Newport Polo Club Names 2008 Individual Achievement
Standouts
October 18,
2008, Newport, RI….The recipients of the Newport Polo Club’s
annual Most Improved Player Award and Sportsmanship Award
were named at the end-of-season Players Dinner on Saturday evening,
Oct. 18th at Asterisk in Newport.
As per club
tradition, members of the Newport Polo Club cast their votes each
autumn to distinguish two individuals from among their peers for
achievement and performance in the sport of polo over the course of
the past season. The categories are: Most Improved Player,
as defined by the player who demonstrated the greatest improvement
over the course of the season, compared to their level of play in
the previous season, and overall improvement above their previous
level of play, independent of the player's USPA handicap rating; and
Sportsmanship, as embodied by a player who demonstrated the
highest form of sportsmanship and good character on and off the
field.
The 2008 nominees
for Most Improved Player, as named by their peers, were
Don Black, Dave Bullis, Terri Campbell, Minnie Keating, Dennis
Mikolich, Heather Rasulis, Steve Smith, Sam Shore, Christer Still,
Stephanie Still and Bridget Torrey. The most votes went
to Minnie Keating.
The 2008 nominees
for Sportsmanship were: Don Black, Dori Burner, Dave
Carrington, Jim D’Angelis, Peter Friedman, Jim Garner, Gene
Goldstein, Wayne Gordon, Jonathan Kaye, Dan Keating, Minnie Keating,
Heather Rasulis, Kathleen Reagan, Steve Smith, Sam Shore and
Jim Zynsky. The most votes went to Steve Smith.
The perpetual
silver bowls were unveiled with the names of the current and past
recipients, and presented to keep for one year. Past recipients of
the Most Improved Player Award are: Paul Rice (’04),
Wayne Gordon (’04), Sam Shore (’05), and Jonas
Mikolich (’06). Past recipients of the Sportsmanship Award
are: Jim Zynsky (’04), Jonathan Kaye/Jim Zynsky (’04),
Jackie Shore/Jim Zynsky (’05) and Jonathan Kaye (’06).
Pro-Am
& Clinic a
Win-Win For
Intercollegiate Polo Clubs
September, 2008, Portsmouth, RI…The top polo pros in
New England took to the field and did not disappoint on
Saturday, Sept. 20th in the
Newport International
Polo Series’ inaugural
Pro-Am, an exciting new event in its 2008
lineup, created to support intercollegiate polo clubs in the
Northeast. The match was sponsored by
Atlass Insurance Group and Fireman's Fund.
The Pro-Am was created to help raise
funds and provide an ample dose of professional skill and
instruction for intercollegiate polo clubs in the Northeast,
including Brown, Yale, Vassar, UConn,
Harvard, Skidmore, Boston College, Cornell, UMass
and the URI equestrian team, among others.
“We’re glad to get behind the
intercollegiate polo movement to give the younger generation an
opportunity to take up the sport at an earlier age and go further
with it”, explains Dan Keating, Founder and President of the Polo
Series. According to the United States Polo Association,
intercollegiate polo clubs are on the rise nation-wide, numbering
over 41 that compete in USPA-organized leagues, tournaments and
national championships.
The match pitted rival pros
Matthew Fonseca from Argentina against
Selby Williamson from South Africa, backed up by some of the
region's top amateurs to create one of the most competitive matches
in the Polo Series’ history. The event will become an annual
fixture in the Polo Series’ September schedule, to feature top
players in the sport.
For the full match write-up and
slideshows from the match, click here.
The pros also served as instructors
in a weekend skills clinic for the intercollegiate polo students,
generously underwritten by the
Newport Polo Education Foundation. For details and photos from
the skills clinic, click here.
Some intercollegiate clubs took advantage of the fundraising
opportunity of selling tickets on campus, valid for any September
match of the 2008 Polo Series, and kept 100% of the proceeds to
support their intercollegiate clubs.
Polo Series & Red Cross
Team Up in Hurricane Cup
August 23, 2008, Newport, RI: …
Newport was
defeated 13-11 by regional rival
Dari Farms of VT in the Red Cross Hurricane Cup
at on Saturday, August 23rd at 5pm but all was not lost as
the match benefitted
the RI Chapter of the American
Red Cross in its Hurricane Preparedness Program, with a
portion of the proceeds earmarked for relief to victims of the 2008
hurricane season through the National Disaster Relief Fund.
The Red Cross
raised over $1,100 through the sale of bottled water and raffle tickets.
