June 2021 Polo Players' Edition - Spring Board of Governors Meeting Recap

During the week of April 12-17, the USPA convened for the spring board of governors, committee, and LLC meetings. Due to ongoing travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines the USPA decided to hold the meetings virtually once again.

The following committees met throughout the week of April 12-16, each hosting a Zoom meeting open to the committee members, board, staff and USPA members: Armed Forces Committee, Club and Membership Administration Committee, Young Players Committee, Constitution Committee, Women’s Committee, Rules Committee, Safety Committee, Arena Committee, Equine Welfare Committee, Tournament Committee, Audit Committee, Finance Committee, Board and Staff Development Committee, and the Executive Committee. In addition, the Umpires, LLC, Polo Development, LLC and communications/marketing gave hour-long presentations.

Below please find a recap of the Saturday board of governors meeting and links to presentations:

Secretary’s Report

Secretary Mr. Smith ratified the previous actions of the board in his secretary’s report, and the board approved the club actions list endorsed by the Club and Membership Administration Committee. The list outlined clubs that are fully compliant and will have active status for the year, provisional clubs and clubs that are not in compliance. Mr. Smith also summarized the circuit governor election timeline, which will begin in June.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Mr. Rudolph presented a brief financial report. He stated the USPA is in a solid financial position. The overall budget approach is to remain conservative and continue to evaluate the global situation and proceed with several different options.

Finance Committee Report

Mr. Ramirez Jr., committee chairman, provided an overview of the recent committee meeting. He stated the USPA’s investment portfolio is performing in accordance with the investment plan. Mr. Bikkesbakker, Meketa Investment Group, discussed the portfolio and reported it was performing better than expectations.

Global Licensing

President & CEO of USPAGL Michael Prince provided an update on U.S. Polo Assn. and the current global economic situation. He noted the financial flexibility it was able to afford its licensees throughout the pandemic helped strengthen relations. They are predicting a five percent growth coming out of the pandemic followed up by doubledigit growth in future years.

Other highlights include USPA Global Licensing partnering with the National High School Awards and USA Today to have a polo award included for the first time along with other sports. They continue to market the authentic connection to the sport of polo. Mr. George Dill was elected for another three-year term to serve on the USPAGL board and Mr. Anthony Coppola was elected to serve as ex officio.

Joe Bob Lequerica battles with Brody Williams in the Texas Arena League.

©David Murrell

Services Reports:

Arena Committee

Ms. Robin Sanchez reported that arena polo continues to thrive and be successful around the country. Arena leagues are continuing to gain momentum. The Chicago, Illinois, area is starting an arena league to be played in conjunction with its grass season. The Pacific Coast Arena League is optimistic that it will be able to begin playing again soon. The Northeastern Circuit is in the preliminary discussion phase to establish an arena league, and finally the Texas Arena League just completed its season.

The committee is creating a plan of action to support a high-goal spectator series in 2022 and is working on a social media/marketing/branding strategy to create a base for spectator involvement and sponsorships for USPA tournaments, the highgoal series and arena leagues.

Audit Committee

Chairperson Habib Nasrullah presented the committee report. There were no inquiries or investigations within the last year. Mr. Stanislawski termed out of the committee. The board of governors approved Mr. Robert Burk as a new committee member. The board also approved Tim Kelly as new committee chair, which is a one-year term and rotates between the committee members. committee’s accomplishments. The USPA board approved the Diversity and Inclusion Resource Guide along with a new USPA Diversity-EqualityInclusion Committee led by Mr. Agapito Morgan.

Club and Member Administration Committee

Chairman Mr. Armour summarized the actions of the committee. The board approved waiving the member requirements for active member clubs that participate solely in intercollegiate polo for 2021. Given the ongoing restrictions, many colleges and universities were unable to obtain their typical memberships and the USPA did not want to penalize them by removing their club status due to the unforeseen situation. The clubs will remain active through 2021.

Constitution Committee

Chairman Mr. Jornayvaz reported that the committee had been working on various policies for the last several months. The board approved a new conflict of interest policy and a code of ethics to be signed and adhered to by volunteers. Additionally, the Executive Committee approved changing the name of lieutenant governor to circuit ambassador, and the board approved the responsibilities that accompany that volunteer position. Finally, the board approved several revisions to the disciplinary policy.

Board & Staff Development Committee

Chairman Mr. Rizzo gave a summary of the

Handicap Committees

Handicap changes can be found at uspolo.org.

©David Lominska

Rules Committee

The committee had a productive Zoom conference on Tuesday, April 13, and discussed many issues and initiatives. In addition to the recently-announced variance from Outdoor Rule 4.a and Arena Rule 3.a(2) (the NOCSAE helmet rules), two variances to the outdoor rules are being prepared by the committee for consideration by the chairman and Executive Committee. If they are approved, they will apply to all polo played in the remainder of 2021 under the outdoor rules.

The first is a variance to Outdoor Rule 33 that would give umpires the option of issuing a player three yellow cards for post-game misconduct, which would require that player to sit out for the first four minutes of play in his or her next game of equal or higher handicap for the same team with no substitute allowed for those four minutes of play in that game.

The second is a variance to Outdoor Rules 36 and 37 that would allow players who are off the field during the execution of defended penalties to return to their proper position before or after play is called, as long as they return unobtrusively by a route that is on the field and no closer than 30 yards from the spot where the ball is placed for the penalty shot.

