and she nearly took my head off on a low hanging telegraph wire... luckily she improved quickly! She was the strongest and toughest mare and never went lame even though she had been pin fired. She would always finish the weekend raring to go and riding off everything that got in her way. In fact, we ended up playing her in a face guard for her own good!

Tom’s (Wigglesworth) introduction to Chispa had to be done in secret when Mum was out (her little boy’s life could not be risked on such a ‘crazy’ horse!) but they clicked straight away and when I went to New Zealand, I was really happy to hear of all the success he was having with her.”

Chispa is still playing as well as ever in B Grade with Tor, and shows no signs of slowing down… these veteran horses are truly worth their weight in gold.

ukpa naTionaLs ChaMpion horse - honey (COvEr)

This black 15hh 6 year old Australian Stock Horse mare received the Little Miss Muffett trophy at the 2008 National Championships after only her second season of polocrosse. In 2007, Jason Webb imported Honey from Justin Hafey, of Jaylyn ASH Stud in Queensland and played her first season “learning a lot along the way!”. In 2008, she was lent to Sophie Lodder for the UK v Australia Test Matches, where she picked up Best Ladies Horse. Jason is full of praise, “Sophie played her brilliantly as the No.1 for the UK and the mare really operated for her.”

Jason feels she has now settled into her natural position as a No.1 horse and describes the thing he likes most about her as “the fact that a small lady player like Sophie can play her in a snaffle and no headcheck and still have great brakes and handle.” In the future Jason hopes this young mare will continue to improve in both polo and polocrosse and if she is not sold, will be bred from in a few years.

This was awarded for the first year in memory of Little Miss Muffett who was put down in May at the age of 16 due to traumatic laminits after a kick to her shoulder. This 14.1hh chestnut mare, bred by Errol Gloyn, and bought by Penny Webb as a four year old from New Zealand. She was by the great Doc’s Colonel Lee out of a Thoroughbred mare, Lady Azaman, who unfortunately had no other progeny.

Her record speaks for itself – in seven years of playing with Penny and Jason she was five times winner of the Champion Horse at the UKPA National Championships, four times winner of the Jock Kay Memorial Trophy (Horse of the Year), Best Pony at the Regional Championships and winner of 12 other Best Pony awards from Club Tournaments. At the early age of 12, she retired (with Penny!) to the broodmare paddock where she had two colts and a filly.

Always smallest horse on the pitch with the biggest heart, a ridiculous turn of speed, handy as anything and with a total love for the game, she was definitely ‘one of a kind’ and she is very sorely missed.

Th e Little Miss Muffett

Trophy


horse of The year - CinDy Lee

The recipient of the Jock Kay Memorial Trophy, the most prestigious horse award, for an amazing third consecutive year is Cindy Lee, a 15hh bay 12 year old QH/ TB mare from New Zealand.

Cindy was bred and trained by Errol Gloyn in Taupo, NZ. She is one of a long line of top class polocrosse horses bred by the Gloyn family,. Cindy’s sire, Doc’s Colonel Lee has certainly made his mark in polocrosse, he has sired many well known polocrosse ponies such as Little Miss Muffett, Patsy Lee, Lauren Lee, Suzie Lee and Loreal Lee, all winners of pony titles at the UKPA National Championships.

This year, contributing to her Horse of the Year title, was her performance in the UK v Australia Test Matches, where she won Best Men’s Horse. She played every chukka for the Australians, with Will Weston describing her as being “a very genuine mare who kept going whatever I asked of her.” Having been owned by Guy Robertson for the past five years, he cites her “incredible heart and a genuine love for the game” that makes her a standout horse and it is certainly lucky for Guy that “she seems to get better and better with age”! We all look forward to watching her fly around the pitch for a good few years to come…

CharLes Mason TrophyPresented to a non-player who has contributed significantly to polocrosse during the year, and is not an Executive member. Richard & Lindie Hillier

Laura MiLLingTon MeMoriaL TrophyA Pony Club and UKPA member who has contributed significantly to the sport. Tom Kitchen-Dunn [Pennine]

MinTer sTrover TrophyAn Under 16 player who has contributed most to the sport as a player, in stick and horse skills, ambassador for the sport, their Club and the Association. Simon Amor [Celyn]

ChappLe shieLD Most improved player. Rob Jenkinson [Arden]

JoCk kay MeMoriaL Trophy Best Horse for the season.

Cindy Lee [Guy Robertson]

unDer 21 horseManship aWarD Sponsored by Jason & Penny Webb Alex Richardson [Pennine] Will Halcrow [Kent Target]

JaneT Jones MeMoriaL Trophy League Winners Most successful Club for the season. Pennine

CINDY LEE (NZ)Horse of the year 2009 season

ANNUALAWARDS2008 SEASON

SOPHIE LODDERplayer’s player 2009 season

poLoCrosse exTreMe Cup Winners Success related to Club size. Centaur

MosT iMproveD uMpire Sponsored by Jan & Eric JenkinsonJames Davidson [Highlanders]

ChairMan’s seLeCTA member/s, selected by the UKPA Chairman, who has/have made a major contribution to the sport.

Gail King Sue Brookes

pLayer’s pLayer aWarDSelected by the Players. Sophie Lodder [Arden]

Men’s BesT no.1 Guy Robertson [Highlanders]

Men’s BesT no.2 Martin Brookes [Highlanders]

Men’s BesT no.3 Hamish Michael [Arden]

LaDies BesT no.1 Charlotte Pykett [Highlanders]

LaDies BesT no.2 Debbie Harris [Highlanders]

LaDies BesT no.3 Sarah Simkin [Highlanders]


2008 saw the World Champions Australia descend on the UK to play four mixed tests over two weekends.

With New Zealander Greg Gloyn selected as coach he went to putting together a side of Guy Robertson, Greg Sargeant, Hamish Michael, Martin Brookes, Debbie Harris, Sophie Lodder, Sarah Simkin and Lucy Shell.

The team arrived in to camp at Risebridge on the Monday before the first tests and final preparations began to get us ready to face Australia for the first test the following Saturday. With the pools drawn the week consisted of training in the Risebridge Gym and riding the pool horses as well as a number of spares in order to get us sharp for the first weekend.

For me the first weekend could not come soon enough. The nerves and the weight of expectation, following our successful World Cup, were tremendous and we all felt that we had it in us to beat the World Champions.

