REGIONAL PRESIDENT'S CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Established in 1998, the Regional President’s Cup has been reformatted in anticipation of the 2024 National President's Cup. Regional President’s Cup tournaments held nationwide now serve as qualifying tournaments for the National President’s Cup, bringing teams together representing clubs from around the country for the opportunity to compete at the National Polo Center (Wellington, Florida). The new format will encourage participation at the 4- to 8-goal level and restore the relationship between the two trophies. The National President's Cup will be hosted by NPC with the final slated for Sunday, April 21, on NPC Field 2.
Teams qualify to enter the National President’s Cup by winning a Regional President’s Cup. Any USPA Member Club can apply to host a Regional President’s Cup, however qualifying events will be awarded to only one Member Club in every circuit. The Florida Circuit, host of the National President’s Cup, will be the only exception, with four Regional President’s Cup events awarded to host clubs International Polo School (Loxahatchee, Florida), Port Mayaca Polo Club (Okeechobee, Florida), Grand Champions Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) and The Villages Polo Club (The Villages, Florida).
Winners of the Florida Circuit qualifying events will join Royal Bank Canada (Eastern Circuit), Riverview (Midstates Circuit), Amaro (Northeastern Circuit) and TR Turtles (Southwestern Circuit) for National President’s Cup contention.
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. Yet, if a player triumphs in more than one event but on different teams, that player must choose which team he or she would like to represent in the National President's Cup and the other team may use a substitute.
In 2023, Curator Polo (Jake Schaufeld, Vaughn Miller Jr., Ignacio "Nacho" Cabrera and Ignacio "Nachi" Viana) clashed against Virginia Beach (Abigail Frye, Hope Arellano, Alan Martinez, Omar Cepeda). Each undefeated in bracket play, the high-scoring affair led to one standout play from a sharpshooting Viana for Curator Polo's 14-13 victory.
Fielding a record 16 talented teams, the Regional President's Cup hosted by International Polo School (IPS) serves as the first Florida Circuit Regional President’s Cup qualifier. Beverly Polo, Bientina, ConcordEquityGroup.com, Flying H, Fox Den Polo, Highfields, Lost Creek Ranch, Marjing, Newport, Orea, RBC Wealth Management, Rinehart Polo, Santa Aurelia, Skaneateles, Travieso and Watch Out will battle for the title and opportunity to earn a coveted spot in the National President’s Cup.
Representing Team USPA are Active Members Lucas Escobar and Finn Secunda (ConcordEquityGroup.com), Jack Whitman (Watch Out), Hope Arellano (Rinehart Polo) and alumni Gates Gridley (Marjing) and Costi Caset (Skaneateles).
International Polo School will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the Regional President's Cup, 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 Regional President’s Cup Champions: Curator Polo - Ignacio "Nachi" Viana, Ignacio "Nacho" Cabrera, Vaughn Miller Jr., Jake Schaufeld. ©David Lominska
