Tag Archives: USPA

Grand Champions Polo Club’s Melissa Ganzi Elected to USPA Board of Governors

WELLINGTON, FL – August 24, 2013 — Melissa Potamkin Ganzi of Wellington has been elected to the Board of Governors for the United States Polo Association, the sport’s governing body.

Ganzi, owner of Grand Champions Polo Club, will begin her two-year term at the October 2-5 Fall Meetings at the Houstonian Hotel in Houston, Tex.

Ganzi is one of twelve new Governors-at-Large elected by USPA members.

Others elected to serve are Avery Chapman, an avid player at Grand Champions; Sunny Hale, top-ranked U.S. women’s player and host of the WCT Tournament at Grand Champions; former 10-goaler and Hall of Famer Memo Gracida; Valiente player-sponsor Bob Jornayvaz; former polo great Dale Smicklas, now WCT Commissioner; Steve Armour, Chrys Beal, Richard Caleel, Stevie Orthwein Jr., Russ Sheldon and Charles Smith.

USPA chairman Chuck Weaver called the newly-elected officers “a solid team that will move our association forward.”

Ganzi has played an active role in promoting polo at all levels and is one of the sport’s movers-and-shakers. She has been around horses her entire life and got involved in polo on and off the playing field more than a decade ago.

One of the nation’s top woman polo players, she plays professionally with and against men and is team captain of Piaget, based at Grand Champions. She and her husband, Marc, also a top amateur player, own and maintain the club year-round. She breeds and trains polo ponies at her Santa Rita Farm in Ocala, Fla.

Ganzi is all about diversity in polo. Her vision is to promote the sport of polo among the masses including kids and juniors, women and gay polo players. She would like to see polo embraced by the general public and mainstream sports followers and bring new people to the sport.

Ganzi has staged polo events including junior tournaments, International Gay Polo League Tournament, International Tournament, Women’s Championship Tournament, Polo School at Grand Champions and spring and fall seasons, which has nurtured several top rising juniors and pros at Grand Champions.

Ganzi is president and fund raiser for the National Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame Board of Directors and secretary-treasurer of the Polo Training Foundation.

Ganzi has launched an educational project, PET (Polo Education Tour) where she travels to various libraries in South Florida educating adults and children about polo with a full display of polo equipment while talking about the game.

Ganzi has won the Ylvisaker Cup and Butler Handicap Cup, Hall of Fame Cup, Bill Triller 20-Goal Tournament, Western Badge and Trophy 20-Goal, Mayors Cup, Miami Beach Polo World Cup, Aspen Snow Polo Championship, North America Cup, U.S. Open Women’s Tournament and played with Prince Charles, Prince Phillip and Prince Harry.

Ganzi has made history several times in the sport. She was the first woman ever to win the Monty Waterbury Cup in 2001, just one year after she started playing the game full-time. She is one of only a few women in the world to compete in the C. V. Whitney Cup, USPA Gold Cup and U.S. Open.

Earlier this year, Ganzi was honored during the Portrait Of A Woman Luncheon, part of Women’s History Month, for her significant long term contributions to individuals and various organizations and the positive impact she has had on the community, not only in polo, but charity work and organizations that specialize in helping the disabled. Grand Champions Polo Club has been a long-time employer of disabled workers.

The Ganzi family and support staff are currently preparing for the upcoming sixth fall season at Grand Champions.

The season will feature nine tournaments including two 20-goal tournaments in November. All tournaments are USPA-sanctioned and have grown in stature since their start in the mid-1990s.

GRAND CHAMPIONS FALL SCHEDULE

Sept. 27-29,Tackeria Invitational, Palm City Polo Club, Boca Raton
Oct. 4-6, USPA Fall Classic
Oct. 13-15, USPA Kay Colee Memorial
Oct. 18-20, US Trust Cup
Oct. 25-27, USPA Fall Plates
Oct. 30 – Nov. 9, USPA North America Cup
Nov. 1-3, Pedro Morrison Memorial
Nov. 8-10, Palm Restaurant Invitational
Nov. 13-24,The National 20-Goal Championship

GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB

WHERE: 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 561-644-5050.

INFORMATION: There are great field side views for tournament action at the home base of pro teams Audi and Piaget. Everyone is welcome to watch high and medium goal polo in a relaxed atmosphere during the spring and fall tournament season and other special events including the International Cup in November, Buzz Welker Memorial Junior Tournament in March, Women’s Championship Tournament and Gay Polo League International Tournament, both in April.

Sharon Robb for Phelps Media Group, Inc. International

MEDIA CONTACT:
Phelps Media Group, Inc.
12012 South Shore Blvd #105
Wellington, FL 33414
561-753-3389 (phone)
561-753-3386 (fax)
pmginfo@phelpsmediagroup.com
PhelpsMediaGroup.com

Gay Polo League to Donate 50 Percent of General Admission Ticket Sales to Palm Beach County Human Rights Council

Wellington, FL – December 13, 2010 – The Gay Polo League (GPL), the world’s only polo league for Gay, Lesbian Bisexual or Transgendered (GLBT) players, will return to Wellington in April of 2011 to host their second International Gay Polo Tournament.  The event will be held on Saturday April 2, 2011 at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, FL.  This year, half of the money raised from general admission tickets sold will go to support the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

The GPL is a United States Polo Association (USPA) official club and consists of all levels of polo players, from beginners to professionals. The USPA rates polo players based upon athletic abilities, playing skills, and tournament play time. Beginning at the lowest level “C”, players move up as they acquire knowledge and refine techniques, eventually getting to “B”, “A”, and then 0- 10, respectively. “A 10” is that coveted rating, and is only held by a few players in the world. Those players who established themselves as the best in the world are awarded with the “A 10” rating. Members of all different levels are seen throughout the GPL, as the only skill required for club members is to have a passion for the sport of polo.

After last year’s Gay Polo Tournament, The Village of Wellington (pop. 55,584) amended its Equal Employment Opportunity policy to prohibit discrimination based on both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” in Village employment. The policy covers the Village’s 258 employees.

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US Polo Association Announces the 2010 National Interscholastic Championship

The Cornell University Oxley Equestrian Center hosts 41st annual Championships

April 21, 2010 (Ithaca, NY) – The Cornell University Oxley Equestrian Center in Ithaca, NY will host the 41st annual USPA National Interscholastic Championship from April 21 – 24, 2010.  The annual polo competition is organized by the United States Polo Association (USPA).  Teams scheduled to compete include Culver Military Academy, Eldorado, Poway, Toronto, and Virginia Junior Polo Clubs and Cowtown Work to Ride (WTR). The Cowtown WTR program is part of a 501 c3, non-profit community-based prevention program that aids disadvantaged urban youth though constructive activities centered on horsemanship, equine sports and education located in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia.

The National Interscholastic Championship is part of the USPA’s Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) program.  One hundred and twenty-six teams participated in the program during the 2009/2010 season. The teams compete in regular games throughout the season to qualify for tournament play.  Fourteen interscholastic Girls’, 25 Interscholastic Open, 28 Intercollegiate Women’s and 16 Intercollegiate Men’s teams played in seventeen preliminary and regional tournaments throughout the country, all culminating in the national championships.

Continue reading US Polo Association Announces the 2010 National Interscholastic Championship