UK vAUSTRALIAGUY ROBERTSON The First Test went by in a blur and despite

a strong showing from our women, who won their sectionals scores, the Australian men proved far too strong for the UK men to handle and really showed their experience at playing at that level.

The Second test saw a reshuffle of our men’s section with Guy Robertson going to 1 and Greg Sargeant going to 2. This proved to be much more successful with the gulf in class seen in the first test no longer so apparent. Whilst the score line showed us down by 4 goals at the end of the game it felt more like a win. Especially with our girl’s side once again beating the mighty Australian women.

Following the second test the horse pools were swapped and horses moved from Risebridge up to the venue for the second test at Ashfield’s in Essex. This week went much as the last as we practiced and tried to concentrate on what we had learned about the Australians from the previous test weekend. There was also a lot of excitement within the camp at what we now perceived to be the realistic prospect of taking a test match from the Australians.

The Third test was our best of the series and for much of it we led with the UK men finally starting to get the better of the Australians and the women once again holding their own. It was, however, experience that eventually told as the impressive Australian outfit eventually ground out a 4 goal victory. Whilst this was the same margin we lost by in the 2nd test it felt much different and a cloud of disappointment descended over the camp as we all felt our best chance of victory had gone.

The Fourth test is best forgotten as despite a strong start we went down heavily to an Australian side with their tails in the air. I think for many the disappointment from the previous game had sunk in and the belief that we had previously had was no longer there.

I am proud to have been part of a side that grew and improved over the series and that there is much to take from the experience. We have come a long way since the disappointment of the World Cup in 2003 and it is only by playing at this level that we will continue to improve and compete at this level.

I would like to thank everyone who helped make this tour possible; Charlotte Pykett, Helen Hodgetts, Dave Brookes, Dawn Goodfellow, Greg Gloyn, Richard and Lindy Hillier and all at Risebridge farm, Ashfield’s Polocrosse Club, Umpires, Scorers and anyone else that I have surely missed.

Men: Guy Robertson (C), Greg Sargeant, Hamish Michael, Martin Brookes

Ladies: Sophie Lodder, Debbie Harris, Sarah Simkin, Lucy Shell


The tour got off to a great start with a fun tournament on the first weekend with the UK players being mixed in with American players. Charlotte and Alex had success winning both their divisions with Beth Peaker winning best player award.

The American’s were excellent tournament hosts, serving up tacos for breakfast which is a new must for the polocrosse scene!

The week in between was spent getting to know the test match horses, doing intense foot training...including basket ball polocrosse and pennis (meaning a combination of polocrosse and tennis) and, of course, the daily ritual of EXTEME SLIDING!!!

After a few days of intense training, we were handed our shirts to reveal our positions in the game and which horses were assigned to us; at this point nerves really started to kick in. On the Friday morning we were faced with some bad luck, one of the men’s horses had pulled up lame; the second horse to do so. Thankfully, after some careful treatment and shoeing, he came sound and was ready for the match at 5pm.

At 4.50pm we line up behind the goals, adrenaline pumping after some ‘go get um’ talk from Guy, we were all geared up ready to represent our country.

The first chukka started with Charlotte, Vickie and Beth but unfortunately this proved to be the last chukka for that game as Vickie had a traumatic fall from her horse, Isabella which knocked her unconscious. Medics were called and an air ambulance, Vickie was then taken to San Antonio Hospital. With the shock of Vickie’s fall and the darkness falling the game was cancelled.

UK v USAPRESIDENTSCAROLINE KELLY

At 3pm Saturday, after a restless night worrying about Vickie, the team were pulled together by Guy and Richard to get in the frame of mind to win this match. With only 3 ladies left Caroline, Beth and Charlotte had to play all 4 chukkas, while the boys can be mixed about to complete the game of 8 x 6 min chukkas.

The scores were even to begin with, then during the 4th Chukka the UK stepped it up and the girls finished their last chukka with a 7 goal lead, Alex then proudly added another 2 goals to put the UK 9 ahead but then the USA men pulled out a 7 goal chukka!! The girls’ hearts were in their mouths as they watched the score board tick over for the USA.

finaL sCore 24-22gaMe highLighTs anD ThriLLing parTs...

2nd Chukka - Caroline fell off her horse!

Charlotte getting hit in the head 7th chukka! (another goal for the UK!)

James’ 5 goal chukka....most were thrown after a flashy off side pick up!

Danny catching a record number of balls out the back of the line out as a 3... plus the long balls to James, always a crowd pleaser!

anD of Course Winning!

Thank you to all the Americans for lending us horses, this was really appreciated, thanks to the horse coordinators, tournament organizers and the USA team and a special thanks to Jeepers and Amy Keith for hosting us, you’ve both made our trip an amazing experience.

Thanks to Guy and Richard for traveling with us to get us ready for our victory! and for looking after and managing us all!

Mens: Alex Bull (C), Jono Keen, James Davidson, Daniel Duhig, Rob Jenkinson (reserve) Ladies: Charlotte Pykett, Vickie Metcalfe, Caroline Kelly, Beth Peaker Coach: Guy Robertson, Manager: Richard Chapple

sponsors: Joules Clothing! Joules provided all traveling gear for the team.

D A N I E L D U H I G D E S I G N

www.danielduhig.co.uk [email protected] 07766.077.639

Graphic Design. Web Design. Marketing. Logo. Print.Brochure. Catalogue. Stationary. Identity. Direct Mail.

THOROUGHBRED DESIGN


2009 SEASON PREVIEW

2009 promises to be another great year for UK polocrosse. The test matches against the South Africans promise to be every bit as good as the tests against the Australians last year (though hopefully there might be a better result). Also earlier on in the year the open team will travel to New South Wales to play in the Quadrangular tournament against New Zealand, South Africa and Australia themselves. There is also the possibility of the Juniors and under 21’s squads travelling far and wide, with potential tours to Australia and also trips to Ireland being arranged.


