U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP® | U.S. POLO ASSN.

March 10 - 19, 2023

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP® PRESENTED BY EASTERN HAY

All games of the U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship will be livestreamed exclusively on the USPA Polo Network.

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship has a profound history dating back to the 1930s in California. The first women’s U.S. Open tournament was presented by the United States Women’s Polo Association (U.S.W.P.A) in 1937 at Golden Gate Field in San Francisco, California. Riviera (Louise Tracey, Dorothy Rodgers, Audrey Scott, Ruth Cropp) defeated Santa Barbara 9-4 to capture the inaugural title. The U.S.W.P.A., the first and only women’s polo association in the history of American polo, created a women’s handicapping system mirroring that of the men, with one nine-goal player and several eight-goal players. The U.S.W.P.A. played eight to 10 tournaments a year accumulating 300 members and 25 clubs in its 10-year tenure. At the onset of World War II however, the women focused their attention towards the war effort.

Women were officially welcomed into the United States Polo Association (USPA) in 1972 with Sue Sally Hale becoming one of the first woman members. The modern U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship competition did not resurface until the early 1990s.

On the centennial anniversary of the USPA in 1990, a U.S. Women’s Open was officially sanctioned and held at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Appropriately, Hale along with her two daughters, Sunny and Stormie captured the title with teammate Caroline Anier. In an electrifying overtime match, Empire defeated Palmera Hanalei Bay 10-9, with Anier scoring the sudden-death goal in the seventh chukker.

After a few years of competition at Empire Polo Club, U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship competition once again lost momentum. It was officially recognized as a national tournament in 2011, and was hosted at Houston Polo Club (Houston, Texas) until it found a permanent home in South Florida in 2018.

The most prestigious cup in women's polo in the United States, the 2023 U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship presented by Eastern Hay will be hosted by Port Mayaca Polo Club (PMPC) in Okeechobee, Florida. Preliminary games will take place at PMPC, with the final slated for Sunday, March 19 at 3:00pm ET, on U.S. Polo Assn. Field One at the National Polo Center - Wellington (NPC).

Spectating from the NPC stadium, private boxes, fieldside tailgates and special hospitality tents all overlooking U.S. Polo Assn. Field One is an unparalleled experience available for the U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship Final. Tickets can be purchased at nationalpolocenter.com.

In 2022, Hawaii Polo Life's (Cecily Coors, Pamela Flanagan, Mia Cambiaso, Hazel Jackson) dominant and unified play landed them back into finals contention for the fourth consecutive year (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022). Facing a skillful and prepared opponent in Blue Water (Sophie Grant, Kylie Sheehan, Izzy Parsons, Meghan Shader-Jumet), a determined Hawaii Polo Life utilized the experience and dynamism of Jackson and Cambiaso resulting in a resounding 8-3 title victory and for the first time in U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship history, $30,000 in prize money. Read article here.

This year's edition of the U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship will feature many familiar faces spanning five talented teams. Reigning victors Pamela Flanagan and Hazel Jackson will team up once more under a new team name - La Fe. Their former teammate Mia Cambiaso will be joining Dundas. Making her U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship debut for La Fe is Winifred Branscum, who looks to continue her steady rise following her victory in the 2022 National Youth Tournament Series (NYTS) Girls' Championship. 2022 runner-up Sophie Grant will unite with her older sister Maddie for BTA, while Kylie Sheehan returns on San Saba. El Cid Fitness will round-out the competition.

Representing Team USPA are Active Members Hope Arellano (La Fe) and Sophie Grant (BTA) and alumna Kylie Sheehan (San Saba). 10-goalers competing this year include Nina Clarkin (Dundas) and 2022 U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship's Most Valuable Player Hazel Jackson (La Fe).

Additionally, The U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship with the sponsorship of Eastern Hay and the USPA Tournament Support Program, will award $40,000. The prize will be split between first ($30,000) and second ($10,000) place teams.

Port Mayaca Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship, 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: 2022 U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship Winners: Hawaii Polo Life - Hazel Jackson, Mia Cambiaso, Pamela Flanagan, Cecily Coors. Pictured with team owner Chris Dawson. ©David Lominska

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

TITLE SPONSOR

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

Following bracket play, all teams will have played two games. Teams will be ranked 1-5 based on record. In the event of tied records, a shootout will be used as a tiebreaker. The top four ranked teams will advance to the semifinals.

Semifinal parings: If possible, teams will play a team they have not faced in bracket play. Otherwise semifinal pairings will be determined by draw.

