NATIONAL EIGHT GOAL
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The National Eight Goal was established in 2014 and was played for four consecutive years Houston Polo Club in Houston, Texas. Capturing three victories, BTA's Chrys Beal holds the most titles in the tournament's history. After a two-year hiatus in 2018 and 2019, the tournament returned in 2020, moving to Beverly Polo Club in The Plains, Virginia. Winning the 2020 edition, Beverly Equestrian bested four other teams and provided a special moment for the father-son duo of Bill and Wil Balhaus, with the latter capturing Most Valuable Player honors.
2021 featured a match-up between two undefeated teams in Beverly 2 (Wil Ballhaus, Jorge ‘Tolito’ Fernandez Ocampo Jr., Agustin Mauhum, George Krabbe) and Kingland (Audrey Wilde, Liam Lott, Bautista Micheletti, Martin Ravina) came down to a dramatic final chukker as Beverly 2’s Ocampo Jr. completed an impressive performance by scoring his tenth goal to come from behind and secure an 11-9.5 victory. Read article here.
Returning to Beverly Polo Club for 2022, four teams will compete for the title including 2021 finalists Audrey Wilde and Martin Ravina representing Dragonfly/Pineapples and Bautista Micheletti joining Point to Point/Highfields. Fresh off their recent National Sherman Memorial victory at Twilight Polo Club (The Plains, Virginia), Hardy Pemberton (Royal Bank Canada) and Marcos Bignoli (Dragonfly/Pineapples) will take to the grass on their respective teams alongside newcomer Aviators.
Beverly Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the National Eight Goal, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or trophy reimbursements up to $1,200, 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: 2021 National Eight Goal Champions: Beverly 2- Wil Ballhaus, Tolito Fernandez Ocampo Jr., Agustin Mauhum, George Krabbe. ©Joanne Maisano