21

unDer 21Vicky Metcalfe (VC)Sammy RowdenBryony CrossClaudia RichardsonAgi DuhigHazel WilsonHannah Watkins

Alex Richardson (C)Daniel KellySimon AmorDean ChappleLewis ParrWill HalcrowTom Kitchen-Dunn

JuniorLaura HughesAshleigh BurbidgeEmily-Kate GilfillanOlivia FoleyLayla HenshawRichard FelceTom Bowden-EyreJames StansfieldJonathan SwiftEmily NewbrookOlivia MillerJess Hunt

MenMartin BrookesJames DavidsonDaniel DuhigJono KeenKim LampardHamish MichaelAlex RichardsonGuy RobertsonJames RobertsonGreg SargeantJoel SicsSam SicsTom SimkinJason Webb

LaDies Kerry BeanDebra HarrisRuth JonesShelley KingSophie LodderJenny PalmerCharlotte PykettClaudia RichardsonAnna RobertsonJessica ShearingLucy ShellSarah SimkinOsha Williams

LaDies Debbie HarrisSophie LodderSarah SimkinCharlotte Pykett

MenGuy RobertsonGreg SargeantJason WebbMartin BrookesDaniel Duhig (R)

The test series will consist of four test matches held on July the 18th and 19th at Ashfields. These promise to be fantastic events, with Ashfields running a club tournament alongside them and also planning a number of other features and items which will contribute to making the weekend a great occasion for all so make sure you come along and watch and cheer on your side!

South African is the only polocrosse team that the UK has not played in recent years. The last time the two countries faced each other it was in a ladies only test series held in the UK in 2004. The UK ladies emerged victorious with a score of three tests to one in that test series so the South African ladies will be looking for revenge.

The tour this year will see full ladies and men’s teams, with each team playing their South African counterparts once on each day of the weekend. It is hard to know who will emerge victorious; the UK showed last year against the Australians that they can compete against the best in the world but the South Africans also ran the Australians very close in the World Cup semi final in 2007, only losing by four goals and last year beat both Zimbabwe and Ireland in a Tri Nations tournament held in South Africa.

The UK has not announced its team yet but it seems likely that it will award first open squad caps to a number of the young up and coming players who went on tour to the USA at the end of 2008.

The South Africans have named their squads; the ladies side consists of the sisters Celica Jacobs and Dawnay Jacobs (who played in the world cup two years ago at the ages of 17 and 15 respectively), Che Taylor, Tracey Taylor, Cursti Windt, Kerren Windt, Karin Cocker and Lee-Ann van Wyk. The mens side is made up of Gys Boonzaaier, Gavin Cocker, Andrew Heynes (who was based in the UK for a number of years), Freddie Kriel, Steven Kane, Retief Steenkamp, Jan-Albert Steenkamp and Gordon Shaw.

Before all the excitement of the test matches the Quadrangular Tournament is taking place at Bong Bong Racecourse in Bowral, New South Wales. Here the UK will have to play all the other three sides in order to try once more to be crowned the best in the world. The UK has named their squad for the event, selecting a team very similar to the one that played against the Australians in 2008. The only changes have been Jason Webb coming into the UK mens side and Charlotte Pykett coming into the UK ladies side. The UK also have a new squad manager in Steve Whitehouse who has come in with a lot of enthusiasm and new ideas about how to support the squad and get sponsorship for it.

The South African squad for the Quadrangular tournament has been named as Charl Du Plessis (withdrawn), Freddie Kriel, Gavin Cocker, Jan-Albert Steenkamp, Celicia Jacobs, Dawnay Jacobs, Lee-Ann van Wyk and Cursti Windt.

Australia have also named their team and they have made a number of changes to the team that came to the UK in 2008. Will Weston retains his place in the men’s side and is joined by Will’s brother Todd, Robert Sibley and Chris Anderson. The ladies side consist of Suzette Thomas (the Australian captain) and Jodie Tiver (who both came to the UK in 2008) and also Alison Mathie and Jess Jolly, who are newcomers to the team. Despite the changes the Australia squad is just as strong as the one the UK faced in 2008 and they will have their work cut out if they are to defeat the Australians on their home ground.

In addition to these open squad events there are a number of potential tours for the Juniors and Under 21 squads. Both squads are possibly going to Australia to play against various Australia state sides and also it seems likely that June will see an outbound tour to Ireland for all the UK squads. It has been a few years since the UK played against Ireland so it will be brilliant to see the two Nations clash again.

In addition to the UK sides being in action there is a European Challenge to be looked forward to. Last year saw the European challenge being held down in Kent but this year it moves north and is being run alongside the Great Northern Tournament. Once again it will feature all the up and coming European polocrosse Nations and will allow everyone to see how polocrosse is both growing and improving on mainland Europe. The expansion of polocrosse within Europe is both brilliant to see and vital for the growth and improvement of the sport and it is our job as one of the top Northern Hemisphere countries for the sport to help this expansion in any way we can.

Last but not least there is the UK domestic season to look forward to. In recent years the standard of polocrosse in the UK has improved dramatically and that should continue this year. The UKPA nationals return to Ashfields this year, where they were held in 2007, and Ashfields and the Nationals Committee are already working hard to make these a show piece event on the same scale as the test matches.

squads for 2009

quad series team


POLOCROSSEArden Players Training for the Zimbabwe Open Polocrosse Competition

Rewind ten years… Andy Maxwell (coach) and Sharon Kennedy (Manager) took a UK development squad of Jason

“KY Captain” Burbidge, Martin “Afghan” Brookes, Tom “Dumb” Witchell, Matt

“Dumber” Lodder, Ruth “Simkin” (Jones), Shelley “TGI” King, Penny “ET Phone Home” Beaumont and Penny “Half Penny Pancake” Hillier (Webb) to Australia. Taking in the Australian Nationals at Warwick, tournaments at Inverell and Coffs Harbour and finishing up in the red dirt of WA (literally in the dirt on the Sunday night of Murchison Carnival!), It was a tour full of laughs, friendships and just a couple of tears.

Since then, the UKPA has developed a full inbound and outbound international tour programme for our elite players and opportunities are springing up for other UK players in Development Tours, and European and Masters competitions. We also have an excellent relationship

with Western Australia, with whom we ‘exchange’ an U21 player each year. With these international exchanges, polocrosse in the UK develops and perhaps more importantly, lifelong friendships are made.

Aside from International competition, it is becoming a rite of passage for many polocrosse players to ‘play a season overseas’, whether as part of their Gap Year or as an attempt to delay the inevitable slide into employment after education!

