Youth
All Aspects of Youth Polo
Photography by The Hurlingham Polo Association
Junior Colts & Mini Colts Cups
Team Blue, winners of the Junior Colts Cup
Team Red, winners of the Mini Colts
At the beginning of July and again in August, the HPA organised Training Days for junior players for three different age groups. These days were very well attended and as soon as it was possible for the young players to start being able to play competitive polo again it was decided to put on a group of matches for selective teams from each age group. The Coaches/Selectors endeavour to pick equal balanced teams for these matches and this will always mean that not all the best players are selected at any one time. All the young players have to understand that there are more players than places and they must be prepared to take their turn in not being selected. The Mini Colts and the Junior Colts Cups were played over two days at the Holyport Polo Club on Tuesday 18 August and at Cirencester Park Polo Club on Thursday 20 August. In the Mini Colts, for players of 8 to 10-years-old, two teams played a three chukka match spread out over the day around the matches for the Junior Colts for players of 11 to 13-year-olds. The Mini Colts benefitted hugely from the training days and this really showed on both days of play. The winners of the Mini Colts Cup were Team Red. Four teams were selected to play for the Junior Colts on the Tuesday with the winners of each match going on to play a Finals on the Thursday. Four more players joined the two losing teams to play an American Tournament after the Finals. It was great to see how much the younger players had improved with their training sessions and it is hoped to be able to organise many more of these. The winners of the Junior Colts Cup were Team Blue who beat Team White. In the American Tournament for the Junior Colts Team, Green won, with Team Red second and Team Yellow third. At the time of going to press The Colts Cup for players of 14 to 17-years-old was being played on Wednesday 26 August and Friday 28 August between four selected teams.
Winners of the Subsidiary Junior Colts Cup, Team Green
Action from the Junior Colts Cup with Team White and Team Blue
The Mini Colts Teams: Team Red: Jonty Hodges, Valentine McPherson, Elizabeth Clarkin & Henry Whittington Team Blue: Zachary Ogilvy Thompson, Alfie Vollans, Florentine Pejkovic, Finn Murphy & Enocki Calvert Ansari The Junior Colts Teams: Team Blue: Ulysses Hu, Mack McCaffrey, Ava Greenland, & Matias Maldonado Team White: Archie Heseltine, Nico Hiller, Charlie Hipwood & Leo Stuart Team Green: Marcos Pejkovic, Aramaya Sheikh, Leander Sauter & Raushin Singh Team Red: Julian Ogilvy Thompson, Charlie Hodges, Marina Evans & Santo Thomas Team Yellow: Bonnie Barnes, Eskandar Foulcadi, Bruno Bradshaw & Theo Fagan
Pony Club Polo Update With the ongoing pandemic affecting all areas of life, Polo Times spoke to Charles Whittington, Pony Club Polo Chairman, who updated us on the latest update for Pony Club Polo: “The Pony Club, including Pony Club Polo (PCP), has faced a very challenging summer holiday with COVID restrictions. The Pony Club is affiliated to the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and until recently the protocols were different to the HPA. The PCP committee produced a Summer 2020 pack which explained to Branches and Centres how they could proceed, and how they could organise 50
Polo Times, September 2020
under HPA rules. PCP can now operate under HPA rules so Branches and Centres can work with their local clubs and polo schools to provide training and competition. Unfortunately, this has all happened a little late for the summer holiday. The PCP committee is in the process of compiling an Autumn 2020 pack which will be available by the time you read this. It will be available on the Pony Club website
(www.pcuk.org/sports/polo) and from all Branches and Centres. The Pony Club headquarters has many staff on furlough at the moment, but if you have difficulty getting a copy, email polo@pcuk.org. The pack will contain information about Arena Clubs and Schools, freelance registered instructors, and information about the PCP Committee, as well as grants available for training and competitions. We are making a special effort this winter with PCP arena polo and hope to finish the season with an Arena Championships at Easter 2021. Meanwhile, stay safe and enjoy the remainder of the summer season.” For Youth polo dates, please turn to our What’s On pages
