Team USPA Player Honored for Commitment to Sport
Quote from winner Jorge Estrada “I feel proud to have even been selected as a finalist - but to win the Team USPA Equus & Co. Award is a truly amazing honor! Thank you so much to Equus & Co, and the Team USPA committee. Special thanks to Owen Rinehart, Julio Arellano, Kris Bowman, Charles Smith and Beth Skolnik. This whole past year has been absolutely unimaginable.”
The U.S. Polo Association (USPA), the national governing body for the sport of polo, has announced that 23-year-old polo player Jorge Estrada has been selected as the winner of the Equus & Co. Award, honoring a Team USPA player for his or her commitment to the sport of polo and its growth in the United States. The Team USPA program was established by the U.S. Polo Association to identify talented young American polo players and provide opportunities for their development.
Five finalists from Team USPA were in the running for the Equus & Co. Award based on their leadership and communication skills, sportsmanship on the field and participation in key Team USPA programs over the past year. Estrada took home the award and $10,000 from Equus & Co. during a special ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 19 at International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Fla. The standout polo player plans to put the prize money right back into his equestrian passion and buy, trade and train horses.
Originally from Phoenix, Ariz., Estrada is now based in the popular polo town of Aiken, S.C., where he works for his mentor and former 10-goal player Owen Rinehart during their spring and fall polo seasons. Estrada is a key member of Team USPA, having participated in the 2011 Team USPA Aiken Clinic during the spring and fall as well. As a player, Estrada has been a winner in the Bradford Binton Cup, USPA Orlando Garrido Memorial Sportsmanship Cup and was named MVP of the Archie MacCarty Memorial.
“I feel proud to have even been selected as a finalist, but to win the Equus & Co. Award is a truly amazing honor,” said Estrada. “Thank you so much to Jim Whisenand, Equus & Co and the Team USPA committee. Special thanks to Owen Rinehart, Julio Arellano, Kris Bowman, Charles Smith and Beth Skolnik. This whole past year has been absolutely unimaginable.”
“We are very thankful for Jim Whisenand and Equus & Co. supporting this cause and we hope it will inspire other companies to partake in this opportunity to impact the future of our sport,” said Kris Bowman, director of the Team USPA program. “Jorge has set the bar high for himself and is a shining example of what a young player should strive to be and a perfect example of what it means to represent the Team USPA program.”
Team USPA is intricately involved in encouraging USPA sanctioned programs and events that will solicit, train and develop U.S. players and teams to the fullest measure of excellence and compete in national and circuit USPA-sanctioned tournaments as well as international events on behalf of the country. Team USPA’s mission is also to enhance the handicap level of play at all levels. Last year, the program sent several players to compete with the U.S. national team in the 2011 FIP World Championships in Argentina.