WELLINGTON, FL-Oct. 22 2013—-The Polo School At Grand Champions will host the inaugural ProKidz Junior Polo Tournament Saturday at 4 p.m.
ELG’s Nic Roldan (3) tries to avoid the foul as Casablanca’s Juancito Bollini (2) hits the ball. Photo by Scott Fisher.
The unique format will feature pros and junior players competing together.
Each team will be anchored and coached by a professional player with three junior players rounding out the lineup.
“We’re going to use all our Grand Champions pros,” said Melissa Ganzi.
The pro lineup is a Who’s Who in polo featuring Mike Azzaro, Nic Roldan, Brandon Phillips, Juan Bollini, Joey Casey, Kris Kampsen and Guille Aguero.
“We will pick the main two for the higher level and we will just go by level of junior player,” Ganzi explained. “We had planned to do this last year over Labor Day but because we had bad weather it kept getting postponed.
“It was a format we had wanted to do many times. This is another first-of-its-kind tournament for Grand Champions.”
Casablanca’s Mike Azzaro (3) drives downfield for a goal with ELG’s Carlitos Gracida (2) in hot pursuit. Photo by Scott Fisher.
Grand Champions Polo Club, the nation’s fastest growing polo club, has played a key role in helping develop and promote youth polo year-round by sponsoring and hosting several tournaments.
Several up-and-coming players have grown up playing junior tournaments at Grand Champions including Wes Finlayson, Matt Coppola, Jonny Lavine, Juancito Bollini, Grant Ganzi and Justin Daniels.
Finlayson, Bollini, Ganzi and Daniels are reigning USPA National Youth Tournament Series national champions.
Grand Champions Polo Club owners and players Marc and Melissa Ganzi along with the Polo Training Foundation have been instrumental in the growth of junior and youth polo.
Melissa Ganzi is secretary-treasurer of the Polo Training Foundation and has been a selfless supporter of the PTF orchestrating the growth and success of the juniors and youth programs across the nation.
Grand Champions Polo Club is in the midst of its sixth fall tournament season featuring top pro and amateur players from throughout South Florida and the U.S.
The remaining Grand Champions medium goal fall tournaments are the Oct. 25-27 USPA Fall Plates; Nov.1-3 Pedro Morrison Memorial and Nov. 8-10 Palm Restaurant Invitational.
There are also two 20-goal tournaments including the prestigious Oct. 30-Nov. 9 USPA North America Cup and Nov. 13-24 The National 20-Goal Championship.
The fall season, great preparation for the upcoming 20- and 26-goal seasons in Wellington, is fun and competitive. Rosters and lineups change from tournament to tournament. Evenly-matched teams are put together to help build players skills and performance.
All tournaments are USPA-sanctioned and have grown in stature since their start in the mid-1990s.
PROKIDZ JUNIOR POLO TOURNAMENT
Where: Grand Champions Polo Club, 13475 Southfields Road, Wellington, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road.
When: Saturday, October 26, 2013
Time: 4 p.m.
Information: Call 561-644-5050. Free admission. There are great field side views for tournament action. Please provide your own chair. Dogs should be on leashes. Everyone is welcome to watch polo’s future players.
GRAND CHAMPIONS FALL SCHEDULE
Oct. 25-27, USPA Fall Plates
Oct. 30-Nov. 9, USPA North America Cup
Nov. 1-3, Pedro Morrison Memorial
Nov. 8-10, Palm Restaurant Invitational
Nov. 13-24,The National 20-Goal Championship
GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB
WHERE: 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 561-644-5050.
INFORMATION: There are great field side views for tournament action at the home base of pro team Audi. Everyone is welcome to watch high and medium goal polo in a relaxed atmosphere during the spring and fall tournament season and other special events including the International Cup in November, Buzz Welker Memorial Junior Tournament in March, Women’s Championship Tournament and Gay Polo League International Tournament, both in April.