Australia perhaps provides the greatest ‘polocrosse playground’, with thriving competitions in all States at different times of the year. The Aussie Nationals are a must for the serious polocrosse spectator, as were the spectacular 2003 and 2007 World Cups. However, as up and coming star Danny Duhig says “playing polocrosse Worldwide has taught me lots, not just about the game but horsemanship in general”. The Australians have been selecting their bloodlines for generations to produce top class polocrosse horses, and top trainers of polocrosse horses are highly regarded horsemen.

Many UK players have made the long journey to New Zealand (and come back seriously less well off considering the number of horses bought out there by UK players!). Guy Robertson first visited the Gloyn’s in New Zealand in 2001 and has been back nearly every year since, whilst Beth Peaker’s seasons in New Zealand have lead to her now moving over there permanently.

Exercising in New Zealand


TRAVELPENNY WEBB


POLOCROSSE And lets not forget our countries close to home… many have succumbed to the Irish ‘Craic’, some have taken in a spot of skiing whilst coaching in Norway, the French have hosted a number of UK players on their magnificent Henson horses… The opportunities are endless.

And what of the Class of ’98? For Jason, Martin, Ruth and Shelley it was the stepping stone to International Stardom, Matt went walkabout and came back a successful professional polo player, Tom made a triumphant return to polocrosse at 2008 Nationals, Penny B. hung up her racquet and Penny H. met a certain Jason Webb at the Warwick bar ten years ago… !

South Africa also provides excellent competition and perhaps a more laid back lifestyle for the traveller. With a different style of game, and exponents of the overarm throw, many a UK player has come back from a trip to SA with seriously flashy stick work and a killer tan. Close neighbour, Zimbabwe, was definitely the place to be in its heyday. Producing outstanding polocrosse players, many of whom have winged their way over the UK, Zimbabwe still host the most stylish polocrosse event, the Zim Open. This year, the Arden A Grade side took part in what was described as “the most awesome polocrosse experience you can have.”

INTERESTED IN TRAVELLINGSpeak to one of the senior players in your club or at tournaments, many have been abroad and have many contacts around the world they can pass on.

Playing polocrosse Worldwide has taught me lots, not just about the game but horsemanship in general.

Arden Players Training for the Zimbabwe Open Polocrosse Competition


In 2011 the most prestigious event in the polocrosse calendar will come to the UK, the polocrosse World Cup. The venue has recently been announced as Bishop Burton College, near Beverley in East Yorkshire. The two-week event, previously held in Australia, will be held from 4th July – 18th July 2011.

In conjunction with Bishop Burton College, the organising committee has already drawn up outline plans and programmes not only for the event itself but also the “entertainment” that will be included for the thousands of people who will flock to this event from all corners of the world.

The event will take place over two weekends, with many other activities and opportunities occurring in between times, to make the full two weeks an experience not to be missed for all horse, fun and sport lovers alike.

At the 2007 Polocrosse World Cup the UK team defied all polocrosse forecasters (other than the UK supporters!) to officially become the second best Polocrosse playing country in the world, only losing out to Australia in the final match of the tournament.

This will be the third Polocrosse World Cup tournament in history, the first two being held in 2003 & 2007 at venues in Australia. The event is always held every four years. The countries taking part in the Polocrosse 2011 World Cup will include the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the United States of America.

Additionally, a European Challenge Tournament will include invited teams from France, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Ireland and the UK, plus a Pony Club Polocrosse competition.

Jonathan Beckerlegge, one of the Managing Director’s of “World Cup Polocrosse 2011 ltd”, the organising committee, said “this really is an opportunity to put Polocrosse on the sports map in the UK and internationally and to introduce the game to everyone including children and those from inner cities where such fast and exciting sports are rarely seen”.

To find out about sponsorship and supporting opportunities please contact Polocrosse 2011 World Cup at [email protected] Website under construction www.polocrosse2011.com

CaLL for keen anD CoMMiTTeD peopLe To geT invoLveD…

To organise the World Cup we require a dedicated and enthusiastic team to work within the following areas. The job roles and responsibilities are only very brief but more in depth lists have been prepared and can be discussed more fully with the Directors. If you are interested in being involved in the Polocrosse World Cup 2011, please take some time to read the job roles below to see if there is something that appeals to you.

A Director of the Polocrosse World Cup 2011 will chair the Management Team, which meet on a regular basis.

If you have seen an area that you think you would like to be involved in, please get in touch with Ellen Brookes, World Cup 2011 secretary, on [email protected] or [email protected] to express your interest.

We will be in touch with every person that sends in a response, to discuss your involvement. Many thanks for taking the time to read this!

w w w . p o l o c r o s s e 2 0 11 . c o m

Liaison To include: Liaison with competing countries Sponsorship – to liaise with

the management team to seek sponsorship requirements e.g.; horse feed

Horse/Event Insurance Exhibitors VIPs

huMan resourCes To include: Photographer, DJ, Paramedics,

Farrier, Grounds man etc. All volunteers and staff

sCheDuLing/evenTs To include: Tournaments alongside WC Schedule of events e.g.: Civic

reception, Opening ceremony etc.

proMoTions To include: All promotional materials Media coverage before and at the event Gifts and memorabilia, DVDs, website Spectator generation

faCiLiTies To include: Booking all facilities and resources

horsesTo include: All horse related matters including: Grading, welfare, recruitment,

feeding, transportation etc.

hospiTaLiTyTo include: Arranging all hospitality events These lists are not exhaustive

and may be subject to alteration and adaptation over time.

25

ageA lot of people can become hung about age and this often becomes the most important factor when really it shouldn’t. There are lots of examples of older horses playing well into their 20s and as long as they are cared for properly they never have a problem with soundness. Another common mistake people tend to make is buying a young horse as it is cheaper and thinking that they will be able to teach them to play polocrosse. This is often a case of the blind leading the blind and quite often ends in frustration and problems with too much pressure being put on both horse and rider. My advice if you are to buy a young horse is to invest in having that horse professionally trained and help on hand to gain advice from when you run into problems.

experienCe/LeveLThis obviously links to the point above and for me is the most important factor to consider. The best coaches I ever had are some of the horses that I had in my earlier days of playing polocrosse. Horses that had been there and done it and allowed me to concentrate on my game as opposed to worrying about what the horse is going to next . Another benefit to buying an experienced horse is that you are able to talk to people who may know the horse or have seen it play and perhaps watch it play yourself.

sexI know that a lot of people have a preference towards mares but quite often geldings are a better option especially at lower levels as they tend to be more consistent and easier

to deal with. I think though that this would be at the bottom of my list of priorities.

