REGIONAL PRESIDENT'S CUP
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Established in 1998, the Regional President’s Cup was reformatted in 2020 to serve as a qualifying tournament for the National President’s Cup with priority entry to first and second place Regional President's Cup teams. The return of this nationwide tournament format will bring together teams representing USPA Member Clubs around the country and restore the relationship between the two trophies.
In 2021, Rancho Polo/Chogan (Sy Zahedi, Torrey Ripinsky, Alejandro Gonzalez, Jason Crowder) got off to a fast, quick and commanding start against Klentner Ranch (Justin Klentner, Jacob Klentner, Jesse Bray, Dominique Mielle, sub. Tony Uretz). Rancho Polo/Chogan were able to fend off a final push from Klentner Ranch to claim the title of Regional President's Cup champions 14-12. Read article here.
Returning to Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club (SBPRC), this year's edition will feature nine players who competed last year, with five new teams challenging for the coveted trophy. Last year's champion Sy Zahedi is joined by FMB Too!'s Henry Walker as he attempts to claim his second consecutive title alongside Graduating Team USPA member Bayne Bossom, but will face an experienced Bensoleimani.com/Sentinel team featuring two Team USPA Alumni in Jimmy Wright and Remy Du Celliee Muller. Newcomers Big Hitters are joined by BFBST/El Llamado and Pau Hana/Wild Polo to round out the competitive field.
Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club will be taking advantage of the USPA's Tournament Support Program (TSP) for the Regional President's Cup, 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.
2021 Regional President's Cup Champions: Rancho Polo/Chogan - Jason Crowder, Alejandro Gonzalez, Torrey Ripinski, Sy Zahedi. Presented by Kopu Waters' Mindy Mahy and pictured with Juri Ripinski and Eileen Zahedi. ©David Lominska
