Perrier-Jouet Cup - August 2011

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:47:33 +0100

Border Reivers Polo Club hosted the 3rd Annual Polo Tournament the Perrier-Jouet Cup on the 19th, 20th and 21st August. This was an exciting event with teams from across England and Scotland taking part. There were 6 fast teams and 3 slow teams who played across the 3 days.

The highest handicapped player in the tournament this year is Alistair Archibald, who played as a high goal professional.

Calcutta cup - August 2010

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:12:33 +0100

A new polo season begins!

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:26:00 +0100

Calendar. The latest calendar is attached. I am afraid that there have been several changes since the last ones you saw, thanks to Edin and Perth changing their Spring Tournament dates; the changes are highlighted yellow. Prior changes are in blue. You might need to go through every week though in your diary to be sure! (e.g. no tmt on 16/17 May any more).

Thursday Chukkas. We decided at the AGM to focus on Thursday chukkas roughly every fortnight; please try to leave work promptly to enable this; dates are on the calendar, but we could play on other dates - just let us know. We could have BBQ suppers after if folks don't need to rush away.

BBQ lunches. We decided at the AGM to hold BBQ lunches instead of Teas on alternate Sundays. See dates on the calendar. Bring burgers/buns or take from freezer and charge your tab £1 a burger&bun.

Significant Events in the first month of the season:

- Sat 18 April/Sun 19 April: Opening weekend. First chance to compare rustiness of skills! Please let Tabs know attendance by Wed, in case we need to concertina everyone onto one day if short of numbers.

- Sun 3rd May: Kiddies, fluffy ponies and Family Polo Day. This will be a fun day for all the family, those who play polo or who have never had a go. We want to encourage families to bring their kids' fluffies and bicycles. We will teach them in the morning, then in the afternoon hold a "tapping the polo ball" competition using a bicycle polo ball and for good measure (not to mention the possibility of some humiliation), the same competition for adults. We will have a BBQ and a bouncy castle and again we hope we might find some new people to convert to polo. great if you could spread the word, via the attached letter.
- Sat 9 May: Inter-Hunt Polo Day. An email has been sent to all the local hunts encouraging them to bring a team. It would be great to encourage some new people to come along as it is a good way of finding new members so please see if you can gather a team together for the bicycle polo.
- Wed 20 May: Borders Festival of the Horse Polo Match & Have a Go. We have again agreed to be involved in the Borders Festival of the Horse by putting on a match at 6pm for spectators followed by have a go bicycle polo. We will schedule chukkas for this evening instead of the Thursday evening as we need members' support to lay on the match and encourage people to have a go on the bicycles.
- Sat 30 May/Sun 31 May: BRPC Tournament. The day raises some valuable money for the club as well as the charity, so do please bring a table. The charity this year is The Kuvuli Trust, founded by Natasha's sister-in-law, Georgie, which builds and runs hostels for disabled children in East Africa. £35 a ticket for champagne reception, three-course lunch and an afternoon of entertaining polo! £10 for kiddies. We will endeavour to avoid having to hold a match during lunch. You might like to do some corporate entertaining (or know someone who might) ! Attached is an emailable invitation; let me know please how many printed invitations you would like Tabs to send you to fwd to potential folk for your table. Also attached is the corporate entertainment and sponsorship letter.

Berty Berty is due back 21st April and I have asked him to bring back some of the hot Argentinian sunshine they have had over their summer, but not all of it, as I think it has been a bit too hot for polo! Berty will look after all the livery ponies, while Flavio will look after mine. I have done a pay deal with Berty; he is now being paid less by the club, leaving him to earn what he can from professional playing fees. So, he is taking on the risk of playing fees and reduces the club's exposure. There will be NO REQUIREMENT to pay to play with him on a Border Reivers team, but if you and others in the club want/need him for a tournament, then you will have to pay £50/player/match, doubled if team wins. Book him early as he will tout himself to Edinburgh, Perth and elsewhere too. Full financial arrangements are on the attached fees document. Of course at any other club you would not a get a free professional. I have always felt it worthwhile to fork out for an Argie pro at the club, because a pro is important to help grow and maintain a club (lessons, courses, schooling, playing), and I just hope that there will be enough people prepared to pay to play with Berty so that he earns enough to want to come back next year. I guess that you might like to play it on a tournament by tournament basis as to whether you want to increase your chances of victory, glory and fame (!) by forking out for Berty. I am prepared to pay my share to play with him, as are some others that I know of so far. Fine if you want to organise your own teams, either with or without Berty. All I ask is that you keep Tabs and I informed of your possible plans, and discuss with Tabs and I, so that we can try to slot everyone in for each tournament. It would be a shame if we did not keep in mind the need to give everyone at the club a chance of playing tournaments. He will live in the caravan behind or garages.

Pitch. Loads of holes on the pitch have been filled by Flavio, and re-seeded. In the last month the pitch has been fertilised and been sprayed for the clover. There are a few holes that have been missed, because we trashed it so much in the wet last season, so there is a huge bag of sand and a couple of buckets behind the pavilion should any of us spot any particularly bad holes, or fancy a stroll on the pitch! We have also put new turf and sand on the muddy patch, levelled it and re-seeded; please KEEP OFF this area, even in the heat of a chukka, until our tournament, in order to give the grass time to get some root strength. We want to leave it as long as we can before mowing the pitch, in order to give the new grass a chance to establish, and for the old turf to thicken out. Flavio has also been busy making an indoor arena; it is just big enough for lunging and doing some schooling inside, if anyone ever wants to.

