APA Programs

Player Development Program

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: Get Involved Today!

The American Polocrosse Association’s Player Development Program is designed to provide programs to improve all levels of play for all members of the APA.  It consists of three separate but connected programs:

Coaching Accreditation Program
Educates, trains, and certifies APA members through a multi-level accreditation program from beginner to advanced, in order to provide safe, effective and standardized coaching.

Domestic Development and Clinic Coordination Program
Provides administrative support for the domestic growth of polocrosse and to coordinate clinics of all levels for APA members and clubs as well as introductory clinics for non-members interested in learning more about the game.

International Tour Program
Provides a program that allows APA members the opportunity to apply, be identified, assessed, and if selected, trained to play on APA teams representing the United States at international competitions.

For more information regarding these programs you may contact the Chair of Player Development listed on the Board Member page. A full PDP Manual is available as a pdf download.

TEAM USA is part of the PDP program and participants in the PDP International Tour Program are groomed for potential participation on World Cup teams.

For the current Player Development Program Manual and Applications (also below) please visit our Forms and Documents page.

Important Documents

APA Umpire Program

UMPIRE PROGRAM: Umpire Certification

The backbone of the Umpire Program is the Tournament Umpire.  At APA sanctioned tournaments, a Certified Umpire will be provided to act as Tournament Umpire to maintain a standard throughout the tournament for both umpiring and game play.

Tournament Umpires also assist the Tournament Organizers.  Smaller tournaments will have help organizing schedules etc., and others would have an expert to assist with some of the more complicated nuances associated with larger tournaments. After the tournament, the Tournament Umpire reports back to the Chief Umpire on any issues associated with umpiring, rules, etc…

Before the next tournament,  the Certified Umpires will address any issues, and players would hear of these adjustments from Tournament Umpires before play at APA tournaments.  The process of umpire related information going in and back out of each tournament allows us to seamlessly make changes with the aim to stay current with the style and needs of the players of the Association.

The new APA Chief Umpire is Rahul Desai.

 

Important Documents Coming

  • Umpire Program Guidelines
  • Umpire Program Bylaws
  • Full List of APA Umpires

Horse Welfare

The APA is proud to stand up the Horse Welfare Committee!  This was an ad hoc committee that started in 2021, but it quickly became evident that needed to be a permanent standing committee as our horses’ welfare is paramount to the sport.  We are thankful to have Paul Repenning as our Chair.

The committee is please to present its first initiative: The Best Conditioned Horse Competition

Eligibility: Any horse competing at a sanctioned tournament. Everyone is encouraged to participate! Even if you don’t think you will win, this is a great opportunity to gauge the condition and health of your horse under the stress of competition.

Entry Cost: Free

Sign up here: https://fs4.formsite.com/5TDZC2/wb0xw0assd/index.html.

Competition Details:

  • Participants are required to do a jog on Saturday morning before play. During the jog, the horse will get two scores on a scale of 0-10 for soundness and body score, with 0 being the lowest possible score and 10 being the highest possible score. Body score guideline will follow the Henneke body condition scoring system.
  • After the jog, your horse will have their resting TPR recorded (temperature, pulse and respiration).
  • Immediately after your two games on Saturday, you will go to the “vet box” for evaluation. The vet box will be located near the field. The horse’s pulse and respiration rate will be taken every five minutes until the horse returns to their normal resting TPR, or 25 minutes, whichever occurs first. (During this time period you are responsible for cooling out via untacking, walking, and cooling by water buckets, etc). Temperature is only taken for any horse that appears in distress.
  • The winner of the award would be based evaluated as follows:
    • 20% Soundness score
    • 20% Body Score
    • 30% Recovery Rate-Pulse
    • 30% Recovery Rate-Respiration

*This allows for all the horses to compete equally regardless of their playing grade. Please see a sample scoring example here.

  • The winner will be awarded on Saturday evening. The first place winner will receive an award. All participants will receive entry prizes.
  • For multi-horse competitions: You may enter multiple horses, but you can only ride one horse per game to be eligible to win in the competition. If you have one horse for the whole competition, your game with highest recovery rate scores will apply. If you are entering multiple horses, for prize eligibility, you must play one horse per game. If you ride multiple horses per game, you are welcome to participate in the vet box, but you will not be eligible for prizes.