Kris Bowman of the Polo Training Foundation (PTF) is leading a nationwide tour of grassroots clubs to provide important education and teaching tools for players and managers.
Among the sponsors of the PTF’s National Club Development tour is Adolphus A. Busch IV and his Michelob Ultra Polo Team. Busch, a former high-goal patron in the 1980s and 1990s, has remained intimately involved in the sport through his sponsorship of various charitable tournaments and exhibitions, men’s and women’s college polo and club polo events around the United States.
“This tour is very important to me and to the future of American polo,” said Busch. “Education is power and what Kris and the PTF are doing will provide benefits for years to come. Growing and developing American polo has been our objective at Michelob Ultra Polo for three decades. We are enthusiastically supportive of this PTF effort.”
Bowman’s tour started in Denver and she has continued on to Washington, D.C., Maryland and Columbus, Ohio. Bowman will visit clubs in Dallas, Wichita, Detroit and Chicago in late June and July.
“The tour is about many things,” explained Bowman, who manages the Vero Beach Polo Club. “It’s about helping them rebuild their polo school to encourage young kids to come out and learn about polo as well as adults. It’s getting the club manager and president to understand the importance of low-goal polo. We’re re-instituting the club’s infrastructure. Sometimes they forget that and the club slowly disappears. And we talk about advertising the club, sending out press releases, basically building the club from the ground up.”
The NCD was developed by the USPA’s Stratetgic Planning Committee.
The Michelob Ultra Polo Team is sponsored by Busch, Silver Eagle Distributors of Houston and Anheuser Busch, Inc. of St. Louis. For a schedule of Michelob Ultra Polo Team events and information, visit the website at www.michelobpolo.com.
For information about the tour, contact Baird Thompson via phone at (305) 252-3811 or via email at blottoz@hotmail.com.