Meet the U16 Tour Players
Later this week, an American team of under-16 players will compete in a 3-match test series against an Irish team of the same age.
The matches are scheduled for April 25-27 in Whitesburg, GA, at the McIntosh Reserve Park, during the annual tournament hosted by Sandie Creek. Jeremy Barbour is coaching the team, and Kylie Ferrentino is the tour manager.
The team would like to thank the below supporters:
Player Profiles
Allen Duff
Age: 13
Home state: Texas
Club: Alamo Polocrosse Club
Allen is one of the youngest members of the U16 team, and is half of the sibling set on our team with his brother Ian playing in the matches as well! He has been playing polocrosse for six years. He plays other sports too, and is very involved in soccer.
Braelynn Cagle
Age: 13
Home State: Mississippi
Club: Grand Bay Polocrosse Club
At just 13 years old, Braelynn has already been playing polocrosse for 6 years! She loves polocrosse because it feels like one big family, and she enjoys seeing spectators coming out to watch. Her favorite memory is when she played in chuckles on a mule!
She is looking forward to meeting new people during this tour and learning about other horses. She is also excited to see how the USA kids play against an international team. Braelynn is preparing by focusing on her racket skills and riding different types of horses. Her goal is to become an A-grade player and help the sport grow.
Hugo Arnold
Age:14
Home State: Virginia
Club: Heartland Polocrosse Club
Hugo has been playing for four years and he enjoys polocrosse because of the people and the adrenaline when playing. His favorite memories in polocrosse are times spent with his friends at tournaments and at the youth development clinic. He is looking forward to meeting the players on the Ireland U16 team and playing at a higher speed & level of play during the matches.
He is preparing for the tour by training his horse over the winter, improving his riding skills, and working on his stick skills. Hugo shared that his dream in polocrosse is to train his own horse to play high-level polocrosse. A cool fact about Hugo is that he can speak German! He has German and Australian citizenship.
Ian Duff
Age: 14
Home state: Texas
Club: Alamo Polocrosse Club
Ian is the other half of the sibling set on our team. He is one of the oldest and most experienced players on the team; he has played the game the longest and has been playing in A-grade. He enjoys playing because of the people he meets. Ian has a packed tour calendar this year as he was a member of the U21 team that traveled to New Zealand in January (which is his favorite memory) and will travel to the UK this summer as part of the U19 team.
He is preparing for this tour by riding all the family horses. His goal is to be the youngest World Cup Player. When he is not playing polocrosse, he likes hunting and fishing.
Kendall Johnson
Age: 15
Home state: Minnesota
Club: Minnesota Polocrosse Club
Kendall has been playing polocrosse for seven years – half her life! She enjoys how fun and exciting the sport is, and the people she has met through it. Her favorite memory in polocrosse was when her team won at Nationals. She is looking forward to one day playing on the field with (or against!) her mom.
She is getting ready for the tour by throwing the ball to targets on the wall to improve her racket accuracy. She is looking forward to making new memories with her friends and teammates.
Kendra Oliphant
Age: 15
Home state: Minnesota
Club: Minnesota Polocrosse Club
Kendra loves polocrosse because she gets to play a sport with friends and ride horses. Kendall and she are true northern equestrians because they do Skijoring too!
She is looking forward to playing against new players during this tour and is preparing by practicing her racket skills and keeping the horses fit. One of her favorite polocrosse memories is when the last goal was scored at Nationals in 2023 and her team won! Her goal in polocrosse is to make it to A-grade and then play in the World Cup.
Lilly Poe
Age: 14
Home State: Maryland
Club: Willow Pond Polocrosse Club
Lilly is the tour veteran of our team, having previously played in the 2023 Inbound U16 tour against the UK, and the 2024 Outbound tour against Australia. She is also going to the UK this summer for the U19 tour. She made her first U16 team at only 12 years old! Watch out, she is left-handed.
She is looking forward to playing with the team of this tour and meeting new people. She is preparing by riding different styles of horses and figuring out how to play to each horse. Her favorite memory of polocrosse is traveling to Australia to play.
Lillys goal is to play in the World Cup. She enjoys polocrosse because of the game itself, that other players are so encouraging, and the horses.
Noah Barbour
Age: 13
Home State: Mississippi
Club: Grand Bay Polocrosse Club
Noah has had a racket in his hand for almost ten years. At his first nationals, he came away with Best #1 Player. When he is not on the polocrosse field, he enjoys going fishing and flying planes. Ironically, he is terrified of heights and so he is not looking forward to going zip-lining with with the rest of the tour later this week.
Olivia Hostler
Age: 13
Home State: North Carolina
Club: Carolina Polocrosse Club
Olivia has been in the game for 3 years and loves the community of support within polocrosse, and how it combines riding and rackets. She is preparing for the tour by practicing with her club on Sundays and practicing at home with her mom and sister as much as possible.
Her favorite polocrosse memory is from her clubs camp, she and her friends spent over thirty minutes trying to set a projector up only for everyone to fall asleep five minutes into the movie. One day, she would like to play on a world cup team!
Read more about Olivia in The Pilot and the Sandhills Sentinel.
Practice Weekend
In January, the team traveled down to Missouri for a practice weekend with Jeremey and a few other coaches. They did polocrosse drills, mounted games, and racket work bareback.
Citrus Classic
Grand Bay
Ian played in A grade, and the other seven players and Coach Jeremy played across 3 sections in C grade. The ladies section of Lilly, Braelynn, and Kendra placed first in C grade. Braelynn was named Best Player and Noahs horse Whiskey was named best horse. The team did even more fundraising activities such as tack cleaning Friday night and selling raffle table tickets throughout the weekend.
Lone Star
PC Stacy Upshaw, Lisa Poe, Kylie Ferrentino, Clemmons Arnold
May ...