SPRING MEETING OF USPA BOARD OF GOVERNORS

WELLINGTON, FLORIDA

APRIL 16-20, 2014

U.S. OPEN:         This was the fastest Open Finals I have ever seen and the fastest among them was Santi Torres. Most of you remember him playing as a young man playing at Eldorado. Well, he has grown up into one incredible polo player. That red helmet of his was everywhere. The winning team was Alegria with Julian Mannix who also grew up playing at Eldorado.

It is going to be played on NBC television, regular channel, on Saturday, June 21, at 11 AM Pacific Time. Be sure to record it so you don’t miss it. You are going to see camera angles from the drone and helmet cameras on the umpires. It will be like you’ve never seen before. The drone operator said that the horses were so fast that sometimes the drone could not keep up.

USPA Properties:                  Properties reports that sales of their products was in excess of $1.2 billion last year sold in 135 countries. The arbitration with Jordache for sales in the US is complete and Jordache will stop selling in department stores and start building their own stores. Presently there are 53 stores in the US with the goal to build 500. India has 182 stores while Eastern Europe has 261.

The brand will also become available through ecommerce. The new areas slotted for growth are Western Europe, China and Brazil. Litigation with Ralph Lauren is just a fact of life as one lawsuit gets resolved and Ralph files another. Ralph really doesn’t like the success that USPA is having.

TOURNAMENTS:                  I’m on the tournament committee so I’m happy to report the following USPA tournaments have been awarded to these Pacific Circuit Clubs:

National Arena Amateur Cup:                  Orange County Polo Club

Regional Presidents Cup:                           Santa Barbara Polo Club

Rossmoor Cup:                                    San Diego Polo Club

America’s Cup:                                    Santa Barbara Polo Club

Silver Cup:                                             Santa Barbara Polo Club

Carlton & Kaleen Beale Cup:                  Eldorado Polo Club

Pacific Coast Open:                           Santa Barbara Polo Club

If your club is already having a tournament, investigate having the tournament classified as a USPA Sanctioned Tournament. The more attention our California clubs get the more will come back to us.

USPA FINANCES:                  I’m on the finance committee so I’m happy to report that the USPA is well on the road to becoming self-financing. We will need about $140 million in assets and presently we have in excess of $80 million. This is more than doubled since I became governor in 2010.   Generally about 40% of the royalty income from Properties is spend on USPA administrative expenses and programs and the rest is conservatively invested.

AUDIT COMMITTEE:         An audit committee was created and Chuck Stanislawski (California Polo Club, Santa Barbara Polo Club, and Will Rogers Polo Club) is one of the three board members. They investigate any questions of interest regarding the finances or administration of the USPA.

BOBBIE PUETZ:         It was fun to spend some time with Bobbie and Marcie Puetz. Bobbie (previously San Diego Polo Club manager) is USPA Services director which is in charge of all programs that aren’t covered by Marketing LLC, Umpire LLC or Polo Development LLC. It’s a big job as the USPA continues to grow and we are happy to have a representative of California polo in the administration.

JESSE BRAY:                  Jesse earned the Eques Award which goes to the outstanding Team USPA member. It is judged on horsemanship, polo skill, sportsmanship and horse care. It is quite an honor. I heard that he has already spent the $10,000 award money on buying a new horse.

NYTS:                  The National Youth Tournament Series is like the intercollegiate program only on grass. San Diego Polo Club was chosen to host the finals. Each of the desert clubs had a NYTS tournament this year to choose representatives for the national team.

MARKETING LLC:                  Scott Walker, the Pacific Circuit lieutenant governor and umpire program administrator, is on the board of the Marketing LLC and participated in the presentation. The USPA has hired some incredible consulting firms to (1) investigate the depth of the polo player market, (2) determine which areas of the polo market need the most attention, (3) brand identification with development of new materials including the colors, a by-line and market awareness, (4) a firm that specializes in story placement (which has already happened in Barron’s, Wall Street Journal and other national publications). With these high powered consultants on our team and polo on national television our sport is ready to take off.

POLO DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE:         I’m the chairman of the PDI Committee and I’m happy to report that Pacific Circuit Clubs were awarded $71,500 this year.

OTHER PACIFIC CIRCUIT DIGNATARIES IN ATTENDANCE:                  Russ Sheldon ( I/I), Richard Caleel (FIP president), Pat Nesbitt (International Committee chairman), Dan Walker (National Handicap chairman), Geraldine Schumacher-Strunsky (owner Temecula Polo Club) and Sunny Hale (Women’s Committee chairman) participated in the meeting. Please consider volunteering for a USPA committee and help California polo grow.

PLAY POLO IN CALIFORNIA:         The Pacific Circuit is organizing a joint advertising program to feature polo in California. We play polo 12 months a year, in beautiful weather with no humidity or bugs, plus we have lots of fun. Why wouldn’t you want to play polo in California? The USPA will match the funds that the participating California polo clubs invest. This will be the first joint advertising program in the USPA and the administration is excited about the project.

INTERCOLLEGIATE:         Westmont won the men’s title defeating the University of Virginia. This is the second year in a row that Westmont was victorious. Congratulations to John Westley and his team. Central Coast Polo Club (Cal- San Luis Obispo) made it to the finals of the women’s bracket and their B team won their bracket.

POLO IN THE DESERT:         Eldorado sold out and stopped taking teams. Empire continues to buy new land and open new fields. Both clubs were sold out on both sides of the field for Sunday polo and these spectators were not polo players. Polo in California is coming out of the Recession with both guns blazing.

See you on the field,

Denny Geiler, Pacific Coast Circuit Governor