They had two inflatable 'air shelter' tents on display with information
available on Hurricane Preparedness. Raffle prizes were awarded at the match, including a Bose Wave
Stereo.
The American Red Cross Rhode Island Chapter
is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief
to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for, and
respond to emergencies.
“In the past, our supportive fans and sponsors united to help us raise
over $5,000 in cash for victims of Hurricane Katrina on one occasion,
and over $1,000 lbs of emergency supplies on another occasion for
hurricane victims in Jamaica,” stated Dan Keating, founder and
president of the Polo Series. “We believe that every little bit helps,
and combining resources with the American Red Cross will multiply our
results in the future to give greater help to those in need.”
(For the complete report on the match,
click here.)
Polo Ball '08 All Time High in Fun &
Fundraising
Newport, RI,
…The social highlight of Newport’s
2008 summer polo season was the 8th
annual
International Polo Ball charity
gala to benefit the Newport Polo
Education Foundation. The 'sold out' annual black tie gala was held on
Friday, Aug. 1st
at
Rosecliff ~
one
of Newport’s most glamorous mansions .
Nearly 300 guests
clad in Egyptian
or disco-inspired formal wear greeted the guests of honor, the Egyptian
Polo Team during the event, themed Friday Night Fever, while
sipping cocktails on the terrace overlooking the gardens and sea and
nibbling on divine hors d'oeuvres before dining on a gourmet
Pharaoh’s feast prepared by Plantation Catering (voted Best
Caterer in Rhode Island in 2007), then disco dancing in Studio 548, and
bidding on fabulous live and
silent auction items, with proceeds to
support the
Newport Polo Education Foundation,
The popular summer soiree, now in its
eighth year, attracted enthusiasts and polo players from all across the US and
abroad for a weekend of fun in the glamorous
seaside resort. From NYC to Palm Beach, St. Louis, to
Boston, the left coast, and Cairo to Newport they came, topping all
previous galas in attendance and in monies raised for the Foundation.
For all the details from the gala and weekend visitors' package, click
here.
Pearls Charity Cup Nets
$3,000+ for Breast Cancer Research
July 26, 2008 Newport, RI: … The Newport
International Polo Series featured the home team ~ Newport against a regional rival
sponsored by Pearls Boutique Hotels on Sat., July 26th in the Pearls
Charity Cup, raising over $3,000 for breast cancer research.
Pearls Boutique Hotels
sponsored the match and co-hosted a fundraising endeavor with the
Newport International Polo Series to raise money for breast cancer
research, prevention, care and the cure. Proceeds will go to the
Susan G. Komen Foundation of New England. Benefactors included
All Occasion
Transportation, Civetti & Longo Family,
Comfort Green
Buildings, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Legacy Yachts, Newport
Harbor Corporation,
PDQ Printing & Design, The Hinckley Company, Winebow Inc., Yale Women’s
Polo Team/Olsen Photographic, and
YellowPages.com.
Spectators were encouraged to wear pearls and 'pink' to show
their
support!
Teams in the Northeast Circuit of polo clubs travel far and wide to
establish dominance over one another in the region, in multi-team
tournaments and single-elimination matches. Playing for
Newport were Heather Rasulis and Dennis Mikolich
alternating in the #1 position, Chip Steigler at #2, Dan
Keating at #3 and Leonard Nihan at #4. Pearls' roster
included Amy Rice at #1, Wayne Gordon at #2, Dave
Bullis at #3 and Ted Torrey at #4.
Newport got off to a 4-0 lead in the first chukker with 2 goals by
Keating, 1 by Steigler and a penalty conversion point by
Rasulis. Pearls got on the board in the second period with a
goal by Gordon but Steigler's goal eliminated the gain
momentarily until Pearls' Bullis and Torrey continued the
attack with a goal and penalty conversion point to narrow the gap to
5-3. Rasulis scored a solo point in the third chukker to
end the half in Newport's favor, 6-3.
(Click here for full story.)
Rotary Charity Match
Raises Funds for Scholarships
Newport Rotary Club's Scholarships & Charitable Programs
July 4th, 2008 Newport, RI: … The Newport
Rotary Club hosted their 14th annual Charity Match at Glen Farm in
conjunction with the Newport Polo Club, pitting Newport Red Lights
against Rotary. The match was rescheduled to Independence
Day after a rain-out in May.
Playing for Newport Red Lights were Christer Still at #1,
Sam Shore at #2, Wayne Gordon at #3 and Don Black
at #4. Rotary's roster included Dori Burner at #1,
Jim Garner at #2, Bridget Torrey and Steve Smith
alternating at #3, and Jonathan Kaye at #4.
