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The Churchill-Roosevelt Cup
by Edit
Photography by USPA/Shelly Marshall Schmidt
USA vs England Across the Pond
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Major Peter Hunter
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Tagged onto The Townsend Cup (please turn to page 30 for a full Report), the US Military Polo Association issued a similar Military invitation to the Hurlingham Polo Association. The England teams were still constrained by quarantine and had to spend 14 days in variously Canada, Ecuador and Jamaica, although usefully Julian Daniels is based with his ponies mostly in Florida.
Churchill-Roosevelt Cup
The Churchill-Roosevelt Cup honours the famed legacies of each respective military leader by assembling military affiliated polo players from across the United States and the United Kingdom and was first played for in 2019. The Churchill-Roosevelt Cup went ahead as planned on Saturday 9 October, although the pony practice had to be cancelled. This saw three seasoned players from the US Navy, Army and Coastguard play skilfully against a better looking(!), but less experienced British all-Army team. Captain Albany Mulholland has improved leaps and bounds since I last saw him about four years ago and he scooted about, on fire, to score seven of our eight goals. I scored the eighth and Captain James CochraneDyet helped by marking really well in his first ever full match – talent on the rise. The US Team played more coherently and played consistently to build up a final lead of 11-8, closer than it seemed to the expert local arena crowd.
The Help4Heroes Military International Major Mark Gillespie brilliantly organised The Churchill-Roosevelt Cup then played two chukkas, a week later in The Help4Heroes Military International down at Hilton Head on the sun-drenched coast on Sunday 17 October.
Only one big match a year is allowed on the Rose Hill Plantation Equestrian Centre grounds, so we kicked off with the US Army Parachute team landing four skydivers centre field ; this didn’t amuse the ponies who withdrew to a safe distance…
Not many people know that former CEO USPA Joe Meyer only took up polo aged 39-years-old and previously served as an Armour Major in Germany and at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where I also did two years as British Exchange Officer – I was sadly not helping to count the Gold as I had told the Mayor’s wife, when she questioned the British being given spare bars for free! Hilton Head however had put on a massive show with one side full of family gazebos/tailgating and the Commentary Side with many Sponsored Tents and stands for the the Lowcountry Foundation for Wounded Military Heroes. A sizeable crowd of about 2,000 gathered and were also treated before the match to a young persons’ horse and disabled riding show. The match played well in a fast, open manner on a great field between nine veterans including Majors Gillespie and Hunter in the two teams – 200 Club of the Coastal Empire in blue against the green shirts of the Lowcountry Foundation for Wounded Military Heroes. The historic Lowcountry team ran out the winners by 4-2 and received local souvenir Bronze Pineapple Cocktail Shakers as prizes.
Thanks go to co-organisers Savannah Harbor Foundation, Colonel Dana Marsh retired, David Moses and Patton Legacy Sports dedicated to the memory of General George S Patton (a noted Army Polo player) and his commitment to “Athleticism, Self Discipline, Camaraderie, Strategy and Courage”.
The British Armed Forces in action – Major Peter Hunter and Captain Albany Mulholland
