Club Players hosted teams from MSU and Georgetown University for a two day tournament at the Virginia Polo Center November 18 & 19. The club was able to mount all the teams for this fun and competitive weekend of polo. The addition of some varsity ponies left behind while the rest were at Cornell for the Fields Invitational. Along with the games, the players held a potluck dinner for the visiting teams Saturday night at the Beh House. With meat cooked asado-style by social chair Maryam Araceli Sarafzadeh we provided a delicious and diverse meal for our guests creating a wonderful welcoming weekend for the visiting players.
The tournament began Saturday with a match between MSU and Georgetown. Following this game, the two UVA Club teams played one another. Thanks to thorough planning from Club Co-Captain Megan Maleno, 11 club members got to play on the two teams with players rotating so all had a chance to compete. Some club players were getting their first taste of tournament play, having joined the club at the beginning of the semester from our boot camp program.
Sunday the day started off with the finals match between the UVA Club Team, featuring Marayam, Nora Wood, and Megan Melano, and MSU with guest umpire Mark Corradino. For the second match against Georgetown UVA fielded a team of Katy Owens, Brian Salmon, and Julia Hersh. Both UVA teams were victorious and showed excellent sportsmanship when establishing a big lead. It was a successful and enjoyable weekend for all the players and a great finale to our fall season. After a full weekend of chukkers the horses were turned out back for their well deserved winter break.
