Junior Clinic and NYTS Qualifier
South Bay Polo Club- Gilroy, CA: July 13, 2013
On Saturday, July 13 Liz Holson travelled to the South Bay Polo Club in Gilroy, CA just outside of San Jose for a Junior Clinic and the first NYTS Qualifier in California. Juniors travelled from Central Coast Polo Club, Horse Park Polo Club, as well as from host club South Bay Polo Club.
The day started at 9:00 am with a clinic for the NYTS players and additional unrated and new players. The clinic started with a foot mallet lesson and was followed by everyone mounting-up and the riding portion focused primarily
on riding for polo. This portion focused on improving
their seat and quieting their hands, trying to get a greater response from their horse while using less effort. After spending time on working on their seat, players moved into working on the ride-off and then taking the man then backing the ball to a teammate. At the end of the clinic the NYTS players went to tack up their horses and the newer unrated players met for a chalk-talk and strategy session.
At 11:30 am, all players met on the field and after a brief explanation of what the NYTS are all about, the game started. The South Bay team took an early commanding lead, and even after confusion about which goal was theirs they ended the first chukker ahead, 3-0. The game continued with South Bay’s Trista Noland captaining her team and creating opportunities for others to take the ball and score, but she was fought hard by the Central Coast team’s Jillian Teijete. Jillian commanded many of the plays and after lots of hard work the score was 7-1, with South Bay still leading at the half. As the second half got underway, Central Coast couldn’t capitalize on some golden opportunities, but continued to fight hard until the last seconds, where Jillian continued to dominate and ended the game with a beautiful shot on goal to finish the game 11-2, with South Bay on top.
All of the kids did a great job playing and the sportsmanship and horsemanship exhibited on and off the field was incredible. All of the players did a great job working together and coaching each other throughout the game.
NYTS Players
Central Coast Polo Club: Toby Watters, Cassidy Wood, Jillian Teijete
South Bay Polo Club: Farris Scott, Petra Teixera, Trista Noland
South Bay NYTS All-Stars Selected: Jillian Teijete, Trista Noland, Petra Teixera, Farris Scott
Thanks to South Bay Polo Club- Tim Westin (owner), Francesca Finato (club manager), and Santos Arriola (club pro) for opening their club up to junior players for the first NYTS Qualifier in California. Also thanks to Megan Judge for bringing many of the clinic participants and the NYTS players up from Central Coast Polo Club. It’s always great to see clubs come together, especially when they do so to promote junior polo.