Blueberry Blintzes Polo Team Wins World Championship on New Years Eve
The Blueberry Blintzes take the title in the 2-on-2 Arena Open World Polo Championship held Sunday, December 31, in Wauconda, Illinois. The Blueberry Blintzes defeated the Abominable Snow Ponies in a hotly contested five-chukker match hosted by the Barrington Hills Polo Club.
The 2-On-2 Open took place in the club’s 200’ x 60’ indoor arena with nine players ranging in age from 12 to 83. Each team divvied its members into rotating 2-person teams competing in 71/2 minute periods following United States Polo Association (USPA) Arena Polo Rules “as best as the umpires remembered them.” One spectator commented that because the weather was cold and the horses were fresh, there was a definite “rodeo flavor” to the event.
According to organizer Megan West-Koll, “The 2-On-2 Open is the only truly open polo championship played in North America.” She pointed out that the USPA U.S. Open is not actually “open” because it imposes a team handicap limit of 22 goals. This means the gross aggregate handicap of any team may not exceed 22 goals, while a true “open” competition would allow teams of any handicap level to compete so long as they qualified through a competitive process.
West-Koll pointed out that until the 2-On-2, “open” polo competitions only happened in South America. She added that the 2-On-2 Arena Open was “played on the flat, so we never bothered to record the handicaps of the players or teams. In fact, we can’t prove any of the players actually had handicaps except for the oldest player who was nearsighted.” She also noted, “While everyone agreed the blue team outscored the white team, the official scoresheet was misplaced and until it is recovered, we can’t report the official final score.”
The Blueberry Blintzes in blue shirts were Kendra Pannhausen, Megan Koll-West, Emily Smedlund, Laura Stallone and John Rosene. The Abominable Snow Ponies in white shirts were Sofia Scekic, Lilah VanHyfte, Michelle Convey and Paul Lipowski. Because of the cold temperatures, nobody stuck around to find out who was MVP or Best Playing Pony.
It was noted that 2-on-2 arena polo is growing in popularity among players and spectators alike because, as one fan stated, “3-on-3 arena polo is for sissies.”