TEAMS AND ROSTERS

Bracket I

Bracket II

Bracket III

Bracket IV

Bracket V

Bracket VI

Bracket VII

Bracket VIII

Bracket IX

Bracket X

La Fe (3-1)

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Winifred Branscum
Women's Outdoor: 1
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Pamela Flanagan
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Hope Arellano
Women's Outdoor: 8
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Hazel Jackson
Women's Outdoor: 10

Dundas (3-1)

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Ana de la Fuente
Substitute
Outdoor: 1
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Erica Gandomcar-Sachs
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Mia Cambiaso
Women's Outdoor: 8
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Carina 'Nina' Clarkin
Women's Outdoor: 10
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Sarah Siegel-Magness
Injured
Women's Outdoor: 1
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Valentina Tarazona
Substitute
Outdoor: 1

San Saba (1-2)

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Dawn Jones
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Kylie Sheehan
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Lottie Lamacraft
Alternate
Women's Outdoor: 6
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Isabelle 'Izzy' Parsons
Women's Outdoor: 8
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Gillian Johnston
Injured
Women's Outdoor: 6

BTA (1-2)

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Sophie Grant
Women's Outdoor: 5
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KC Krueger
Women's Outdoor: 6
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Maddie Grant
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Sarah Wiseman
Women's Outdoor: 7
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Anna Palacios
Substitute
Women's Outdoor: 5

EL Cid Fitness (0-2)

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Heather Souto
Women's Outdoor: 5
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Mili Sanchez
Women's Outdoor: 8
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Fatima Balzano
Women's Outdoor: 6
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Cecelia Cochran
Women's Outdoor: 5

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

TOURNAMENT GAMES

Friday, Mar 10, 2023

March 10

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

EL Cid Fitness logo

EL Cid Fitness (0-2)

2

Dundas logo

Dundas (3-1)

10

March 10

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

BTA logo

BTA (1-2)

6

La Fe logo

La Fe (3-1)

5

Sunday, Mar 12, 2023

March 12

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

Dundas logo

Dundas (3-1)

7

San Saba logo

San Saba (1-2)

5

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2023

March 14

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

EL Cid Fitness logo

EL Cid Fitness (0-2)

3

La Fe logo

La Fe (3-1)

11

March 14

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

BTA logo

BTA (1-2)

5

San Saba logo

San Saba (1-2)

6

Thursday, Mar 16, 2023

March 16

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

Dundas logo

Dundas (3-1)

8

BTA logo

BTA (1-2)

5

March 16

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

Port Mayaca Polo Club

La Fe logo

La Fe (3-1)

8

San Saba logo

San Saba (1-2)

3

Sunday, Mar 19, 2023

March 19

Final

U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship®

National Polo Center - Wellington

Dundas logo

Dundas (3-1)

6

La Fe logo

La Fe (3-1)

12

U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

HOST CLUB

Situated in South Florida, surrounded by vast sugar cane fields and the popular fishing body of Lake Okeechobee, Port Mayaca Polo Club (PMPC) has steadily become a destination for winter polo. Located on more than 600 sprawling acres, the club has eight regulation fields, club barns with 220 stalls, an exercise track, a stick-and-ball field, a clubhouse and several acres of pastures for turnout and trail riding.

While consistent, quality polo is at the forefront of the club’s objectives, a tight-knit sense of community supports it. The club hosts a lunch or cookout after every club practice. A beautiful pavilion style clubhouse provides an enjoyable gathering place for players to congregate and discuss their latest game.

A participating club in the inaugural Florida Circuit Super-Series initiatives, Port Mayaca Polo Club will host a qualifying event in the 16-Goal Super-Series (Joe Barry Memorial), and two qualifiers in the 8-Goal Super-Series (Regional President's Cup and Association Cup, co-hosted by International Polo School in Wellington, Florida). PMPC will also serve as the host club for the prestigious U.S. Open Women's Polo Championship.


12499 SW Conners Hwy
Okeechobee, FL 34974
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U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S POLO CHAMPIONSHIP®

THE VENUE

The National Polo Center – Wellington (NPC) is located in the heart of South Florida’s legendary horse country. The perpetual home for polo in America, NPC is owned and managed by the United States Polo Association to showcase the finest the sport has to offer.

The Association’s premier event, the Gauntlet of Polo, takes place from February to April each winter season showcasing the world’s preeminent teams, professional athletes and finest horses which come together for three months to battle head-to-head for the coveted C.V. Whitney Cup, USPA Gold Cup and U.S. Open Polo Championship trophies. Throughout the year, the facilities are also used to showcase USPA Member Clubs and prestigious national tournament competitions including the anticipated finals of the Florida Circuit 8-Goal Super-Series Championship and Florida Circuit 16-Goal Super-Series Championship.

The entrance to the club is via a palm tree-lined drive, that leads past tennis courts to the steps of the magnificent pool and Mallet Grille. The natural Florida terrain is augmented by a large lake, lush tropical landscaping and some of the most carefully manicured polo fields in the world. Spectating from the stadium, private boxes, fieldside tailgates and special hospitality tents, all overlooking the U.S. Polo Assn. Field One, is an unparalleled experience.

NPC invites you to experience the best polo in the country, taking place at one of the most beautiful venues in the world, the National Polo Center – Wellington.


3667 120th Ave S
Wellington, FL 33414
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