Dec 05, 2019 8:20 PM
Story Courtesy of Aspen Valley Polo Club/Sharon Robb.
The St. Regis World Snow Polo Championship, one of the world's top snow polo tournaments and only snow polo event in the United States, begins Wednesday, December 18, with qualifying games at Aspen Valley Polo Club in Carbondale, Colorado, and continues Thursday and Friday at Rio Grande Parking in Aspen, Colorado, in front of an expected sellout crowd and worldwide ChukkerTV audience.
An evening of fun is set for Tuesday, December 17, at St. Regis Aspen Resort in Aspen, Colorado, with the always entertaining draw and team introduction during a cocktail reception where team pairings and sponsors will be announced. U.S. Polo Assn.’s U.S. licensing partner will be providing custom jerseys for all the teams competing. Additionally, U.S. Polo Assn. will have a team competing in this year’s tournament. For the seventh consecutive year, Aspen Valley Polo Club owners Melissa and Marc Ganzi will host the event along with polo ambassador and St. Regis Connoisseur Nacho Figueras and his wife Delfina.
The sport was first played on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, Switzerland, created by Swiss hotelier and polo visionary Reto Gaudenzi, in 1985 and has been growing in popularity ever since, attracting thousands of spectators and top players from around the world. In addition to St. Moritz, snow polo is played in other winter sports communities, such as Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), Kitzbuhel (Austria), Courchevel (France) and Tianjin (China). In the United States, snow polo is held exclusively in Aspen, Colorado.
With the majestic 12,965-foot summit of Mount Sopris in Colorado as a backdrop, Aspen Valley Polo Club is one of the busiest and fastest growing USPA-sanctioned clubs in the nation. Since Marc and Melissa Ganzi founded the club in 2014, polo has increased in popularity in Aspen and surrounding cities with the club's offerings of various weekly outdoor and arena tournaments, as well as practice sessions for teams competing in club tournaments. Aspen Valley Polo Club has had a positive impact in the area hosting kids polo camps, teaching lessons and several charitable events that have benefitted local charities, including the Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation.
Photo courtesy of ©Aspen Valley Polo Club.
Effective Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020
The suspension of USPA Tournaments and Events will be lifted for USPA Member Clubs in locales where hosting polo matches and tournaments is permitted under applicable state and local laws, executive orders and similar decrees. The USPA Member Clubs in these locales are encouraged to follow all such requirements of their state and local authorities with respect to polo operations. In addition, we also encourage all USPA Member Clubs to take the precautions recommended by the CDC. We are preparing a detailed list of best practices for USPA Member Clubs as they return to hosting USPA Tournaments and Events and plan to circulate these guidelines within the next week. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely and will notify you if we determine a different course of action is necessary.
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