OPEN NATIONAL INTERSCHOLASTIC CHAMPIONSHIP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The USPA Open National Interscholastic 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.
Established in 1928, the winners of the Open National Interscholastic Championship are awarded the George C. Sherman trophy. In 2019, Prestonwood Polo Club defeated Houston Polo Club 13-11 behind the duo of Johann and Niklaus Felhaber at Brookshire Polo Club (Brookshire, Texas). Cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Open National Interscholastic Championship was played for at Virginia Polo Inc. (Charlottesville, Virginia), where Gardnertown Polo Club (Winston Painter, Vlad Tarashansky, Jonathan Wallace) met top seeded Houston Polo Club (Lance Stefanakis, Ashvath Bhatia, Will Mudra, Joe Bob Lequerica) in the final. Playing especially strong in the second half, Gardnertown exploded offensively in the final period to seal their first ever championship win 21-10.
After an unconventional 2021 Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) season where the traditional preliminary and regional tournaments were unable to be hosted due to local and state COVID-19 restrictions on Youth Sports, the I/I program offered clubs USPA I/I Circuit Level events to host throughout the season. With no regular regional format for teams to qualify for nationals, the National Host Tournament Committee (NHTC) opted to use a wildcard system in selecting teams to advance. The Committee used results from both Circuit Level I/I Challenge Cups as well as any games qualified teams played from September 1 through April 18 to be used in consideration. In addition, the Committee welcomed teams to submit game footage for review. The NHTC, select umpires and committee members poured over hours of video, hundreds of scoresheets, and rosters to make their selection.
Returning to Brookshire Polo Club for the first time since 2019, a new Open National Interscholastic champion will be crowned. 2021 finalists Houston Polo Club will look to avenge last year's loss and will be challenged by four competitive teams including Aiken Polo Club, Yale Polo Club, Harvard-Crimson Polo Club and Lakeside Polo Club.
2021 Open National Interscholastic Championship Winners: Gardnertown Polo Club - Coach Bill Denker, Winston Painter, Vlad Tarashansky, Jonathan Wallace, Coach Dan Scott. ©Oana Moore
