OUTBACK CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Outback Cup, formerly the Outback Invitational, made its debut at Patagones Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) in 2022 as part of the Wellington Polo Tour. In the inaugural final, Palm Beach Equine (Raul "Gringo" Colombres, Kristos "Keko" Magrini, Dylan Rossiter, Scott Swerdlin, Lucas Criado Jr.) defeated Tonkawa (Ignacio "Nacho" Badiola, Matt Coppola, Jeff Hildebrand, Ezequiel "Gallego" Martinez Ferrario, Kylie Sheehan) 15-12. Originally held as a USPA-sanctioned event, the Outback Cup was elevated to a national tournament for 2024, joining the ranks of the most prestigious Association tournaments.
The Outback Cup will serve as the fourth qualifying leg of four prestigious national tournaments (Joe Barry Memorial, Ylvisaker Cup, Iglehart Cup) culminating in the NPC 16-Goal Championship. Qualifiers have been played across multiple clubs, with the championship final hosted on Sunday, April 14, at the National Polo Center – Wellington (NPC). Participating clubs include Port Mayaca Polo Club (Okeechobee, Florida) and the Wellington Polo Tour (WPT) led by Patagones Polo Club (Wellington, Florida) and a series of private fields falling under the WPT umbrella.
Each of the four national tournaments serve as a qualifier for the NPC 16-Goal Championship, with each winning team (Forbes Plunkett, Clearwater, BTA) moving on to the final event. Should a team win more than one qualifier, that team will automatically advance to the NPC 16-Goal Championship final.
To reinforce the idea that all participation is encouraged, players may compete in as many events as they would like on either the same team or on different teams. Yet, if a player triumphs in more than one event but on different teams, that player must choose which team he or she would like to represent in the NPC 16-Goal Championship and the other team may use a substitute. Qualifying teams must maintain at least two of their original members in order to play in the Championship.
In 2023, G-String Polo Ponies (Will Johnson, Milo Dorignac, Kristos "Keko" Magrini, Julian de Lusaretta) faced-off against La Fe (Wil Ballhaus, Dylan Rossiter, Francisco Elizalde, Louis Devaleix). Exploding in the third chukker, G-String Polo Ponies took an impressive five-goal lead into the break. Holding La Fe to just two goals in the second half, contributions from leading scorers de Lusarreta from the field and Magrini at the penalty line sealed G-String Polo Ponies' impressive victory 14-5.
Hosted and managed by the WPT and Patagones Polo Club, this year's competition will feature a deep field of 10 competitive teams vying for the prestigious title. Newcomers Senvest will join seven teams (90210 Polo, Copperline Farm, Flying H, La Fe/Dazos, Mayer Ranch, Pilot, Tonkawa) competing in the Iglehart Cup for the opportunity to advance to the Championship. Clearwater, the winner of the Ylvisaker Cup and BTA, the winner of the Iglehart Cup have already secured their spots in the final event.
Representing Team USPA is Active Member Lucas Escobar (Copperline Farm), Graduating Member Nico Escobar (Copperline Farm) and alumni Jesse Bray and Geronimo Obregon (90210 Polo), Steve Krueger (BTA), Santino Magrini (Flying H) and Costi Caset, Matt Coppola and Jared Zenni (Mayer Ranch).
Patagones Polo Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Bridge to High Goal Initiative (B2HG) for the Outback Cup, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs three USPA Professional Umpires (two mounted officials and one third man) at 50% of the regular cost to the club.
The Bridge to High Goal Initiative (B2HG) has been created to support polo between 12 and 16 goals. The goal of the program is to build a bridge from low-goal polo to high-goal polo that provides a safe environment for competition which will allow for the cultivation of team owners and the advancement of aspiring professionals.
2023 Outback Invitational Champions: G-String Polo Ponies - Julian de Lusaretta, Kristos 'Keko' Magrini, Milo Dorignac, Will Johnston. ©Agustina Fonda
