OUTBACK CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Outback Cup, formerly the Outback Invitational, made its debut at Patagones Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) in 2022 as part of the Wellington Polo Tour (WPT). In the inaugural final, Palm Beach Equine (Scott Swerdlin, Raul "Gringo" Colombres, Lucas Criado Jr., Kristos "Keko" Magrini) defeated Tonkawa 15-12. Originally held as a USPA sanctioned event, the Outback Cup was elevated to a national tournament in 2024, joining the ranks of the most prestigious Association tournaments.
The Outback Cup will serve as the fourth qualifying leg of four prestigious national tournaments (Joe Barry Memorial, Ylvisaker Cup, Iglehart Cup) culminating in the NPC 16-Goal Championship. Qualifiers are played across multiple clubs, with the championship final hosted on Sunday, April 13, at the National Polo Center – Wellington (NPC). Participating clubs include Port Mayaca Polo Club (Okeechobee, Florida) and the WPT, led by Patagones Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) and a series of private fields falling under the WPT umbrella.
In accordance with the Tournament Conditions, each team participating in a qualifying event earns points towards eligibility for the championship. Teams that win a qualifier are awarded 25 points, second place teams in a qualifier receive five points and a team that comes in third or fourth place receive one point. To reinforce the idea that all participation is encouraged, players may compete in as many events as they would like on either the same team or on different teams. If a player qualifies on more than one team, that player must choose which team he or she would like to compete with in the Championship, and the other team may use a substitute. Qualifying teams must maintain at least two of their original members in order to play in the championship.
In 2024, Copperline Farm (Ben Ketchum, Nicolas "Nico" Escobar, Felipe "Pipe" Vercellino, Lucas Escobar) faced-off against 90210 Polo (Sarah Siegel-Magness, Louis Hine, Jesse Bray, Geronimo Obregon). Trailing by one goal entering the final chukker, three conversions from Copperline Farm's leading scorer Vercellino lifted the team in blue to a nail-biting 11-10 victory.
Concluding the WPT season's 16-goal action, this year's competition will feature 10 teams, including Joe Barry Memorial victors, Zapican BMW and Ylvisaker Cup champions, Bientina, alongside 90210, Dracarys, Flying H, Las Brisas, Los Machitos/El Refugio, SD Farms, Palm Beach Equine and Tonkawa.
Representing Team USPA is Active Member Mackenzie Weisz (Tonkawa). Team USPA alumni include Jesse Bray and Geronimo Obregon (90120), Santino Magrini (Flying H) and Felipe Viana (Zapican BMW).
Patagones Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Bridge to High Goal Initiative (B2HG) for the Outback Cup, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with three USPA Professional Umpires (two mounted officials and one third man) at 50% of the regular cost to the club.
The B2HG has been created to support polo between 12 and 16 goals. The goal of the program is to build a bridge from low goal to high-goal polo that provides a safe environment for competition which will allow for the cultivation of team owners and the advancement of aspiring professionals.
Photo: 2024 Outback Cup Champions: Copperline Farm - Ben Ketchum, Nico "Nicolas" Escobar, Felipe "Pipe" Vercellino, Lucas Escobar. ©David Lominska
