USPA WOMEN'S ARENA HANDICAP®

USPA WOMEN'S ARENA HANDICAP®

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

Women’s arena competition has a recent history in the sport beginning with the creation of the Women’s Intercollegiate Championship in the late 1970s, followed by the Girls’ Interscholastic Championship in the early 1990s. With the exponential growth of women’s polo in recent years, the Association recognized the need for a national tournament celebrating the best of women’s arena competition. In 2017, Women’s Arena Handicap® held its inaugural competition simultaneously alongside the Women’s Arena Open®.

The finale of the 2020 USPA Women’s Arena Handicap® at Great Meadow Polo Club in The Plains, Virginia, concluded with an offensive masterclass from Rebellis (Kasey Morris, Maggie Cooper, Anna Winslow-Palacios), scoring 19 goals to defeat Belle Vodka (Victoria McGraw, Danielle Quinn, Jessica Schmitt), capping off a dominant showing to capture the title 19-5.

For the 2021 edition, four teams will compete at the Virginia Polo Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, vying for the chance to raise the 2021 Women's Arena Handicap® trophy, including 2020 finalists Victoria McGraw (Summerhill Farms), Jessica Schmitt (La Jefa) and defending champion Anna Winslow-Palacios (GFS).

Amongst the competition is Team USPA Graduating Member Marissa Wells (Summerhill Farm) and Team USPA Alumna Anna Winslow-Palacios (GFS). The Handicap will offer $2,500 in prize money, split between first ($1,500) and second place ($1,000). In addition to being an important national tournament for women arena players beyond their schooling years, the playing of this tournament allows women the opportunity to connect and aspire to an even greater level of women’s arena competition.

As a National USPA Arena Event, the USPA Women’s Arena Handicap is a qualifying tournament for all amateur players -1 through 3 goals to earn points towards the National Arena Amateur Cup (NAAC) which will be held at Legend's Polo Club in Kaufman, Texas, in November 2020. Points are based on the number of teams and team standing in each tournament. All points are awarded to each team member, not the team as a whole.

As the country emerges out of the COVID-19 crisis, the USPA established opportunities to support USPA Member Club events through the use of the COVID-19 USPA Polo Tournament Stimulus Package, which provides eligible USPA Member Clubs with waived tournament fees, trophies or reimbursements, one professional umpire and $2,500 in prize money per tournament at no extra cost. Offered to each club for the first two USPA tournaments of 2020 following the COVID-19 USPA Tournaments and Events suspension, Virginia Polo, Inc. will be taking advantage of the program for this tournament.

Photo: 2020 Women's Arena Handicap Champions®: Rebellis - Kasey Morris, Mariah "Maggie" Cooper, Anna Winslow-Palacios, presented by John Gobin. ©David Murrell.