The Iglehart Cup

The Iglehart Cup Final Teams:

Beverly Polo (18)

Bill Ballhaus (0) Lucas Diaz Alberdi (6) Jorge ‘Tolito’ Ocampo Jr. (7) Hilario Figueras (5)

La Fe (18)

Lucas Escobar (4) Robi Bilbao (5) Francisco Elizalde (9) Louis Devaleix (0)

Alberdi’s Golden Goal

First Final of IPC’s 2022 season

MVP

BPP

2FINAL JAN

Beverly Polo’s Lucas Diaz Alberdi & La Fe’s Lucas Escobar Where: International Polo Club Palm Beach, Florida

With memories of New Year’s Day celebrations waning, on Saturday 2 January International Polo Club Palm Beach’s year kicked off with their first Final of the season for The Iglehart Cup on the U.S. Polo Assn. Field, with Beverly Polo vs La Fe and spectators were treated to a thrilling, overtime clincher which saw Beverly Polo’s Lucas Diaz Alberdi score the golden goal to confirm the title.

Beverly Polo were the first to add to the scoreboard with a penalty 2 conversion from Jorge ‘Tolito’ Ocampo Jr., who was later named Most Valuable Player, which was swiftly answered by La Fe with two goals in quick succession from Robi Bilbao and Louis Devaleix. The second chukka began in a similar ilk with another penalty goal from Ocampo, but La Fe’s reply was muted by Diaz Alberdi’s first goal of the match as well as two back-to-back goals from Ocampo and despite trading goals in the third chukka, Beverly Polo’s initial advantage remained and the half-time bell rang out, 6-3. La Fe emerged revitalised after half-time and frenziedly scored three consecutive goals courtesy of Bilbao and Francisco Elizalde which erased Beverly Polo’s lead. Hilario Figueras regained the lead for Beverly Polo in the opening of the fifth chukka, La Fe’s Devaleix suffered an injury in the seventh minute but was able to remain in the game and Lucas Escobar secured back-to-back goals to take the lead for La Fe, 8-7. The sixth chukka dawned with tensions high, La Fe suffered a series of fouls which opened the door for Beverly Polo’s Ocampo to send home three consecutive goals but La Fe scored two crucial goals, pushing the Final into overtime. Alberdi ended the battle with the last goal of the match, securing the 11-10 win for Beverly Polo.

Photography by ©David Lominska

Coming Soon IMPROVING POLO SKILLS

By Rege Ludwig

Do you know how to use the mechanics of your body to help the polo horse decelerate most effectively for you, turn more quickly for you, and accelerate back up to speed, rapidly? Learn how to accomplish all three from my book, Improving Polo Skills, Book One, Riding.

Open Hand Grip Fist Grip Decelerate Position Accelerate Position

Do you know how the way you grip the mallet handle affects the way you hit the ball? Are you aware of how the strong fist grip compares to the more soft open-hand grip? Both situations are discussed in depth in my book, Improving Polo Skills, Book Two, Hitting.

If you were umpiring a game, would you know how to use the line of the ball (LOB) and the right of way (ROW) to control the safety of the game? If you were playing the No. 1 position, do you know what the differences of your responsibilities are when playing in the offense mode of play as compared to playing in the defense mode of play? Both topics are discussed in great detail in my book, Improving Polo Skills, Book Three, Strategy.

Line of Ball & Right of Way

Each of the above topics and many others are dealt with extensively in my soon-to-be released Polo Educational Program, which consists of five major books of approximately 100 pages each, in excess of 20 booklets consisting of about 10 pages each, plus an approximate five-minute-long video for each of the booklets demonstrating what is described in the booklets. My intention is to produce the most extensive and complete educational program available to the modern world of polo. All of the approximate 50 pieces of polo education information will be available in one meticulously cross-referenced package in early 2022.