Hello APA Players! Spring has finally sprung and our sport has literally come alive in the last month! April brought us several exciting events including several ‘play-day’ polocrosse events across the country, our first sanctioned APA tournament, two polocrosse demonstrations, the U16 try-outs and team selection and the production of our first updated APA rulebook in years! There are several updates to give you, so bear with us as we give you the low-down during this long update. We look forward to seeing you all on the field soon!
Rob Caldwell
APA President
Your APA Board of Directors met earlier this week for their April 2016 board meeting. The following are highlights of the meeting:
Rating Committee Update (Lauren Ellis)
Lauren updated us on the first sanctioned tournament that she was able to attend which was the Lone Star ‘Jon Weber Memorial Tournament’ held the on April 16th & 17th in Coupland, Texas. There was severe weather predicted that weekend, so the tournament organizers decided to play things safe and move the tournament up by a day which meant play actually started on Friday at noon. Lauren was able to get to town early enough to be able to watch all tournament play – including the first ‘A-Grade’ game. Lauren and her team were able to see all APA member players ride, at least two times throughout the weekend. And she was able to promptly get all of the updated player rating on the website early the following week. So, if you are curious about the rating, just log onto the website using your APA username and password and you will have access to the ratings.
APA Board of Director Goals for 2016 (Rob Caldwell)
In an effort to keep the board of directors focused and on-task this year, APA President, Rob Caldwell took a moment to review the goals the board has established for itself for 2016 which are as follows:
- The revised rulebook has been printed and is in the mail. Newly signed up members will be getting theirs shortly.
- The website is being reassessed and continues to be a top priority to ensure functionality for members.
- Umpire Training is in process. (2 clinics success)
- Nationals planning continues to move forward.
- The Board is working to develop strategies to build membership.
Chief Umpire Report (Daniel Johnson)
Daniel and his team were able to put the new APA rulebook into action at the recent Lone Star tournament. Overall, Daniel felt like the tournament was a success. He was able to make a presentation to the riders at large Thursday night before the tournament, and then address a smaller group of umpires later that evening as well. Additionally, Daniel was on hand during the tournament to address any questions umpires or riders had throughout the event. Despite the inclement weather threat, he felt the weekend was a success!
International Liaison Report (Timothy Doust)
Exciting things are happening with Timothy Doust and his committee! They have been communicating with David Lyall, International Liaison Officer, New South Wales, Australia, and been able to formalize an individual exchange agreement allowing individuals to go and play in NSW with a family and be exempt from membership fees and be covered by the insurance held by NSWPA. In return, the USA player must host a NSW player. Under this agreement we have three individual players going this season to NSW to play polocrosse. Tim has also been able to do a similar exchange with Queensland. We have a couple of players living with polocrosse families for the season and working horses and playing polocrosse. This is more informal but great opportunities none the less. Working with the APA PDP we have organized a U16 tour to NSW to play in two carnivals in July. We also will be hosting a U21 NSW inbound section. These players will be playing with our youth in July/August and holding instructional clinics.
Communication Committee (Kristy Gusick)
The communications committee was been continuing to work at keeping the APA Facebook page updated and active. In addition, the committee has made the decision to postpone the production of the ‘Polocrosse Magazine’ until the end of the year and instead focus more immediately on auditing the content on the new website. It has brought up several times that there is still some missing content so the communication committee has decided it will audit the website beginning May 2016. Once the site has been audited, a plan will be put in place to ensure that missing content is added to the site. It is the Communications Committee’s goal to continue to enhance the website on an on-going basis.
Pony Club Update (Cile Savoy)
Cile asked us to share the following important information to Pony Club Members and their families. Each year, the United States Pony Club (USPC) offers Championship competitions in seven disciplines; Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping, Games, Polocrosse, Tetrathlon, and Quiz (non-riding, knowledge based competition). Members compete as part of a team and are judged on riding abilities as well as horse management (HM) skills. This year, USPC has opened their East Championships to APA youth members (up to age 24) to participate in the polocrosse competition. Eastern Championships will be held at Tryon Equestrian Center, Mill Springs, NC, July 27-31
st, 2016. All games will take place on the polo fields behind the stadium and will be umpired by current APA approved umpires.
Information on this competition can be found on the USPC website,
https://secure.ponyclub.org/Events/Championships/ . To enter the Championships, APA members will need to send an exemption request to the RS for whichever USPC region they reside. The form can be found on the USPC website under East Championships and clicking on the tab for Competition Information.
https://secure.ponyclub.org/ContentDocs/Champs/DR-G-PX-SJExemptionReqForm.pdf. If you need assistance contacting the RS for your region, follow the links at
http://www.ponyclub.org/general/recommended_links.asp?cc=20212 or contact Cile Savoy at acadsavoy@aol.com.
Player Development Program (Susan Hatch)
Tryouts for the U16 Team were held the weekend of April 23rd and April 24th and team selections were handed out on Thursday, April 28th. For those who may not know, the APA has a long running youth exchange with New South Wales. One year, we send a team of U16 there and the next year, they send a team to us. This exchange has been running for over 25 years and has a rich history. It is an honor to be selected and even considered. After much thought and some tough choices, the APA is pleased to announce this year’s Youth Development Team which includes: Sydney Burch, Ally Kimbrough, Jackson Groner, Anthony Lynch, Lindsay Savoy, Erin Strider, Natalie Sturtz, and Baker White. Congratulations – we know you all will represent the APA well!
APA in the News!
Rob Caldwell, Kristy Gusick, Ansley Tipton and Dori Johnson were recently interviewed by Alannah Castro from the “Paint Horse Journal” for an up-coming article they are producing on Paints in Polocrosse! The article will be posted in the May issue of the “Paint Horse Journal.”
