Mar 31, 2020
In light of California Governor Gavin Newsom's "stay at home" proclamation, Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in Santa Barbara, California, finds it necessary to delay the start of the 2020 polo season. We want to do our part as global citizens to minimize travel and encourage our members to practice social distancing.
Here is a link to the full executive order and more information: https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/.
After consulting with our 12-goal teams and Board President, the club is implementing the plan below for the season. Please understand, the club is at the mercy of the State of California and the Coronavirus as much as everyone else, so we will continue to monitor the situation and recognize that some things are out of our control. In the horse world, we sometimes are afflicted with outbreaks of infectious diseases in horses such as strangles and Equine Herpesvirus (EHV), so we are following a similar protocol in our decision making while the world is under quarantine.
Friday, April 10 (Three weeks from today)
Evaluate the travel conditions and outlook mandated by the State. If things have improved, then a May 15 start date for 12-goal will be confirmed, so players can prepare horses appropriately for tournament polo. Practice would start May 7, 2020. The 12-goal schedule will continue for eight weeks through Sunday, July 5.
This is a tough, tough time. We have faith in the ability of our polo community to rally out of this. The club's focus during this time is SAFETY, honoring our commitments to our teams and continuing to provide a venue where jobs happen for all the players, grooms, blacksmiths, vets, hay providers and club and polo team support staff.
Please feel free to call or contact Polo Manager Melanja Jones with questions and concerns.
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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