TypeSomeone once told me that ‘pretty is as pretty does’ meaning that it doesn’t matter how pretty the horse is if it doesn’t do the job for which it is intended. The type of horse you like tends to be a personal thing but again I would be more concerned by the way a horse goes than the way it looks.

Where To Buy?

polocrosse community:There are always a number of people advertising horses for sale within the polocrosse community but it is perhaps worth enlisting someone’s help as a starting point as they will be able to point you in the right direction.

polo:With 2500 polo players there are obviously a huge number of polo ponies on the market and any Internet search will bring up over 100 different horses ranging from the very very cheap to the enormously expensive. It is important however to recognise that there is a massive difference between polo and polocrosse in terms of what is required of the horse and that because a horse has had a career as a polo pony does not automatically mean it will have the same impact in polocrosse. It is therefore important again to make sure you are well advised and take someone experienced with you when trying any horses.

a horse Buyer’s guiDe for The noviCe poLoCrosse pLayer

Buying a polocrosse horse is like any other big purchase it is a decision that takes a lot of thought as there are a number of factors that must be considered. It is advisable to always enlist the help of someone experienced in polocrosse and who you trust to advise you properly as to what kind of horse best suits your purposes.

The first thing that you need to establish is your budget. An unlimited budget means you can have whichever horse you want. But this is obviously not always possible and it is important to prioritise as to what characteristics are most important to you. Below are the characteristics that I believe to be the most important:

• Age

• exPerience/LeveL

• Sex

• TyPe

FOR SALEGUY ROBERTSON

FOR HELP IN BUYING A HORSE OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUERIES PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME AT [email protected]



2008CLUB REPORTS

CLUBREPORTS


27

2008 saw a record membership for Arden with a pleasing number of younger players playing regularly at tournaments. We were able to field a full Junior team plus a nearly a full PJ team. In addition our D and E players had a fair run of success at many tournaments.

Due to the size of our club it is very difficult to keep track of all the teams so I decided to ask our own junior and PJs to tell me their best games of the season.

As you can see the younger members of the club are incredibly passionate about the game. Both the Juniors and PJs had a successful season with our juniors having possibly their most successful season for years, with no fewer than 4 wins and a joint first place. Elsewhere the D team did well this year with 2 wins and the C team had a less successful year with only 1 win. The B team had a disappointing season really; making only 2 finals and, on least one occasion managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The A Team did its usual trick of showing fine promise, particularly at Liscombe when it gave Highlanders something to think about. Also it had a good win at Midland against

My best game of the season was my very first polocrosse tournament at Arden. I played a number 2 for Arden PJ’s. I got the ball and did a bit of cantering without falling off my new pony Meg (who is nearly 5 times older than me!). My team mates were Lily, Lulu, Amy and Bertie who all helped me to learn what to do in a chukka. Arden won the PJ’s and I love winning!

Fin Bristow (Age 6)

This is Lily (9) and Lucia Oyamburu (7) at their first match with Amy Harper (8). It took them a day to get to grips with the team positions, riding and picking up the ball but they are addicted to the game. This was their first match at doncaster and they loved every minute.

LeticiA oyAmBuru (mother)

ARDEN

a team with two Australian internationals, coming back from a 6 point deficit to win by 2! Ultimately, however, at the one tournament where winning seems to count the most we once again didn’t quite have what it takes.

On the international scene Arden once again represented the UK with Greg Sargeant Hamish Michael Sophie Lodder all playing in the Open test against Australia. Danny Duhig and Rob Jenkinson touring America in a development team with Richard Chapple as the manager.

At the end of the 2008 season we have Layla Henshaw, Jess Hunt, Ashleigh Burbidge, and Louie Cornforth all making the junior squad long list. With Danny Duhig and Rob Jenkinson making the long list for the open men and Greg Sergeant Hamish Michael and Sophie Lodder making the quadrangular squad for 2009

My thanks go to all who help run and organise Arden and to Mr & Mrs Lodder who host our club at their grounds

Personally I think the best game we played this year was the final at midland, against pennine. The final score was 18-19 and was level right up to the end of the last chukka.

Jess hunt (Junior)

SIMON PAYNTER


Well, as normal, the season started off with the Northern training weekend at Bawtry, followed quickly by the Pennine Tournament, Great Northern Tournament, and the Highlanders. We also had two camps in the North hosted by the Highlanders and White Rose.

A huge thanks to all concerned with the organisation and running of the above it is hard work and without dedicated people these events would just not happen.

I would like to congratulate all the players in the North for their success this year, from working hard to develop individual skills, up to playing for your country. Well Done!

NORTHERNREGION

Most of you will know that Vikki Metcalfe had an accident in the US, but I am glad to say that recently she was well enough to attend the U21 squad training, and is well on the road to recovery, great news!

Congratulations from the region also go to Shelley and Charlie, and Martin and Kirstin for tying the knot this year. We wish you lots of happiness for the future!

My main focus for 2009 is to promote polocrosse to riding schools/clubs etc.

Christine Stansfield and I have worked hard alongside the Regional Coordinator for the BEF to secure funding for a Polocrosse Academy in Yorkshire (YPA). The BEF have agreed to allow us £4230 to finance this project. The Academy will run ‘Taster Days’ where anyone can go and try polocrosse. The day will be free, after which, if they want to continue they will be directed to the nearest riding school/UKPA club.

We have now agreed a similar idea with a riding school in Lancashire and they will become the Lancashire Polocrosse Academy. We hope to obtain BEF funding for this in 2009

The good news is that if things go to plan we should have two new clubs starting up in 2009, one in York and one near Lancaster. They will need a lot of support, and it will be up to all of us to do that.

I would like to say that I am looking forward to working with the new members of the committee and would like to thank all the retiring members for their hard work.

PENNINEWeather-wise 2008 turned out to be a slightly better year than 2007 but those balmy summer Saturday evenings, where we could sit around gossiping until late in the evening, were in short supply.

At Nationals the silverware eluded us all, with the exception of the D grade side, who did brilliantly to win their grade. Also, the club had the biggest club turnout, the largest ever for Pennine and was represented in most of the divisions including three Junior teams. Several players received individual awards.