Rules that will be considered by the committee for possible revision in 2022 include Outdoor Rule 1.c, which concerns the effect of handicap changes during a tournament; Outdoor Rule 1.f (the American Rule); and Outdoor Rule 5.g and Arena Rule 14.f (the whipping rules).

The Arena Rules subcommittee is also considering proposing additions to the procedural provisions of the arena rules for 2022. All rule revisions must be approved by the board of governors.

Tournament Committee

The board approved the national and sanctioned tournament applications as presented.

Women’s Polo Committee

The committee presented a proposed modification to the Tournament Stimulus Program guidelines to allow women’s events with an upper handicap limit of 20 goals or below to qualify for the Tournament Stimulus Program. The request has been approved by the Executive Committee for the remainder of 2021.

Young Players Committee

The committee presented a motion to revise the current committee structure, which the board approved. The new structure allows the committee chair to select committee members that represent different facets of polo including, arena, women’s, high goal, etc. to ensure young views are representative of the entire polo community.

Umpires, LLC

The Umpires, LLC gave a full report on the initiatives and areas of focus throughout the year along with plans for the future. Umpires, LLC discussed the success of the Tournament Stimulus Program. In 2020, the Umpires, LLC sent umpires to over 160 TSP tournaments and 112 have been applied for to date. It highlighted the technology aspect of umpiring and presented all the various tools it utilizes to help elevate the game, including the new scheduling app, how it utilized instant replay during the game, and showed a comprehensive post-game analysis of umpire performance.

The board ratified the actions of the Umpires, LLC.

Mackenzie Weisz played for Coca-Cola in this year's GAUNTLET OF POLO®.

©David Lominska

Marketing/Communications Report

Assistant Vice President of Marketing for USPA Global Licensing Shannon Stilson presented a summary of the U.S. Open Polo Championship’s reach and streaming platforms/networks that will be utilized. CBS Sports aired the U.S. Open Polo Championship final on Sunday, May 9, at 2 p.m. ET. Eurosport aired the game on Monday, May 10, at 7 p.m. CET.

Director of Communications Matt Baran, opened the Communications Department presentation with a breakdown of website metrics and discussed the elevated graphic package featured during livestreamed tournaments. Continuing to highlight and familiarize fans with the polo pony, horse features remained a large focus for the department throughout the Gauntlet of Polo. Communications Manager Cristina Fernandez presented on the process of tournament coverage and the improvements made since having to pivot social media strategies due to the pandemic. Communications Coordinator Jewel Connelly touched on “This Week in Polo” and how the newsletter serves to educate the membership with timely information.

Polo Development, LLC

Polo Development, LLC’s presentation highlighted the recent changes to its programming and the strategic direction of advisory committees associated with polo development moving forward into the second half of 2021.

Interscholastic/Intercollegiate, under the leadership of Ms. Liz Brayboy, the I/I staff, committee, and overall community have been navigating the I/I tournament structure during COVID-19. In addition to the I/I tournament structure, the presentation outlined the I/I Committee focus on new strategic initiatives, such as alumni networking and engagement.

In Junior Polo, Mr. Tiger Kneece replaced Ms. Chrys Beal as chair of the Junior Polo Committee. Under Ms. Beal’s leadership the National Youth Tournament Series launched and grew, culminating in the playing of the 2020 NYTS Championship final on U.S. Polo Assn. Field 1 at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (Wellington, Florida).

Moving forward, Mr. Kneece and a newlyrestructured Junior Polo Committee will work to build on the foundation of a successful NYTS program and look to explore other specific areas of development within junior polo, including more international youth polo opportunities and closer collaboration with Team USPA.

The Team USPA Committee is chaired by Mr. Mason Wroe who was appointed in 2019 after a strategic planning process retooled the direction of the Team USPA program. During the presentation,

Mr. Wroe updated the attendees on the on-field successes current Team USPA members have achieved and how the shift to a smaller group of participants has allowed for more impactful grants to be awarded.

Finally, Mr. Bob McMurtry, Polo Development Initiative Committee chairman, updated the attendees on the overall impact of the PDI program for the past three years since the program strategically shifted to include, and primarily focus on, capital improvements/infrastructure. From 20192021 over $1.7 million in grants were awarded to member clubs to support club-level investment in polo fields, arenas, stabling, etc. Factoring in the minimum 50 percent match, that equates to almost $4 million in total project costs supported. The PDI Committee will be busy during the summer exploring the possibility of including a second window for applications in the fall and the overall focus of the committee and return on investment through capital improvements versus noninfrastructure-related requests.

The board approved the ratification of the actions of the Polo Development LLC. The board also approved revisions to the Team USPA and Junior Polo Committee policies.

New Business

Mr. Armstrong presented, and the board approved the following motion:

Be it resolved by the Board of Governors of the United States Polo Association that we extend our profound respect and gratitude to Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, for his passion for the game of polo, his establishment of the Guards Polo Club and his participation throughout his lifetime. He has lent stature, grace, and character to our great sport for which we are eternally grateful.

Additionally, one of Chairman Armstrong’s biggest initiatives is for the USPA to own property in the Wellington, Florida, area to help underpin growth, showcase teams, players and horses as well as unite the community. He reported that he is still exploring land options.

The fall meetings will take place in Virginia with the exact location and dates to be determined.