P O L O D E V E L O P M E N T, L L C
Summer fun Youth tournaments played from coast to coast By Hayley Heatley
All-Star Olivia Reynolds’ Tito was Best Playing Pony at the Maryland NYTS qualifier.
Acme Stove’s Robyn Leitner, Alea Crespo, Cate Godey and Stuart King won at Roseland Polo Club.
Out of concern for the health and safety of players, their families and the local polo community, the USPA has postponed this year’s NYTS National Championship event. After careful consideration of travel restrictions and local government guidelines, there were simply too many factors impeding our ability to host a safe and memorable championship event for our youth players at this time. We recognize that many USPA NYTS host clubs have faced similar challenges with hosting qualifiers this season and have extended the qualifier deadline.
24 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
Throughout this unusual year, host clubs did a fantastic job adapting to the circumstances and provided a fun and welcoming atmosphere to youth players. Face masks and socially distanced trophy pictures became the norm, but the players were resilient and took advantage of the opportunity to play polo with and against peers. Prior to the pandemic, Empire and Eldorado Polo Clubs each hosted their annual events. Eldorado’s five-team tournament was played over two days with Bush League (Teo von Wernich, Quinn Kyle, Micaela Saracco, Jazmin Trotz) emerging as the winner over Boss Polo (Bayne Bossom, Grace Gonzalez, Nick Fernandez, Rose Gonzalez). All-stars included Grace Parker, Grant Palmer, Lars Neumann, Teo von Wernich, Bayne Bossom, Piers Bossom, Riley Jordan and Micaela Saracco. A few weeks later, Empire Polo Club hosted a three-team tournament as part of the “Polochella” Junior Tournament. From lead-line to NYTS, the participants demonstrated sportsmanship on and off the field, volunteering to help throughout the day when not playing. The tournament was played in honor of Margery Magill, who was killed while walking her dog in Washington D.C. last year. Proceeds from the dinner and junior tournament benefited the National FFA Organization’s Give Blue program, which provides traditional corduroy jackets to members of Future Farmers of America, an organization near and dear to Margery’s heart. The jackets help unify members and remind them they are part of something larger than themselves. Elise Pardue, Grace Parker, Lars Neumann, Colby Smith and J. Martin Perez were named all-stars. On the East Coast, Aiken hosted six teams at the end of May to kick off a series of summer NYTS qualifiers. The Aiken community supported a fantastic 2019 NYTS National Championship and has been growing an active youth polo program. Chris Veitch, Josh Escapite, Sophie Grant, Hope Arellano, Aiden Meeker, Summer Kneece, Nick DeValentino, Reagan Leitner and Jack Whitman
