| The FIP/Eldorado Junior Polo Tournament participants. |
| Janet Ludwig Junior Polo Organizer and Junior Polo Coach Graham Bray. |
|
Glen Holden thanking the chaperones/organizers who made it possible for the international kids to travel to Indio and participate in the tournament.
|
FIP/ELDORADO INTERNAT. PARTICIPANTS-2003:
# NAME NATIONALITY AGE
1. Jason Wates Jamaica 11
2. Adam Laing Jamaica 15
3. Lanto Sheridan England 14
4. Edward Winterton England 12
5. Emily Beaton Scotland 13
6. Fiona Patterson Scotland 13
7. Ryan Conway N. Ireland 12
8. Sarah Hannah N. Ireland 12
9. Sebastian Aycinena Guatemala 9
10. Miguel Arevalo Guatemala 10
11. Julian Mannix Canada 11
12. Reminington GianniccoUS 11
13. Sterling Giannicco US 10
14. Jesse Bray US 10
15. Nicolai Galindo US 13
16. Daniel Galindo US 9
17. Briannon Galindo US 11
18. Doug Blumenthal US 14
19. Juan Gonzales US 14
20. Nick Morrison US 15
21. Ivette Ortiz US 12
22. Wiley Uretz US 13
23. Patrick Uretz US 11
24. Mat Schwartz US 11
25. Santiago Torres US 9
26. Miguelito Torres US 14
27 Tyler Goodspeed US 13
28 Khaled Badr-El-Din US 11
29. Ricardo Torres US 11
30. Carlitos Galindo US 16
31. Gabriel Questal US 16
32. Rhiannon Hosea US 17
33. Joseph Stuart US 17
34. Mia Bray US 8
35. Brooke Blumenthal US 11
36. Scotty Mac Cunningham US 8
37. Jimmy Wright US 7
38. Hope Kerley US 2
39. Sydney Jordan US 3
40. Christian Aycinena Guatamela 8
|
FIP/ELDORADO JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL POLO TOURNAMENT - By Janet Ludwig.
The second annual FIP/Eldorado Junior International Polo Tournament was held at the Eldorado Polo Club on April 1-6. Forty children, ages 2-17, from the countries of Jamaica, England, Scotland, Ireland, Guatemala, Canada and the United States participated in this program. These were six days of playing polo, going to the "Water Park" for some swimming, sliding and surfing, movies, food and fun.
Behind every successful athlete is a cadre of supporters: parents, coaches, role models, club managers and many others. The FIP/Eldorado Junior International Polo Tournament is definitely a group effort. Although the youngsters are the most visible entities as they dash around the polo field, many members of the polo community can take pride in their support of these kid’s developments.
This tournament was the brainchild of Ambassador Glen Holden, President of
Federation International Polo (FIP), Karlene Garber, Chairwoman of the Polo Training Foundation (PTF), Alex Jacoy, Susan Stovall and Gratia Brown, managers of Eldorado Polo Club, Graham Bray, coach of Eldorado Junior Program and Janet Ludwig, Co-chairperson of the USPA Junior Polo Committee. FIP invited children from all countries to join Eldorado’s Junior Polo players in a tournament. The families of the host children housed the children. The polo players of the club loaned appropriate polo mounts for these children. Polo players from the community donated their time to coach, referee and instruct these children in polo. Tom Goodspeed gave hitting lessons to these kids.
The first day of the program began with a stick-and-ball session, which allowed the organizers to appropriately assign horses to the children, evaluate the level of the players and put the teams together. That night the Eldorado Polo Club at the Fred Mannix’s Fish Creek Stable gave a barbecue. The next day the children played chukkers and were coached by Graham Bray, Steve Dalton, Arturro Gutierrez, Negro Gularte and Angel Romero. Parents were flaggers, scorekeepers and timers. No score was officially kept although many of the children kept their own scores. The children played for the next 4 days with the teams being changed each session to allow the children to meet and play with as many children as possible.
The social events of this program consisted of one of the days being spent at the "Water Park". This was hosted by Ambassador and Mrs. Glen Holden who then had a pizza party afterwards. Saturday night was another barbecue hosted by Ms. Karlene Garber and was held at Stacy and Carlos Galindo’s. The Sunday polo game was followed by an award ceremony and brunch at the clubhouse and then watching the Sunday match at the club.
At the end of the tournament all participants received trophies, which were given out by Ambassador Glen Holden. The trophies were donated by Mike Uretz of World Gym, Wesley Ru of Western Badge Trophy, LaMartina Polo Shop, and George Gilstrap of Jackson Hole Horse Emporium. Graham Bray awarded the Most Improved visiting player to Sebastian Aycinena of Guatemala and to the host player of Ricardo Torres. The Best Sportsmanship Award visiting player went to Edward Winterton of England and to the host player of Miguelito Torres.
At the end of the 2003 FIP/Eldorado Junior International Polo Tournament, there was a terrific feeling of good will and camaraderie throughout the competition. Many late night dinners, movies and games were enjoyed in the host families’ homes. The youngsters and parents exchanged addresses and phone numbers with promises to keep in touch.
Sincere thanks are given to many people for the success of this tournament. We wish to thank the Federation International Polo, Polo Training Foundation and the Eldorado Polo Club and the individuals mentioned above. In addition, the horse donors need to be especially thanked. These people are Miguel Torres, Caroline Anier, Alfonso Giannico, Glen Holden, Rege Ludwig, Bob Haggstrom, Steve Crowder, Bud Dardi, Rhiannon Hosea, Graham Bray, Karlene Garber, Vickie Owens, Pat Nesbitt and Mike Uretz.
|