Newport Red Lights did all the
scoring in the opening chukker, with
penalty conversions by Black and Shore plus a goal by
Still for a 3-0 lead. In the second period, Kaye
mustered up a point for Rotary but his teammates were lackluster,
allowing the next 5 points to go to Newport Red Lights with a penalty
conversion and goal by Shore, a pair of goals from Gordon
and another point from Still to end the chukker 7-1. In the
third chukker, Gordon scored a hat trick for Newport Red Lights,
while Kaye converted a penalty shot for Rotary's second point of
the match, to trail 10-2 at the half.
(Click here for full story.)
International
Polo Ball ‘08 Unveiled ~
Friday Night Fever
May 1st, 2008, Newport, RI,
…The social highlight of Newport’s
2008 summer polo season will be the 8th
annual
International Polo Ball charity
gala to benefit the Newport Polo
Education Foundation. The annual black tie gala will be held on
Friday, Aug. 1st at one
of Newport’s most glamorous locations ~
Rosecliff .
Guests of honor will be the Egyptian Polo Team. The evening,
themed Friday Night Fever, will include cocktails on the
terrace overlooking the gardens and sea, gourmet Pharaoh’s feast,
disco dancing in Studio 548, and a live and silent auction
with fabulous items on which to bid, with proceeds to support the
Newport Polo Education Foundation,
The popular summer soiree, now in its eighth year, attracts
polo players and enthusiasts from the US and abroad
for a weekend of fun in the glamorous
seaside resort. Festivities continue the following day,
Sat., Aug. 2nd with a Tribute Match between USA
and Egypt in the Newport International Polo Series. The
match will conclude with an award ceremony and an authentic New
England lobsterbake.
USPA members are invited
to participated in club chukkers on Sun.,
Aug. 3rd
as the guests of the Newport Polo Club.
Pony leasing can be arranged thru Dori Burner (239) 989-2011 or Ted Torrey (401) 662-0781.
Early-bird pricing for advanced ticket purchases includes a
$25 discount off the full ticket price of $175 = $150 through
June 15th. (Patron tables of 10 also available.) Dinner tickets
include cocktails, dinner, & dancing from 7:00pm-midnight.
Cocktail tickets are also available for $75/person for
cocktails & dancing from 9:30-midnight. Tickets can be purchased
online at
www.poloeducationfoundation.org or by calling (239) 989-2011 or
(401) 847-7090. Dinner seating is limited.
Lodging is reserved at Pearls of Newport boutique hotels for
out of town visitors. For booking, please call 401-848-0061
or email:
ray@pearlsofnewport.com
Gala
co-chairs Dori Burner & Matthew Fonseca from the
Newport Polo Club
anticipate a very entertaining event, adding, “We are
dedicated to helping the Newport Polo Education Foundation foster the sport here
in Newport, polo’s American birthplace, and we are grateful to the community for
supporting Newport’s grand polo tradition." Proceeds from the gala benefit the
Newport Polo Education Foundation, a non-profit 501[3]c organization registered in
Rhode Island with a
mission to support and develop training and educational
programs surrounding the sport of polo, as well as other charitable causes.
The gala will take place at Rosecliff, 548
Bellevue Avenue in Newport, the premier estate amidst America’s finest collection of
gilded age mansions. Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs
in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the
garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in
1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous
entertainments here, including
a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician
Harry Houdini.
Tickets to Saturday’s polo match and lobsterbake are sold
separately by the Newport International Polo Series. Lobsterbake
reservations must be made in advance by calling (401) 847-7090
by July 29th. Polo match tickets are available at the
entry gates, which open 2 hours prior to the start of the match. The
polo match is at 5pm on the polo grounds of Glen Farm on the
outskirts of Newport, located at 715 East Main Road (aka Route 138)
in Portsmouth, RI
Designer Polo Rugs Become Collector’s Items
March 11, 2008,
Newport, RI:
…After a successful
two-year run, American designer Claire Murray is retiring her
polo rug designs. The remaining pieces will be the last of their
kind available, and the limited edition rugs will officially become
collector’s items, bolstering their market value.
This
month Murray’s regional wholesale director Tori McNally
presented a check for $550.00 to the Newport Polo
Education Foundation as the result of the second year of the
polo rug’s donation program. 
