DELEGATE'S CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Established in 1969, the Delegate's Cup (formerly known as the Eight Goal) has been a staple in the USPA national tournament calendar and was hosted uninterrupted for 45 years until 2015. The legendary Gulfstream Polo Club in Lake Worth, Florida (now defunct) was the home of the prestigious tournament from the mid 1970s until its unfortunate closure in 2016. During that time, Bluestone Farm captured a total of four titles and three consecutive wins from 2005 to 2007, with each winning team boasting at least two members of the Obregon family.
A highly-sought after national trophy, the competition relocated in 2016 to the Houston Polo Club (HPC) in Houston, Texas. In the contest's inaugural year at the club, 7 Bar W/Rocking P secured the win in a close final over BTA II 7-5. BTA once again advanced to the final in 2017, however were bested by Pegasus/Propaganda with the same two-goal margin from the previous year. After a two-year hiatus the Delegate's Cup returned in 2020 and has been awarded to four different champions including Roxstars/Vintage Polo (2020), Vintage Polo (2021), Island Time Polo/Sullivan Group (2022) and C-Bar Thoroughbreds/Patagonia Grill (2023). Proudly returning to South Florida for the first time since 2014, this year's edition of the Delegate's Cup will be hosted by International Polo School (IPS) in Loxahatchee, Florida.
In 2023, C-Bar Thoroughbreds/Patagonia Grill (Nick Dunbar, Carin Middleton, Vaughn Miller Jr., Bryan Middleton) went head-to-head against Roxstars (Roxy Mounter, Anson Moore, Sloan Stefanakis, Shane Rice). Undefeated in preliminary play, C-Bar Thoroughbreds/Patagonia Grill's Miller Jr. and Bryan Middleton led the charge from the field contributing three goals each to secure the 6-4 victory.
Amid an action-packed winter season at International Polo School (IPS), a deep field of 14 teams will vie for the title including Bientina, Beverly Polo, ConcordEquityGroup.com, Flying H, Fox Den Polo, Highfields, Marjing, Newport, Organic Matters, RBC Wealth Management, Santa Aurelia, Senvest, Skaneateles and Watch Out.
Representing Team USPA are Active Members Lucas Escobar and Finn Secunda (ConcordEquityGroup.com), Jack Whitman (Watch Out) and alumni Gates Gridley (Marjing) and Costi Caset (Skaneateles).
International Polo School will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the Delegate's Cup, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or trophy reimbursements, one professional umpire and $2,500 in prize money at no extra cost.
The USPA originally created the Tournament Stimulus Package (TSP) to help member clubs host USPA events when the United States was emerging from the first wave of the COVID-19 crisis. The USPA wanted to continue to support member clubs with TSP benefits in 2022. Therefore, it extended and expanded TSP under a new name - the Tournament Support Program. Each USPA Member Club can obtain TSP benefits for two USPA events, with the option of a third under specific circumstances.
Photo: 2023 Delegate's Cup Champions: C-Bar Thoroughbreds/Patagonia Grill - Carin Middleton, Nick Dunbar, Vaughn Miller Jr., Bryan Middleton, pictured with Rex Middleton. ©Kaylee Wroe
