DIVISION II WOMEN'S NATIONAL INTERCOLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Division II Women’s National Intercollegiate Championship tournament is part of the United States Polo Association's Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) polo program, which is dedicated to growing the sport by providing maximum exposure, recruiting collegiate and scholastic institutions, coordinating activities, and organizing competition. Supporting this mission, the I/I program has experienced tremendous growth in recent years.
Developed from a targeted initiative to grow collegiate polo, the USPA and I/I leadership groups divided the intercollegiate system into Division I and Division II polo, leading to an increase in the number of emerging teams competing in spring tournaments and the number of competitive games at every level.
Division assignments are based on the strength of teams as determined by rosters, a team’s regular season scores, and the strength of their schedule. In addition, women’s and men’s teams from the same school are not required to play in the same division, allowing teams to participate at an appropriate level. Teams are able to move back and forth between the divisions from year to year to accommodate for student matriculation and annual roster changes.
In a competitive and successful inaugural season, the 2022 Division II Women’s National Intercollegiate Championship hosted by Legends Polo Club in Kaufman, Texas, saw University of Connecticut (Kylie Dalton, Rylyn Koger, Elizabeth Leudesdorff, Madison Robicheau, Toni Moore) fiercely battle the Texas Tech University (Lexie Harlan, Brianna Wolkober, Mary Kate Ratliff, Jordyn Rizzuto, Tatijana Mirski). As the final horn sounded, UCONN triumphed 15-11 over the Texas Tech to capture the inaugural Division II Women’s National Intercollegiate Championship title in a groundbreaking game for intercollegiate polo. Read article here.
Shifting to the Golden State, this year's edition of the Division II Women's National Intercollegiate Championship will by hosted by Central Coast Polo Club (Los Osos, California) and will feature five teams including defending champions and 2023 Northeastern Regional Champions UCONN.
Oklahoma State University (Central Regional Champions) will make their Division II debut, with newcomer University of Wisconsin-Madison (Southeastern Regional Champions) seeking to make an impression. California natives, California Polytechnic State University (Wildcard) will battle for their first championship, alongside University of California Davis (Western Regional Champions) to round out the competition.
Photo: 2022 Division II Women's National Intercollegiate Championship Winners: UCONN - Toni Moore, Madison Robicheau, Kylie Dalton, Rylyn Koger, Elizabeth Leudesdorff. Pictured with Coach Anders Carlton. ©David Murrell
