USPA Women's Arena Open and 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. Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, hosted the first USPA-sanctioned Women’s Arena Open in 1991. After a three-year stint however, the tournament fell into abeyance. 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.
Championed by University of Virginia Coach Lou Lopez, the Women’s Arena Open first took shape in 2016 at Virginia Polo Inc. in Charlottesville, Virginia, as the Women’s Arena Challenge Cup. While the original aim had been to hold an open tournament, Association regulations limited an “open” arena tournament to a 12-goal handicap and above. The highest-rated woman at the time, the late Sunny Hale, was rated at 5-goals in the arena, followed by only two 4-goal women’s arena players, closing the door on the possibility of the tournament with regular arena handicaps. Luckily a precedent had already been set with the creation of the U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship™ the outdoor grass version. The addition of women’s outdoor handicaps sparked the concept of women’s arena handicaps, which allowed multiple teams to meet the required handicap level for an open tournament.
The 2017 USPA Women's Arena Open featured four teams in 2017 with Ace Sportswear coming out on top to take home the inaugural national title. 2018 open competition will feature two teams vying for the opportunity to engrave their names on the silver trophy.
The Women’s Arena Handicap held its inaugural competition in 2017 simultaneously alongside the Women’s Arena Open and will do the same in 2018. Played at the 12-16 goal handicap level, four teams will compete for the trophy.
The majority of this year’s competitors hail from an Intercollegiate or Interscholastic program, whether they are an alumna or current student. This revelation further solidifies the Association’s goal in the establishment of this tournament to inspire the transition of student athletes into life-long members by creating an important national tournament for women arena players beyond their schooling years. Furthermore, the playing of both tournaments concurrently allows women the opportunity to connect and aspire to an even greater level of women’s arena competition.
2017 Women's Arena Open winners: Ace Sportswear (L to R) Julia Smith, Anna Winslow, Demitra Hajimihalis. ©Chris Weber
