In one of the closest games of the season, Camp Polo tied Victory Polo in The Polo School Women’s League Weekly game Wednesday at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
By Sharon Robb
Camp Polo (Ava Hinkson, Malicia von Falkenhausen, Ash Price, Pearl Duncan, Mary Wright) rallied in the fifth chukker for a hardfought for a 5-5 tie with Victory Polo (Anna Palacios, Jennifer Williams, Valentina Villamil, Becky Schmeits, Julia Kline).
With Victory Polo leading 5-2 going into the final chukker, Camp Polo came up with three goals, one by von Falkenhausen, one from Hinkson and penalty conversion by Duncan.
Victory Polo opened the game with a goal from Williams in the first chukker for a 1-0 lead. Villamil and Kline scored for Victory Polo and Hinkson scored Camp Polo’s first goal to trail, 3-1.
Victory Polo took a 5-2 advantage in the third chukker with goals from Palacios and Villamil. Duncan scored for Camp Polo.
The teams battled to a scoreless tie in the fourth chukker. In the fifth and final chukker, Camp Polo shut out Victory Polo while scoring three goals for the tie from Hinkson, von Falkenhausen and Duncan.
Price and Wright made their league season debut. “They had great fun and played well,” according to league co-founder Alina Carta.
Camp Polo got balanced scoring from its lineup. Hinkson and von Falkenhausen each had two goals and Duncan added one. Villamil led Victory Polo with two goals. Palacios, Williams and Kline each had one.
Ten players, some subbing in and out, competed over five chukkers. The teams were evenly-matched with players of all levels. The weekly league games continue next Wednesday and runs through April.
The oldest women’s league, along with the April WCT Finals at Grand Champions, honors Hall of Famer Sunny Hale, who died on February 26, 2017, in Norman, Okla. at age 48 from breast cancer.
The women’s league annually awards SunnyShips, scholarships honoring the legacy of Hale. Ava Hinkson, Hope Arellano, Alyson Poor and Malicia von Falkenhausen are among past recipients.
The world’s oldest weekly women’s polo league was created by Alina Carta, one of the highest ranked women in the U.S. in the 1980s, and Melissa Ganzi, Grand Champions Polo Club President, World Polo League co-founder and avid player.
All team entry fees from the weekly league benefit The Polo School, a stand-alone USPA-sanctioned club.
During the winter polo season, Grand Champions Polo Club, the nation’s largest and most innovative USPA-sanctioned polo club cradled in the heart of the world’s winter equestrian capital, hosts a wide range of tournaments: 6, 8, 12, 20, and 26-goal leagues, 26-goal World Polo League, The Polo School Women’s Weekly Polo League, WCT Finals, several Polo Training Foundation junior tournaments, World Polo League Pride and Sunset Chukkers & Cocktails at both Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and short work arena. The club has 10 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
The Polo School, now located at the former Pony Express facility, operates in Wellington January through May and September through November. The stand-alone USPA-sanctioned polo club is dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. The Polo School has nurtured several junior, men and women polo players now playing in the pro and amateur ranks since its inception.
For more information on leagues or Polo School contact Juan Bollini at 561-346-1099 or Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.