NATIONAL EIGHT GOAL
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Established in 2014, the National Eight Goal Tournament was held at the Houston Polo Club in Houston, Texas, for four consecutive years. After a two-year hiatus in 2018 and 2019, the tournament resumed in 2020, relocating to Beverly Polo Club in The Plains, Virginia. Capturing three victories (2014, 2016, 2017), Chrys Beal holds the most titles in the tournament's history, followed by Jorge Fernandez "Tolito" Ocampo Jr. (2020, 2021) and Bautista Micheletti (2022, 2023). Featuring numerous Virginia staples, recent champions include Beverly Equestrian (2020), Beverly 2 (2021), Point to Point/Highfields (2022) and Pineapples & Pussycats/Point to Point (2023).
In 2023, Pineapples & Pussycats/Point to Point (Audrey Wilde, Nelson Gunnell, Bautista Micheletti, Merrall Echezarreta, Roman "Vasco" Iriarte Sr.) faced off against Santa Aurelia (Barry Henderson, Charles Muldoon, Gonzalo "Gonza" Fucci, Zak Coleman), with Pineapples & Pussycats/Point to Point earning the narrow 9-7 victory.
Fielding many familiar faces, four competitive teams will vie for this year's edition of the National Eight Goal. Previous champions (2022) Michael Smith Liss and Francisco Rodriguez-Mera will seek their second title with RBC/Highfields, as Salamander's Bill Ballhaus hopes to return to the podium for the first time since 2020. Last year's finalists Barry Henderson, Gonzalo "Gonza" Fucci and Charles Muldoon will unite once more alongside Duilio Diaz for Santa Aurelia. Winning back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, Wil Ballhaus and Beverly Polo round out the talented competition.
Beverly Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the National Eight Goal, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or trophy reimbursements up to $1,200, one professional umpire and $2,500 in prize money at no extra cost.
The USPA originally created the Tournament Stimulus Package (TSP) to help member clubs host USPA events when the United States was emerging from the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. The USPA wanted to continue to support member clubs with TSP benefits in 2022. Therefore, it extended and expanded TSP under a new name - the Tournament Support Program. Each USPA Member Club can obtain TSP benefits for two USPA events, with the option of a third under specific circumstances.
Photo: 2023 National Eight Goal Champions: Pineapples & Pussycats/Point to Point - Roman “Vasco” Iriarte Sr., Merrall Echezarreta, Nelson Gunnell, Audrey Wilde, Bautista Micheletti. ©Rebekah Pizano
