RECORD 16 TEAMS SET TO COMPETE IN REGIONAL PRESIDENT’S CUP AT INTERNATIONAL POLO SCHOOL
The highly anticipated Florida Circuit Regional President’s Cup will begin this Friday, February 2, at the International Polo School (IPS) in Loxahatchee, Florida. A record-breaking 16 teams have entered to compete in the 2024 event. “Having this amount of teams in the Regional Presidents Cup says a lot about how far the program has come,” told IPS Club Manager, Gates Gridley, “And we’re very excited to be hosting the USPA Regional President’s Cup.”
Established in 1998, the Regional President’s Cup has been reformatted in anticipation of the 2024 National President’s Cup. Regional President’s Cup tournaments held nationwide now serve as qualifying tournaments for the National President’s Cup, bringing teams together from clubs around the country for the opportunity to compete at the National Polo Center (NPC) in Wellington, Florida. The new format will encourage participation at the 4-to 8-goal level and restore the relationship between the two trophies.
Regional President’s Cup qualifying tournaments are awarded to one Member Club in each of the 11 USPA circuits. The Florida Circuit, host of the National President’s Cup, will be the only exception, with four Regional President’s Cup events awarded to host clubs International Polo School (Loxahatchee, Florida), Port Mayaca Polo Club (Okeechobee, Florida), Grand Champions Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) and The Villages Polo Club (The Villages, Florida). Winners of the Florida Circuit qualifying events will join Royal Bank Canada (Eastern Circuit), Riverview (Midstates Circuit), Amaro (Northeastern Circuit) and TR Turtles (Southwestern Circuit) for National President’s Cup contention. The Regional President’s Cup competition at IPS will be the first qualifying event within the Florida Circuit.
“We try to give 4- to 8-goal polo the same attention as other clubs give to higher goal polo—I think that’s very important,” told Gridley. “At the end of the day, the people who participate with us at the International Polo School are all looking for something similar. They’re looking for competitive, fair and well-organized polo, on good fields.”
The Regional President’s Cup tournament runs through February, with the final determining which team will advance to the National President’s Cup. The National President’s Cup will be hosted by NPC with the final slated for Sunday, April 21, on NPC Field 2.
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United States Polo Association® (uspolo.org)