The club showed its overall strength over the season by finally achieving top spot in the UKPA/Polo-X-treme league after having come second in the two previous years. The club was presented with the trophy at the UKPA Ball which also saw Alex Richardson receiving the U21 Horsemanship Award and Tom Kitchen-Dunn being awarded the Laura Millington Memorial Trophy for significant contributions to the sport.

In squad terms most of our 2008 squad members were in either the U21 or Junior squads and consequently saw no International action in the year. International representation, however, was maintained by Sarah Dernie who enjoyed herself playing in the European matches in Kent and by Vickie Metcalfe who had a painful journey with the development squad trip to the USA in the Autumn. For 2009, Pennine will be represented in the Junior squad (Emily Gilfillan and James Stansfield) and the U21 squad (Alex Richardson, Bryony Cross, Claudia Richardson, Tom Kitchen-Dunn and Vickie Metcalfe).

PETER CROSSGAIL KING

SOLENTCAROLINE KELLY

2008 brings a second successful year to the fast growing southern club! The highlight of this year being winning E grade at Nationals and runners up in the D grade, Also some personal achievements from Joe Hopkins and Dan Kelly winning best pony awards, and to Kathy Hopkins and Kat Forest winning best No.2 at this years Nationals.

This year Solent had a few runs out in B grade and C grade which has been a very

exciting prospect for some up and coming Solent players... although we have had fantastic help from Welsh Dragons and Western Phoenix completing the teams, so thanks guys!

Under the nurturing and enthusiasm from Kerry Bean, Solent have bought many new faces to the club including our budding farrier AKA show jumper turned lethal weapon polocrosse player, Kevin Fagot. Jess’ dad shot through the grades

making impressive appearances in D grade! Another great achievement is seeing our first Solent player in a UK Squad this goes to Dan Kelly who is a member of the 2009 Under 21 squad.

Solent have also been making their way around the global map as Heather Kelly, Rachel Imber and Jayne Fookes represented the UK in the Masters Tour in Florida in February 2008. Also Caroline Kelly represented the UK in a test match series against the American’s in Texas, October 2008.

Sadly we had to cancel our tournament at the Bath Racecourse, but we held a successful Demo at Quob Stables, near Southampton where we had much interest from local riders and pony club members. For 2009 we aim to run another demo and more winter training sessions to help coach beginners and get pony clubs started.

The club is very proud of our growing talent both from brand new and more experienced players, and we aim to grow and grow. Hears to a good 2008... roll on 2009!

HIGH-LANDERSEVERYWHEREWe were lucky in 2008 to be joined by

new members Jono Keen and Debbie Harris and the return of one of our original members, Shelley King, all of whom helped to strengthen an already strong squad of young British polocrosse talent.

The 2008 season for many of us was dominated by the Australia test matches during July with Guy Robertson, James Robertson, Martin Brookes, Debbie Harris, Sarah Simkin, and Lucy Shell all involved. Congratulations to all on their performances.

This season’s Highlander’s tournament and camp was once again staged up at Doxford

Farm, Northumberland by kind permission of Tom and Sarah Shell. The tournament proved to be a popular camp, tournament and social event confirming its place as one of the more popular events in the polocrosse calendar.

With the disruption during the middle part of the season the 2008 National Championships saw us arrive without having played together as an entire side all season. This did not however stop our top side from regaining the A division trophy for the 3rd time in 4 years, having lost out in the final to Kent in 2007, after a hard fought final with Arden.

For many Nationals did not mark the end of the season with Charlotte Pykett, Jono Keen, James Davidson and Guy Robertson, as coach, all representing a UK presidents

side which travelled to Texas to play the USA. Congratulations to them for making the side and for running out eventual winners.

Finally congratulations to Guy Robertson, Martin Brookes, Debbie Harris, Lucy Shell and Sarah Simkin on their selection in next season’s Quadrangular series to be held in Sydney, Australia. Bring on 2009!

GUY ROBERTSON


This was a mighty year for Kent Target polocrosse, hosting the first two thrilling test matches between the UK and Australia and culminating with wins in the Nationals at both B and C grades, with plenty of other tournament wins in various divisions along the way.

The club changed tack in its coaching strategy this year and was without a permanent coach for the first time in years. Instead, we turned to senior players including Wayne Henning, Kim Lampard, Kerry Bean and Penny Webb who all offered great help - and the results followed.

The test matches between the best two polocrosse teams in the world were a huge success and attracted impressive crowds with a large contingent of people who had never seen polocrosse before, attracted by strong publicity and good press and TV coverage. The success was testament to the support of the Hillier family and Risebridge Farm who have supported Kent Target and polocrosse since its inception. The Charles Mason Trophy awarded to Richard and Lindie Hillier was certainly well deserved.

Though bad weather meant we had to cancel our tournament in May we

2009 was certainly the busiest year ever for the Phoenix. We had teams or players at ten tournaments over the summer and somehow managed to squeeze in training with Edie Neill on most Wednesdays in between. Having joined forces with Neil

WESTERN PHOENIX

& Karen Smith of new club Vale Impi, and with a number of new & borrowed players on board, the overall standard improved throughout the season and we regularly served up teams in all grades from PJ up to C Grade, topped off with a generous sprinkling of respectable appearances in B Grade from both our players and our horses.

One of the highlights was of course seeing Mick Foulds and Kaz back on the pitch

– it’s amazing what you can do with two false legs, not to mention an extremely supportive wife, Sue!!!

We all felt Ashfields looked really smart with the huge marquee and its picket fencing – certainly a fitting venue for the second round of Australia vs UK Test matches. Martin, Lorraine and Mandy, with their dedicated helpers did a superb job organising the Tournament and put on a fantastic buffet on the Saturday Night. Alison, I’m afraid you have the compere job for life – you’re just too good at it (as long as we can persuade Katharine to continue to organise you)!!

Finally, congratulations must go to Livvy Foley for making the U16 squad.

Watch this space next year for the re-badged ‘Ashfields Polocrosse Club’ and a packed schedule including the Nationals back in Essex!

successfully resurrected it in August and it is due to feature in an article in the Financial Times magazine next season.

