TOP CITY FIRMS UNITE FOR THE PRO-AM CITY POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Pro-Am City Championships held on Saturday 3rd September 2005 illustrated the rise in City based players when 17 City teams, including over 24 company representatives came together to compete head to head for the title.

The day saw polo played at a range of levels. It has been established as a day for newcomers to the sport to represent their companies and compete for the title.

Companies who sponsored their executives and put a team forward included JP Morgan, with three teams at all levels, Norton Rose, Citipost, Citigroup, Dell, Royal Bank of Scotland, Vantis Numerica, LCM Legale, BNP Paribas, Code Securities UBS, Peter Schoenfeld Asset Management, Citigroup, Handelsbanken, Research Vision, CMC Management NY and JP Morgan.

The day began with arena challenges for newcomers to the sport and who have never competed in a match before. All four teams played very well with CMC Management winning 3 goals over Code Securities 2 goals and Peter Schoenfeld Asset Management winning with 6 goals over BNP Paribas 3 goals.

The final of the -6 to -4 level saw City Championships 2004 champion Colin Church (shown right) bring a team of newcomers from Citigroup to play polo and compete against JP Morgan. Colin, a 1 goal player, showed great camaraderie and team spirit by supporting his team of -2’s playing for the first time as that team. In true Citigroup style they came out winning a close game with 6 goals to 5 ½.

The next level played at -4 to -2 handicaps saw JP Morgan playing hard against Vantis but a huge victory went to Vantis who won 12 goals to 3 ½ . A closer game between Dell and Royal Bank of Scotland in the final of this level saw two teams matched so well that they had to go into a sudden death 5th chukka. Finally Royal Bank of Scotland came out fighting with 5 goals to 4.

The top level competition of -2 to 0 Goal saw the third JP Morgan team play against visiting Italian team LCM - Lega Colucci Morri & Association. JP Morgan represented their company well winning 7 goals to 3 over the legal team.

The finals of this level saw an exciting match between Citipost and Norton Rose (team presentation shown right) who played a close match fighting all the way to the bitter end. Finally Norton Rose won 8 goals to Citipost's 7 ½.

The Boscawen Cup was played for the first time on Saturday showcasing the top City based talent competing alongside international professional players in a 12 goal exhibition match.

Citigroup, led by Noah Siberschmidt, defeated Bob Hooke's Research Vision in an exciting match (presentation shown left).

The cup has been established for City players to compete for each year and sets new standards for City polo.

In addition to showcasing City polo a special Blue Peter Challenge match was put on for the children.

Matt Baker, one of the famous Blue Peter presenters, was issued a challenge to learn to play polo and after only two days of teaching from Peter Grace he competed in his first polo match in a two goal team. Matt is shown right with Peter, Victoria and Janey Grace at the presentation.

The Blue Peter Challenge Match was fast and furious with Matt Baker playing very well and making some great shots but Handelsbanken finally got their way winning 8 ½ to 6.

Overall the day was a great success with fun fairs, a shopping village, VIP marquee and even ‘Have-a-go at Polo’ sessions on polo ponies for all the spectators. Over 800 people came out to support these City based players and we look forward to seeing more new entrants next year on September 2006.

About the Pro-Am City Polo Championships

The Pro-Am City Polo Championships 2005 will see polo played at a range of levels and has been established for newcomers to the sport to represent their companies and compete for the title. Over 30 companies a year send employees and clients to Ascot Park Polo Club to learn to play polo, a number of whom are playing today. The top City names use the ‘Learn to Play Polo Experience’ as part of their company training day, team building, incentive and reward programmes or as a way of entertaining clients.

The main aim of the Pro-Am City Polo Championships is to encourage more people into this unique and wonderful sport and provide them with a competitive environment where colleagues, friends and family can enjoy a great day out. We look forward to an exciting event that will grow over the years and would like to thank the following institutions for taking part: