Nov 21, 2016
Northwest Arkansas Polo Club one of the newest clubs to join the Great Plains Circuit in Gravette, Arkansas, combined its annual Chix with Stix Women's Arena Challenge with a Middle School Event this fall with great results.
Four teams entered the women's flight including two collegiate teams, Oklahoma State University (OSU) and Southern Methodist Univeristy (SMU). Seven youth entered including four players from the Bentonville, Arkansas, area with three players traveling from St. Louis, Missouri, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Dragonfly Polo with players Anne Branscum, Tina Natorp from Missouri along with local Arkansas resident Alexandra Hissom Buell won in a shootout over OSU 15 to 14 in the women's division. Natrop's gelding Cowboy received Best Playing Pony.
NWA youth players Alex Swope Bell, Jordan Cook and St. Louis' Winifred Branscum won the youth event over Jose Tadeo, Emma Johnson, Marguerite Johnson and Jaden Porter. Porter's gelding Britain received Best Playing Pony.
Visit Bentonville supported the event with a $1,000 grant and players were treated to a VIP reception at the impressive Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The event also raised $1,700 for Saving Grace, a local nonprofit that helps young women transition out of foster care.
Players from across the Great Plains Circuit gathered in Goshen, Arkansas, this fall lending time and talent to play in a charity match benefiting Lifestyles Inc., which helps individuals with disabilities in Northwest Arkansas to live successfully in the community.
The event was held at the Buell Farm and included Walmart and Wells Fargo as team sponsors with local NWA Polo Club as a tailgate sponsor. An estimated 1,200 people attended the event which raised approximately $110,000.
The match was tied 4 to 4 at the end of the fourth chukker. The players elected for a shootout to settle the tie with event creator Dr. Brian Buell scoring the winning goal. Robson Macartney, a Cave Springs, Arkansas, resident and a Culver Academies senior as well as polo team captain was the youngest player on the field at 17. Greg Summers' Isabella was awarded Best Playing Pony and Buell received Most Valuable Player.
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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