UK U19 Polocrosse Tour to South Africa
For those that don’t know what polocrosse is, it is a fantastic and exciting sport, which as the name implies, is a combination of polo and lacrosse.
It is played on horseback, on grass during the summer season and in the arena over the winter with each rider using a racquet with a loose, thread net to carry the ball and the objective is to score goals by throwing the ball between your opponent’s goal posts. Played on a pitch roughly the same size as a rugby pitch the structure of the game means that unlike polo each player only needs one horse to be able to compete.
The UK Polocrosse Association has selected 7 girls and 7 boys to undertake a 2 week tour to South Africa in July 2018. During their time out there they will have to get used to riding new horses from a pool provided by the South Africans before competing in 3 test matches. All 14 are keen and dedicated players who have taken part in the Player Development Pathway. Eleven of the team are still active Pony Club members also, in fact, for many it was through their branch that they were first introduced to the sport. The tour is completely self-funded so each player is busy trying to raise sponsorship and general fundraising, as well as starting up an online fundraising page https://www.gofundme.com/u19-polocrosse-uk-v-sa which has information on all the opportunities currently available for corporate and individual sponsorship, from sponsoring logo’s on kit to individual donations.
Polocrosse is a sport for all types of ponies and all ages and abilities. During the UK season you will find thoroughbreds rubbing shoulders with Highlands, or Shetlands playing against sports ponies.
The better you become the more important it becomes for the horse to be agile. Top grade players generally use thoroughbreds, quarter horse crosses or Australian Stock Horses between 14.2hh and 16hh. For more information on how to take up the sport or on tournaments that you can go along and watch, visit https://ukpolocrosse.co.uk/
The U19 team would be very grateful for any help that Equitrader readers could give them and look forward to meeting new sponsors over the summer
