NATIONAL SHERMAN MEMORIAL
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The National Sherman Memorial, established in 1935, is played to honor George C. Sherman Sr., a giant of arena polo. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious arena polo tournaments in the United States Polo Association.
Known as the “father of indoor polo,” George C. Sherman Sr. was almost single-handedly responsible for organizing and refining this now-popular variation of the sport. He introduced the inflatable ball, redesigned the standard polo equipment for the arena game’s specific needs and modified the rules of outdoor play for arena use.
Sherman Sr. was the founder and first president of the Indoor Polo Association (1915-1926), which merged with the USPA in 1956. He was zealous in bringing young players into the sport, presenting the Interscholastic Cup in 1928. Since all intercollegiate and interscholastic polo is now played in the arena, he may be said to have sired this invaluable training ground as well. The tournament was installed by his wife Helen and his son, Hall of Famer George C. Sherman Jr., an arena high goaler who also made important contributions to the sport as a USPA Chairman and one of the founding spirits of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame.
Consistently fielding deep competition in contemporary history, recent titleholders include Boston Polo Club (2018), Synergy Solutions (2019), Avalon Farm (2020), Avid (2021), Hotels at Sea (2022) and Core Polo (2023).
In 2023, Core Polo (Jim Deal, Andrew Baldwin, Blair Kelly) and Burdick Equine (Gabriel Boie, Tyler Burdick, Agustin Mauhum) faced off at Roseland Polo Club in Crozet, Virginia. Contributions from all three members of Core Polo combined to earn a narrow 12-11 victory.
Returning to Twilight Polo Club in Middleburg, Virginia, for the first time since 2022, four teams will battle in this year's edition of the National Sherman Memorial. Hotels at Sea will attempt to earn their second championship (2022), 2016 victors (Pie Town Javelinas) Daniel Coleman Sr. and Zak Coleman are hoping to reach the podium once more for Liberty Hall, with Burdick Equine and Piedmont Polo rounding out the talented competition.
Twilight Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the National Sherman Memorial, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or trophy reimbursements, 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 Sherman Memorial Champions: Core Polo - Jim Deal, Andrew Baldwin, Blair Kelly. ©Oana Moore