The
designer, taken with the ambiance of the polo scene in Newport and
the annual fundraising efforts of the Newport Polo Club to support
noteworthy community causes as well as the sport’s continuity in its
American birthplace, conceived a series of rugs specifically to sell
at the Newport International Polo Series, allocating 10% of
sale proceeds to the Newport Polo Education Foundation.
Remaining rugs are
available through McNally at
tmcnally@clairemurray.com or (401) 556-7409 in three sizes, each
with a unique pattern: the large rug is
64”x89”;
the medium rug is 40”x63”; and the small rug is 24.5” x 36”,
and sale proceeds will honor the donation program.
Known world-wide for her
signature New England designs and rich color palette, Murray’s
classic hand-made polo rug designs are 100% wool with both latex and
cotton backing for prolonged life. Murray splashed onto the
designer home textile scene after moving
to Nantucket and reviving the traditional crafts of rug hooking and
the needle arts, which has developed into a flourishing
international wholesale and retail business.
Proceeds benefit the
Newport Polo Education Foundation, a non-profit 501[3]c organization
registered in Rhode Island with a mission to support and develop
training and educational programs surrounding the sport of polo, as
well as other civic and charitable causes. Details of those
programs may be furnished upon request or on its web site:
www.poloeducationfoundation.org.
Overseas Report: Destination Jamaica
By Leslie-Ann Masterton-Fung Yi
March, 2008….The
annual Jamaican tour by team USA included Dan Keating,
Matthew Fonseca, John Wigdahl and Christer Still.
It was great to see our friends from the Northern climes and try to
outdo each other on and off the polo field. As tours go, it was not
without its dramas.
The first match,
scheduled for Chukka Blue, was relocated last-minute to the
St. Ann Polo Club grounds when the baked pitch in Hanover
cracked from draught. So, after closing down Montego Bay on their
first night, the team left the comfort of Toby’s Resorts and headed
up the coast to Chukka Cove for their first competition with
the Jamaicans. The field at Chukka Cove was in great shape
for the visitors to try out the horses that they would also play on
Saturday against the St. Ann Polo Club. This was followed by
a lively jerk dinner where the team renewed its love affair with
Jamaican cuisine and local rum before moving on to Amnesia, also the
name of a dance club in Ocho Rios.
They
spent much of Friday recovering, swimming and relaxing at the
Melville’s Villa at Chukka Cove to work up an appetite for
dinner at Blenheim, the Masterton estate where their intended
strategy was an early night for the big game on Saturday. An
attempt to sneak out to Margaritaville was thwarted when the
headlights on the getaway car refused to work . . . Monsoons set in
during the night and continued throughout Saturday, flooding any
chances of the match that all of Jamaica had stakes in.
Consequently the visitors had Dunne’s River Falls to themselves
for the day, and the rest of their energy reserve was spent at the
Irish Pub jigging and swigging before finally moving on to
Margaritaville, where “Trini” Alan Tam continued to impress the
locals with his dancing skills.
In the morning the
team headed to Kingston where the sun and breeze were drying the
field for their much anticipated match against the Kingston Polo
Club, represented by Tarik Felix, James Robertson,
Paul Lalor and Randy Mair, The visitors jumped out to
an early lead in the first chukka with Fonseca opening the scoring
with a 60 yard penalty followed up by a couple of classic goals by
Wigdahl. Towards the end of the second chukka Still jumped on a
ball backed out of the line up by Fonseca and carried the bouncing
ball down the field and scored to increase the Newport lead to 4
goals to 0. However, his moment of glory did not last long as his
horse tripped on the way back to the centre after the goal and he
fell, landing on his head and was briefly knocked out. Although, he
vowed that he was fine he was dispatched to St. Andrews Memorial for
a thorough check up and Joel Azan took his place. The 3rd
and 4th chukkas remained scoreless as the Kingston team
came to life, but were unable to convert their opportunities and the
Newport
team adjusted to their new team mate who put his team further ahead
in the 5th chukka by scoring a neat, opportunistic goal.
Lalor then
came to life scoring twice in the 5th to bring Kingston
into the game and although they kept the pressure on with another
goal by Robertson, Newport held on to win by 5 goals to 3.
Team USA was proud
to accept the Newport/Kingston trophy for the first time, presented
by the Hon. Dennis Lalor, and is grateful to the Masterton
family, including Leslie-Ann, Doc, Paddy, and
William, Stevie Fung-Yi, Shane Chin and his
family, Danny Mehlville, Paul and Dennis Lalor,
Mark Wates, John G, James Robertson and all
their Jamaican hosts for the hospitality received and wonderful
horses that they were given to play and look forward to hosting the
Jamaicans in August.
