The Polo Training Foundation’s Florida Junior Polo winter circuit gets under way Saturday with the Tackeria Cup and Major Collin Memorial at Port Mayaca Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
In addition to Florida, the tournaments feature players from Argentina, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, South Carolina, Maine and Minnesota.
Four teams will compete in the Tackeria Cup at 10 a.m. They are:
AJT Polo (Naomi Marlough, Geronimo Rider, Joseph Schwartz, Aspen Tinto).
Tackeria (Chuck Cunningham, Sophia DeAngelis, Lilli Hagemeier, Finn Secunda).
Power Group Total Care (Daniel Arnold, Ramon Caro, Valentina Tarazona, Molly White).
Mayer Ranch (Lion Mandelbaum, Sebastian Mandelbaum, Celestino Merlos, Harrison Reicher).
Two teams will play in the Major Collin Memorial at noon. They are:
Red Barn: PJ DeAngelis, Florencio Merlos, Charlotte Peponis, Emma Weinzierl.
Port Mayaca: Tomas Caro, James Peponis, Maddie Ulery, Antonio Villamil.
A two-chukker game at 1 p.m. will feature Alex Photo (Oliver Leven, Theo Leven, Harrison Walton) against Grand Champions (Lourdes Siri, Cade Weinzierl, Vivianne Wheaton). The leadline follows at 1:30 p.m. with Felix and Lukas Teroerde and two other players.
In last year’s tournaments, Tackeria (Jem Handler, Finn Secunda, Aspen Tinto, Joaquin Vilgre de la Madrid) won the Tackeria Cup and Mayer Ranch (Tomas Caro, PJ DeAngelis, Lilli Hagemeier, Antonio Villamil) won the Major Collin Memorial.
Remaining PTF tournaments are the Johnston Cup and Blanco TX Cup on Jan. 15; Avendano Memorial and Tackeria Cup, Feb. 19; Buzz Welker and Sunset Polo Cup, March 18; and Jimmer Newman Memorial, April 20.
The second annual Richard Riemenschneider Memorial Cup is Sunday, February 18 at 4 p.m. at Grand Champions Polo Club. Following the game, everyone is invited to the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame for the PTF Awards Ceremony from 7-9 p.m. honoring the 2023 PTF Interscholastic and Intercollegiate Players of the Year and Daniel Colhoun as the first recipient of the inaugural Daniel Colhoun Lifetime Achievement Award.
Grand Champions Polo Club President and PTF Chairman Melissa Ganzi is a longtime supporter of grass roots polo and PTF, that will celebrate its 57th anniversary in 2024.
The Polo Training Foundation is dedicated to the future of polo in the U.S. The PTF has been instrumental in the growth of junior and youth polo players by encouraging the sport‘s development with training programs, lessons and tournaments for boys and girls.
The PTF would like to see the success it had in 2023 carry into 2024. In order to do all this, the Polo Training Foundation needs the continued contributions from supporters. The Polo Training Foundation relies on the generosity of individual supporters. It values any help whether it be volunteering, equipment, mallets and/or any dollar amount.
The PTF was created in 1967 by Palm Beach Polo and Country Club founder and former 7-goal amateur Bill Ylvisaker to teach the game of polo to youth by promoting youth clinics, interscholastic and intercollegiate competition, good sportsmanship and good will through friendly competition.
The Polo Training Foundation is a 501(c) 3 organization and relies on tax deductible donations for financial support. The PTF has an annual budget of $600,000 of which $400,000 is funded yearly by tax-deductible donations. For more information go to www.polotraining.org.