The irrepressible Wayne Henning was the architect of our successful B division side and the Nationals win was a fitting finale for his great horse Bassie, who will now retire. It was also the year in which we said goodbye to the mighty Miss Muffett... hopefully her offspring will be in action next year.

The standard of polocrosse has certainly been raised since Kent last completed such a nationals double but the emergence of home-grown players such as Oli Harwood and Will Halcrow helped us keep up with the pace and it is great to see three of our members in the U21 Squad (Will Halcrow, Sammi Rowden and Hazel Wilson).

The club’s enthusiasm is as strong as ever and we were delighted to see some new members playing their first matches at our home tournament. Next year could be a transition year for Kent Target as we are now looking for new grounds and encouraging new members. But we’ll certainly be back to defend those titles...!

JACKIE NICKLESS


KENT TARGETMIKEY TURNER

31

Celyn’s membership has been up and down in 2008. We have had the number of mature members grow with John Marsland, Chris Illingsworth, and Barry Amor being joined this year by me, Jeanette Mitchell. I made the most of the legendary Romeo at his huge age. However, I lost the ride on him when we were lucky enough to have two junior players from Australia come over; Linton and Haydn Grumley. Linton rode Romeo and the Richardsons very kindly lent Haydn their pony Oscar so thank you to them. The Grumleys came over to Celyn initially but also did a European tour taking in Ireland and France. From them we learnt a great deal about how the game is played and organised in Oz.

With a couple of players missing the Celyn alliance with the old Cotswold club members, Rosie and Mike Pearce, gave a valuable extra pool of players and being able to play in mixed teams with other clubs ensured everyone got games at tournaments. I had huge fun, even though I hardly played for Celyn, and met such great other club members. I would strongly suggest that clubs assess their membership at the start of the season and the potential team make ups. Then they can consider combining teams up with another club to create good teams where they are short.

This year young horses have been the focus with Tom and Sarah Simkin and Ruth Jones (nee Simkin) all bringing out new horses to play B grade. This has given a great opening to Annemieke Mitchell, Simon Amor and Laura and Amy Hughes Clay to play up at B with them. Annie said “To play with Ruth and Sarah on a section was amazing, and a privilege, they have that telepathic language of twins between them, and such a command of the game.” The youngsters rose to the challenge and Tom, Sarah and Ruth mentored them very well. Hopefully soon we will have a Celyn A grade team.

With most of our experienced juniors moving out of juniors next year we have made the most of their talent by winning the Juniors at the Nationals with Simon, Laura, Amy, Olivia and Rosie Miller and Libby Tyler. Our proud association with the Flint and Denbigh Pony club also won the Pony Club Championships again in 2008, with some newer up and coming players Ceri and Ross Williams who played with Olivia Miller on the junior section while Annie, Amy and Rosie Miller played as the open section.

We are working hard to recruit new members through pony clubs and riding centres and there is great excitement at the prospect of a shared Equestrian Centre with the Flint and Denbigh PC which would provide a permanent ground for training and tournaments. This is dependent on a huge grant application and planning but a site has been offered. To assist with this we are writing a formal constitution for Celyn club.

This years’ tournament venue was a great success. Plas yn Cym is a beautiful country house setting easily accessed off the A55. We plan to use it for 2009 and hope to see lots of you there!!

CELYNWELSHDRAGONS

JEANETTE MITCHELLJEFF PARR2008 was overall a successful year for Welshdragons. The first tournaments of the season had Welsh Dragon teams among the winners. As the season progressed we became less visible at presentations despite the efforts of Attie and nico van Wyk two terrific South African players. They were a huge asset to the club and joined in everything with great enthusiasm, we were sad to see them leave and hope they will return soon.

We held two tournaments on the Usk Showground. The weather was good for both though the first ended hastily due to a tremendous cloudburst, thanks to all who attended as the clear up was excellent despite the monsoon.

The second was a turnabout tournament (each player plays all three positions during the game) it was good fun and we have been asked to repeat this next season by many who attended.

We have introduced trophies throughout the grades which are a tribute to past Welsh Dragon horses. They are awarded to outstanding horses who have played at our tournament and who have contributed significantly to polocrosse. This season’s winners were Patsy, Aero and Kirsch.

Jess Shearing was selected as reserve for the Ladies Squad for the Australia Test Matches.

At the end of the season Lewis Parr left for Western Australia having been selected as the U.K.P.A Exchange Player for 2008.

We continue to build close links with local Pony Clubs and each tournament had a Pony Club pitch. We also held a training chukkas day at Hartpury College in the spring where thirty pony clubbers had a great time. Tony Shearing held a training session for interested parents. Tony has also been visiting pony clubs far and wide including trips to Ireland. This has resulted in many enthusiastic new players who attended the Pony Club Nationals where they were very successful.


PEGUSUSCROOME

This season saw a rise in numbers at practices for Croome thanks to Zara, next year we hope to get them competing. The season was tough for our Juniors who faced the challenges of moving up from the PJs. We hope that next year we will be much stronger with our new older players included in these teams.

Midland tournament was enjoyed by all with Josie Cameron winning both Best Number 1 and Best PJ pony in her section. At Arden some of our PJs bravely stepped up to Juniors to make up our team and played really well throughout the weekend, despite some tough (and a lot larger) opposition.

At Usk a mix of our players competed, with Simon playing with Uncle Pete- I’m not quite sure what he made of that experience but it certainly was an eye opener and great for him and his new pony. Natalie played very strongly with the Welsh Dragons. Thanks to the Welsh Dragons for another great tournament.

Well done to Josie at this year’s Nationals who played with a winning Centaur team and won Best no. 1 in the PJ section. Natalie also bravely played in the D grade and although wasn’t placed is thankful to Pendle for including her. Croome also did well in the Pony Club championships with larger numbers of Pjs competing. Natalie, Harry & Josie won in class 3 and Pip, Annabel and Josie came 5th in Class 4. Well done to Josie playing in both sections due to a last minute withdrawal from one of our club.

This year has again not been great in terms of weather, but with an indoor school not too far from normal practices we are continuing to train over the winter. Thanks to Zara and all the new girls- we hope to see you back next year!

LUCY PROCTOR-NICHOLS

33

I was picked up at 3.A.M from Perth airport by Jo Langford and Mary Day and taken to Mary’s house to meet her family. Then travelled half hour down the road to play in my first tournament. it was 7am and I had an hour to get my horse ready to play at 8. At this point I hadn’t slept since leaving Heathrow.

