SANTA FE HORSE PARK COLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT and
BORDER CIRCUIT SHERMAN CUP (3 to 6 GOALS)

Tournament play will be October 13 and 14. Practices and stick and ball can be arranged on Thursday and Friday. There will also be an arena umpire clinic offered by Steve Lane of the USPA starting at 3:00 pm on Friday, October 12 with pre-game sessions on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Invitations have been extended to Texas Tech (men will play in the Sherman), CSU (men will play in the Sherman), NMSU, TCU (women only – may need to borrow horses or fill in on other teams), and UT. There will also be one or two players from Harvard.

Collegiate teams can enter either the intercollegiate tournament or the Sherman Cup. Even though we expect each collegiate team will bring their own horses, normal collegiate rules (eg, split string and substitution) will apply to collegiate games. Teams that enter the Sherman Cup (3-6 goals) will need to abide by all USPA rules (eg, no subs, beaten pony, etc.).

We expect a minimum of two or three additional Sherman Cup teams including at least one team from the Horse Park (a grumpy old man, an eager young kid, and a ringer) plus John Nance, Adran Nance, and JJ Arrington (former NMSU).

Call Jamie LaRue at the Horse Park at 505-424-7400 to reserve stalls for your team and to tell her when you expect to arrive since we do lock the gates over the cattle guards in the evening.

There is no charge for stabling, the umpire clinic or the tournament for members of an intercollegiate team. You can bring your own feed or buy hay at the Horse Park. All hay and tack store bills must be settled in advance. Your team will be responsible for cleaning their own stalls and various duties to be established by the Tournament Committee. The Tournament Committee for the Sherman Cup will be Eric Oppenheimer, John Snyder, and Charlie Kokesh. We will ask collegiate coaches to form the Tournament Committee for the collegiate games.

We should be able to handle JV teams and/or mixed teams in practice games as well. Horses and tack will not be available from the Horse Park.

After several years of experience trying to herd cats at this event, we intend to let the collegiate players organize their own Saturday evening event. We can provide suggestions and several locations depending on the weather. As has been the case for this tournament for the last three or four years, this tournament will be going on simultaneously with The Pumpkin Festival – now in its 9th year. During the day, there will be food vendors, games of skill and chance, and a carnival complete with a merry-go-round as well as a Pony Ride for the beginning team members. We normally have 100 to 300 spectators in the stands and another 4,000 to 6,000 on the grounds.

We will do a team draw at the end of the umpire clinic session on Friday for the games on Saturday. The order of go on Sunday will be negotiated among the teams taking into account travel distances, horse and player injuries, and cash consideration to members of the Tournament Committees.

BTW, everyone who gets in the arena must already be USPA member whether rated or S. Our insurance requires it. This must be handled before the team arrives so that we can verify membership online.

Charlie Kokesh
505-982-2200
505-470-9898