New Rules. Please see the attached from the Polo Times. I have highlighted the three key new rules.

Beginners & Courses. Please encourage anyone you know to do a Taster Course here. It is only £85 for the day, including pony hire. Dates are on the calendar, but we can also run a course any day folks want. We were featured in Polo Times last month, described as offering some of the best rates in the country for beginners' courses, and being one of the few clubs that organises a beginners' tournament. If anyone would like to read the article, please email Tabs and she will email it to you.

Corporate Entertainment / Sponsorship. Hopefully your company, or friends of yours' companies, might like to do a bit of Corporate Entertainment (either taking a table at our tournament, or arranging an office bicycle polo match and BBQ) or some sponsorship. Please see the attached for full info. Please fwd this doc and the tournament one, and fluffies family day one, to friends and acquaintances - many thanks!

Improving your play. Lessons. Berty is not proactive about giving advice, but do ask him, and have lessons with him. Course. Rege Ludwig, a world renowned coach is coaching at Perth in early May (details on calendar), and I would highly recommend making use of him (I am on the Fri afternoon), whatever level you are at. We have our inter hunt day here on the Sat, but no probs if anyone goes for the Sunday. Practicing. To some of you this will be 'teaching to suck eggs', but .... 1. Do ask questions to the more experienced players in the club. 2. Try to arrive early each day so that you have time to school your ponies on each rein, stopping, turning on hocks etc. Only then should you turn your attention to the stick, and practicing each shot on each pony. 3. Do make use of our polo pit in the shed here.

www.borderspolo.com <http://www.borderspolo.com/>

Report on the Border Reivers Polo Tournament 2008

Tue, 3 Jun 2008 07:39:14 +0100

The Border Reivers Polo Club held their 4th annual tournament at Pittlesheugh Farm, near Greenlaw, last weekend. The event attracted 200 spectators, who feasted on Perrier Jouet champagne and a sumptuous lunch, not letting the consistent rain dampen their spirits. In the south of England, Jilly Cooper’s ‘stick chics’ would have had their high heels stuck in the mud, but not our hardy northern lasses, who donned wellies below their summer dresses! £2,800 was raised for The Daisy Chain Trust, a Borders charity (www.daisychaintrust.org).

On the pitch, Saturday saw some very fast polo. On Sunday, with it’s consistent rain, the slipping up of ponies was a constant risk, but well handled by their riders. Ten teams competed: three from the Border Reivers, plus teams from Edinburgh, Perth and Yorkshire. '

“Scotty's Barrels” won their match by 12 to 2. They were named as such because each team position corresponded to their number of surnames! The team was organised by Jamie Montagu Douglas Scott [the no 3 position]; the commentator’s challenge was the number 4 with his 4 surnames: Bill Stirling Home Drummond Moray!

The Border Reivers fast team (Charlie Swanson, Ed Bromley-Martin, Will Ramsay and Nick Hunter) won the main tournament, beating Edinburgh in the final by 5 goals to 2.

In the 'Relaxed' Tournament, both Borders teams made it to the final, when Border Reivers 1 (Mark Douglas, Jeff Swanson, Charlie Bucknall and Berty Zalazar) trounced Border Reivers 2 (Charlie Letts, Anthony Wood, Alick Campbell and Will Ramsay) by 7 goals to 2.
 If you would like to learn to play, then contact the club on 01890 840 777 or see www.borderspolo.com

Children's Polo Course - 12th & 13th April

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:32:56 +0000

Dear Mummies and Daddies!
We are organising a children's polo course here on the weekend of 12th and 13th April. They would ride their own ponies. We have got Mike Hobday, an experienced children's polo coach, coming from Cirencester to run the course. They could do both days or just one. This course is aimed at children aged from around 10 - 14 who either have never played polo before or have had a go but would like to learn more. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn polo locally from a top class instructor. They could camp on the Sat night if that helps. I attach a form for completion for anyone interested.

We are not planning to organise a course in the summer, but recommend that children attend one of the Pony Club polo camps at Perth; see attached for details.

We have lowered our prices for children this year:
- Private lessons for a minimum of 2 children (to make it more fun) for £30 per child using our ponies and £10 on their own ponies.
- Stick and ball sessions (usually around an hour) will be £10 on weekdays (except Monday mornings and Thursday evenings).
- Chukka hire. We will also only be charging children £25 per chukka on polo days (weekends & Thursday evenings).

For those that have their own ponies, they can come along and play at any time as long as they are Members. Under 18s Membership is £50 per season. These prices apply to under 18s and 18 - 21 year olds in full-time education.

If your children can't do our Easter course, but would like to play this summer, please fill in the bottom half of the attached polo course form. we are hoping that there will be enough for children's polo on Sunday mornings or midweek in the holidays.

If you are involved in the Pony Club, we would happily host a rally here, or we could send our Argie pro Berty to Pony Club rallies/camps to do a demonstration.

Kind regards
Tabs
01890 840 777

Welcome to the new website for 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:19:19 +0000

Welcome to the new website. This year the plan is to keep it simple, fresh and lots of fun. After each weekend or event, updates, reviews and photos will be posted. Please feel free to forward any newsworthy information or comments. Regards, El Guapo.