News Archive:

The UK National Women’s Arena Championships 2006

The Polo Angels fly to the top 

Ascot Park Polo Club is delighted to win the title of the UK National Women’s Arena Championships 2006.

The weekend of 25th and 26th February saw 33 women from across the UK and Scotland compete for this much sought after title. With the title in their sights at the beginning of the arena season this year the Polo Angels team, Charlotte Christodoulou, Fiona Reilly and Kirsty Craig achieved what they had set out to do which was bring home the title of UK National Women’s Arena Champion.

Presentation of the 3-4 Goal Level - winners (left) Polo Angels (Charlotte Christodoulou, Kirsty Craig and Fiona Reilly) and runners up (right & below) Gorgeous Druids (Christine Thome & baby, Fi Marot and Clare Macnamara) with IWPA Chairman, Pippa Grace (centre)

Five teams competed for the 0 Goal title and four at the higher 3-4 Goal level. Unfortunately only one team entered for the 1-2 Goal level so the title remained uncontested.

Bar Billiards won the 0 Goal level proving an extremely strong 0 goal team. With two newcomers Stewarton fought incredibly hard in the finals and illustrated fantastic team work and riding skills against a more established team, with Bar Billiards winning the 0 Goal level by 20 goals over 3. Bar Billiards player Alice Gipps was also awarded the Most Valuable Player Award sponsored by Waldo’s Restaurant – part of the Clivedon Collection.

Presentation of the 0 Goal Final with winners Bar Billiards (left) Melanie Hamilton, Alice Gipps and Katrina Baker and right, runners up Stewarton - Karina Bowlby, Cath Wilson and Anne Srith

The Andros Leviathan Award for Team Spirit is a highly regarded award and something the IWPA look closely for in the tournament. The Stewarton Team were awarded this for driving the nine hours from Scotland to compete. They also took home the Best Turned Out Team Award sponsored by Norton Rose, with a special mention given to Cath Wilson who received recognition for the standard of her game after only learning to play six months ago.

The 0 Goal level produced a high standard of polo in the sub-finals with Polo Divas competing against Ascot Park Polo Club and Maywood’s new team of up and coming players - some of which were playing in their first tournament. Maywood played very well but lost out by only one goal to Ascot Park with the result being 5 to 4. Ascot Park then kept up their goal level by drawing with The Polo Divas on 5 goals in the next two chukkas. The Polo Divas went home the winners of the 0 goal sub-finals after a close round robin, beating Maywood with 6 goals to 2. Special mention was given to Lucinda Watson from the Ascot Park Polo Club team who is only 15 and played consistently well displaying great polo tactics and leading her team with great maturity throughout the weekend.

The previous day the 0 Goal level round robin had seen Bar Billiards, Ascot Park Polo Club and The Divas Polo Team play against each other. The Bar Billiards proved incredibly strong for the 0 Goal level scoring 18 goals over 4 chukkas against Ascot Park Polo club and The Divas. Ascot Park and The Divas were more evenly matched when they met in the final two chukkas with both teams displaying strong defensive riding and ending on a draw of 0 goals.

The higher level of 3-4 goal saw a fantastic standard of polo with end to end play. In the 3 Goal final between Polo Angels and The Gorgeous Druids a nail biting final leaving even the calmest spectator unable to watch unfurled. This promised to be an exciting match and so it proved. Kirsty Craig displayed outstanding skills the day before and once again the team had to pull out all the stops against Gorgeous Druids.

The Gorgeous Druids led from chukka one scoring the first goal within minutes of play commencing. Not to be defeated The Polo Angels played hard as both teams battled it out. In the final chukkas the Druids continued to keep scoring and it was looking like a forgone conclusion of who would take the title when The Gorgeous Druids entered the final chukkas 3 goals ahead.

Just when spectators thought the game couldn’t get more exciting The Polo Angels pulled off a fantastic display of team work and skill. With a Penalty One in their favour the last 45 seconds of the game then saw Kirsty Craig put two goals in before the final bell to bring the score to a draw of 8 goals. A penalty shoot out concluded the game with The Polo Angels holding their nerve winning by 2 penalties to 1 and taking the National Title.

The Sub-Finals of the 3 goal match was won by Maywood against Friend’s Reunited. The sister pairing of Aurora Eastwood and Helouise Lorentzen (soon to be playing for the Brazilian National Team) with Abi Latham began with a the true Maywood force with them leading from the beginning of the first chukka keeping up their excellent standard of play winning with 17 goals over 3.

The Most Valuable Player Award sponsored by Von Essen Group was presented to Aurora Eastwood (right with Pippa Grace) who has played consistently well at the top level of the Women’s Arena Nationals and this weekend was no exception.

Maywood had come up against The Polo Angels in a fast and furious match the previous day which could have served well as the final. The Polo Angels led from the first chukka with Maywood hot on their tails. Kirsty Craig was leading the way throughout the game scoring some amazing goals and bringing her team through to the final with Maywood losing out by only two goals with the final score being 6 goals to Polo Angels.

Gorgeous Druids combined superbly as a team beating Friends Reunited who fought closely in another fast match showing some great displays of horsemanship. The Gorgeous Druids came out wining 11 goals to 6.

The additional excitement and anticipation of The UK National Women’s Polo Tournament rests on the increase in standard each year of women players and the accessibility of the tournament for up and coming players.

In addition to this the tournament sees a range of ages for Maywood’s team of up and coming young stars following in the footsteps of the respected Maywood team led by the Eastwood Sisters to the Gorgeous Druids ‘Gorgeous Christine’ who had only just given birth to her son 3 months previously.

Through the development of the International Women’s Polo Association (IWPA) the standard of women’s polo has increased dramatically. Over 50% of newcomers to the sport in 2004 were women illustrating the rise of female players coming into the sport. With tournaments such as these creating open access to women from all generations and skills this is what really keeps the spirit of the game alive.

Ascot Park Polo Club is home to the IWPA holding dedicated ladies chukkas throughout the week and boasting the largest membership base of women in the UK. The IWPA has representatives in over 33 countries and continues to be at forefront of women’s polo. As part of the IWPA’s commitment to women’s polo Chairman Pippa Grace is delighted to announce the development of a National Women’s League. The league will enable women to compete against one another at all levels around the country. For further information about the league and membership enquiries please contact the IWPA at info@polo.co.uk or contact Ascot Park Polo Club on 01276 858 545.

The opportunity to see such a high standard of polo played by women from across the UK will take place again on August 5th and 6th with the much coveted Joules UK National Women’s Polo Tournament. Last year over 100 women played and this year it is expected to be an even la rger tournament displaying even higher standards of polo.

Copyright © 2003-2006 Ascot Park Polo Club. All rights reserved

Phone:  +44 (0) 1276 858545    Email:  info@polo.co.uk

Site Hosting by Aspect Internet Marketing www.aspectgroup.co.uk

for any enquiries or technical problems with this site email ascotpark@gaeagroup.com