Governor’s May Report
By Denny Geiler, USPA Pacific Coast Circuit Governor

The USPA team is now in Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic playing in the FIP regional qualifying matches.  Carlitos Galindo and Chris Collins will be playing on the team and representing our Pacific Coast Circuit.  Charles Muldoon is the coach and John Gobin is the captain.  They will play Canada on Tuesday to determine which team will go to Argentina for the finals.

Free Umpire:   The USPA will pay the cost of two umpires to umpire one or two USPA matches in the Pacific Coast Circuit this year.  The reimbursement will not only cover the umpires’ fees but also transportation and lodging for a grand total of $2,700.00 per umpire.  Several of our clubs have taken advantage of this benefit in years past.  Contact Ed Armstrong at the USPA.

Desert Polo:    The desert polo season was a tremendous success.  There were more polo players and polo spectators than we’ve seen in recent history.  Empire hosted the Townsend Cup which is an annual arena match between England and the United States.  Shane Rice represented the Pacific Circuit and combined with Tommy Biddle and John Gobin for the American victory.  England is already planning a revenge match in their country.  Both Eldorado and Empire polo clubs made substantial capital improvements to their facilities which improved the quality of desert polo.

Kimsey Brace:   The USPA will reimburse your club for the purchase of a Kimsey Brace which is used to brace the broken leg of a horse so that it can be removed from the field.  The cost is around $300 and the USPA will reimburse $100.  When a horse breaks its leg in front of a polo audience the quickest and most humane removal of the horse is very important.

PDI:    6 of our Pacific Coast Circuit polo clubs have been approved for PDI funding for 2011 for a total of $85,000.  The USPA will reimburse a club for up to $10,000 for any program that will help grow the club.  The next deadline is July 30 so there is time for your club to prepare their application.  See the form on the USPA website.

Wounded Warrior Polo Match: Poway Polo Club is having a Wounded Warrior Polo Tournament in October and teams from various branches of the armed services will be attending.  Contact Russ Sheldon of the Poway Polo Club for information about attending or participating.

Celebrity Ranch Polo Club: Celebrity Ranch Polo Club is having its inaugural match this Saturday, May 14, in Temecula.  This will be the first official polo game in their beautiful new polo arena and facility.  Contact Mike Farah at 949-719-2625.

Silver Cup:    Santa Barbara Tennis and Polo Club was just chosen by the USPA tournament committee to host the prestigious USPA Silver Cup tournament.  It was a close race with International Polo Club in Palm Beach, Florida, but Santa Barbara got the most votes following an excellent presentation by Danny Walker.  For more information contact the Santa Barbara Polo Club.

Handicaps:  The USPA is coming closer to adopting two additional handicap rating brackets in order to divide up all the players that are in the lower brackets of the polo system.  Using the new brackets handicaps will divide the lower rated players among A, Half, One, One and a half and Two goals.  The new brackets will apply to 8 goal tournaments and below.  Other procedures about its application will be determined at the October meeting of the USPA at Aiken, South Carolina.

In addition, the Women’s Challenge Tournament (WCT) committee is considering developing their own handicap system for their tournaments in order to create more differentiation in the lower goal brackets.  This system would be used in all WCT qualifier tournaments and their finals tournament.

Pacific Coast Arena League:               Poway Polo Club, California Polo Club, Bel Air Polo Club, Central Coast Polo Club and Orange County Polo Club have combined to create the Pacific Coast Arena League.  Each club will host a tournament for the league during the summer.  Points will be awarded on an individual basis not on a team basis.  Trophies and prizes will be awarded at the end of the season.  This is a great way to meet other polo players and see new polo venues.  Contact Heather Schuberth (714-791-8369 or heather@ocpolo.com) for more information.  Participants in the league will also qualify to play in the Masters Cup arena tournament to be held during US Open week in Palm Beach, Florida, next year.

Lieutenant Governor:              Scott Walker has been selected as the new lieutenant governor for the Pacific Coast Circuit.  He is an active member of the USPA Membership and Club Development Committee and the USPA Marketing Committee.  Scott is presently organizing a new polo club in the Temecula area.  He has been playing polo for about 20 years and his polo “claim to fame” is that he has won the Governor’s Cup tournament.