114 SIDELINES MAY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
e
Natania
proved what a difference a year makes as
Connor Deal, Wyatt
Harlow, Drew Peterson
(alternate) and
Kamran Pirasteh
ripped
through the season. The Warrenton, Virginia-based team earned a slot
in the national fnals tournament with their decisive Southeast Regionals
victory (24-13) in a hotly contested match in February against
Cowtown
Work To Ride
, the defending Open National Interscholastic champions.
In March the Natania team, their coach
Amir Pirasteh,
and a bunch of
Natania supporters few to Indio, California where
Empire Polo Club
hosted the national championship tournament. In the championship match,
Natania earned the national title with a 14-9 victory over
Eldorado
(
Jake
Brumby, Scott Cunningham and Jacob Deutsch
). USPA Open National
Interscholastic Champions Natania: (left to right) coach Amir Pirasteh,
Drew Peterson (alternate) and All Star Players (voted by their peers) Wyatt
Harlow, Kamran Pirasteh and Connor Deal.
Photo by Mina Pirasteh
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The world’s best polo players gathered at
the 7th Chukker at the
International Polo
Club Palm Beach
(IPC-PB) in February
to participate in the “draw” for the
USPA
Piaget Gold Cup
. The USPA Piaget Gold
Cup winning team each received a luxury
Piaget Polo FortyFive watch. Taking part
in the draw: (from left to right):
Gonzalito
Pieres, Marcos Bignoli, Polito Pieres ,
Juan Villamil
and
Nico Pieres
.
Photo by LILA PHOTO
The
USPA Piaget Gold Cup
was a heated competition among
some of the world’s best polo
players. In the end,
Valiente
triumphed and defended their
title with a 13 to 9 win. From
left to right:
Pelon Stirling
,
Santi Torres
,
Bob Jornayvaz
and
Adolfo Cambiaso
. Adolfo
Cambiaso and Pelon Stirling
are among the world’s best
polo players, both ranked as
10-goalers.
Photo by LILA PHOTO
The
UCONN Girls Interscholastic Team
won the national championship this on
their home feld in Storrs, Connecticut. The UCONN team took home the title in a
nail-biter fnal against defending champ, Maryland, which was tied at halftime and
eventually decided in a shootout. The fnal score was 17-16. Left to Right:
Carly
Persano, Leslie Field, Sara Tufts, Coach Caitlin Tufts, Kathleen Moriarty,
Maddie McDougall.
Photo courtesy of the USPA
Congratulations to
Rude Girl Polo
(
Cecilia
Cochran, Sophie Kyriazi, Courtney
Asdourian
and
Ali Henderson
) for
winning the 2013 Tabebiua Cup! Rude Girl
Polo defeated
Michelob Ultra
in a very
close and competitive fnal. Rude Girls
came from behind the last chukker, with
a fnal score of 5 to 4.5.
Allie Henderson
was Most Valuable Player and
Cocoa
owned and played by
Tiffany Busch
was Best Playing Pony. From left to right:
Christina Clark
and
Tiffany Busch.