The tournament was South Midlands and was my first experience of Australian Polocrosse. There were 6 fields running simultaneously. Often you could watch two A grade games at once. There were no time keeping tables and goal judging was done by the players, often while holding their horses.

I played my first game for the South Midlands Club in C grade against the Western Australia Junior Team. I thought I’d have an easy introductions to Australian polocrosse, I was wrong. I don’t think any of them were below 6ft tall and had been playing together for a while. The game didn’t go well.

I spent the night sitting around a camp fire getting to know the people I’d be staying with. I left the tournament with a guy called Wayne Woods and his partner Kerry who lived 9 hours away in Geralton and played for a club called Walkaway. I was told I’d live and travel to the next two

tournaments with them, 6 weeks later and I was still living with them on their farm.

They were a close knit club and travelled to polocrosse together each week, had club practices on the weekends when there were no tournaments and met at Wayne’s on most Wednesdays for mid week chukkas and beers.

While living with Wayne I spent my days working with a horse breaker who was helping out around the farm, his name was Norm Anderson and he had given me a horse to play while I was there, a Brumby that he had rounded up as a 5 year old, he was named Brumby Jack and had turned out to be a bit of a celebrity in polocrosse circles, I found this out when playing my first tournament at Moonyoonooka on him and the commentator would call the horse name out rather than mine. We won our division and Brumby Jack and I won best horse and rider combination.

The next carnival was Twin Pines and it didn’t go so well. We had more rain than we had at our Nationals and trees were uprooted and had to be removed from the field.

My last tournament on Jack was Greenough, which we again won.

The next event was the Polocrosse Nationals which was an amazing experience. The standard of play was immense and many people had travelled for up to three weeks to be there. They had put a lot of effort into publicising the event so had a huge turnout. On finals day a widescreen was craned in and a playback of each goal was played from different angles while waiting for the next line up.

From Nationals I went back to spend my last week in Geraldton, we then travelled down to Kojonup where I played another of Norms young horses for a club called Twin Pines. From there I said goodbye to the Walkaway club for the season and went to stay with Chris Robinson for a fortnight and played a horse of Kristy Crooks called Oops at the Foothills carnival. From there I went so stay with Barry Butterly for a fortnight, I spent the time riding and halter breaking a group of 2 year olds. For the last tournament I travelled with Wayne Crooks and again played Oops, for Kojonup club. We wound up the season well by winning.

While on the exchange I played 7 tournaments rode a lot of exceptional horses and met many people I’ll undoubtedly see in the future. Id like to thank the UKPA for selecting me and recommend the exchange to anyone.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

EXCHANGELEWIS PARR



ashfieLDs . LisCoMBe . vaLe iMpi

EASTERN REGION

Gates open at 10.00amTEST MATCH EACH DAY AT 2pmEntry fee £15.00 per car

Ashfields Polocrosse Club with the United Kingdom Polocrosse Association proudly presents

SATURDAY 18th

SUNDAY 19th JULY 2009

UNiTeD KiNgDom

SoUTh AfRicAVs

International Polocrosse Test Match

Tickets available online at

www.ashfieldspolocrosse.comor send your request to [email protected]

&

2008 was a busy time for the Eastern region, here are a few of the events/ that took place: Western Phoenix announced they

were changing their name to Ashfields for 2009.

Ashfields held the prestigious Australian v United Kingdom Test Match

Liscombe held the UK event of the Year ‘The Nationals

Mick Foulds from Ashfields Club played his first game of polocrosse after loosing both legs in a tragic accident.

A new club registered ‘Vale Impi’ Two members from the Eastern

Region have made it to the U16 UK Squad for 2009, Olivia Foley and Jonathan Swift

2009 will be an even busier year for the Eastern Region: Ashfields has won the bid to host the South African v United Kingdom Test Match

(18 - 19th July, 2009) Ashfields has won the bid to host the UK event of the Year ‘The Nationals’ (28 - 30th

August, 2009) Ashfields has secured their coach Edie Neill for 2009 Ashfields has secured an International coach Shane Neill from New Zealand to train

& coach the Eastern Region from the beginning of May. Karen Smith member of Vale Impi was voted in for the UKPA secretary. Kim Lampard member of Ashfields was voted in as Vice Chairman for the UKPA. Ashfields secured their practice grounds for a further 5 years. Ashfields will hold their own tournament ‘The Ashfields Cup’ (9 - 10 May, 2009) Proposed date for Umpire/Refresher course to be held at Ashfields Club-house 15th

February 2009. Assets of Eastern Region: Line Marker, PA System - both can be hired out at a nominal

fee to other regions. Ashfields to hold Winter Training starting Sunday 4th January, 10 - 1pm then every

other Sunday until end of April.

LORRAINE FOLEY


EVENTS 2009

APR

4th - 5th

11th - 12th Northern Training Weekend

Northern Racing College, Bawtry, Doncaster

18th - 19th Quadrangular Series NSW, Australia

25th - 26th

MA

Y

2nd - 3rd

9th - 10th Ashfields Cup Polocrosse

Ashfields Carriage Driving Centre, Great Dunmow,

16th - 17th

23rd - 24th Pennine Polocrosse Tournament


JUN

E

6th Polocrosse Demo Royal Cornwall Show

7th Westcountry Warriors 1 Day Polocrosse Wadebridge, Cornwall

13th - 14th

20th - 21st Celyn Polocrosse Rhuallt, North Wales

27th - 28th Arden Polocrosse Tournament

Henley in Arden, Warwickshire

JULY

4th - 5th Great North Polocrosse Including European Challenge

11th - 12th

18th - 19th UK vs SA Test Matches Inc. Club Tournament

Ashfields Carriage Driving Centre, Great Dunmow,

28th - 30th Centaur/Welsh Dragons Training Camp

Usk Showground, Usk, South Wales

AU

GU

ST

1st - 2nd Midland Tournament

8th - 9th

15th - 16th Pony Club Polocrosse Draycott House, Derbyshire

28th -30th UKPA National Club Championships

Ashfields Carriage Driving Centre, Great Dunmow

SEP

5th - 6th

12th - 13th Northern Polocrosse Tournament


17th - 18th Squad Selection Event To Be Confirmed

Documents

UK Polocrosse Magazine Spring 2009