NEWS

The 2017 USPA Board of Governors and Annual Member Meeting along with committee and LLC meetings will be held September 28-30 at the Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington. The Portland International Airport is the closest major airport to fly into and it is a 45-minute drive up the beautiful Columbia River Gorge to the hotel. Committee and LLC meetings will be held Thursday, September 28, and Friday, September 29. The Board of Governors and Annual Member Meeting will meet on Saturday, September 30. Sean Keys and Hidden Creek Polo Club in Tigard, Oregon, have graciously offered to host the Governor’s Polo Match following the conclusion of the Saturday meeting.

Following USPA Chairman Joseph Meyer’s announcement to dedicate more time to his new startup and subsequent decision not to run for a third term, there will be a shift in many leadership positions in the governance of the Association. The following members will be installed as Officers on the USPA Board: Chip Campbell as Chairman, Stewart Armstrong as Secretary, and Sam Ramirez Jr. as Treasurer. There will be an election for the President position between Tom Gose and Tony Coppola. Newly elected Governors at Large will be installed including, Peter Rizzo, Chrys Beal, and Charles Smith; Robert Jornayvaz III, Avery Chapman, and Dale Smicklas will step down from their previous positions. Pending the result of the presidential election, the new Board will fill the vacancies for Governors at Large, as needed. Dan Coleman will resign as Border Circuit Governor.

Aside from a reorganization of the leadership, there are many important items to accomplish at the upcoming meetings. The Board is set to approve the budget for 2018 as well as Member Club actions (approval of new Member Clubs which will hold a provisional status for 2018 and select provisional clubs moving to fully active). Individual committees and LLCs will also be presenting the Board with updates, future initiatives and requests.

-The Equine Welfare Committee is requesting approval of the new Equine Drug Testing Procedures. While the drug testing procedures themselves are not new, a thorough and detailed description of the process has been written and will be presented to the board to approve.
-The National Handicap Committee is requesting approval of the Women’s Outdoor and Arena Handicap Guidelines as presented.
-The High-Goal Committee is requesting approval of the revised High-Goal Committee Guidelines. Currently two professionals and two team owners are elected, the High-Goal Committee is requesting to approve the election of three professionals and three team owners.
-The Rules Committee is proposing changes to the Arena Rules, Outdoor Rules, International Rules, and Tournament Conditions.-The Safety Committee is recommending a rule for 2019 that all helmets used must meet NOCSAE requirements.
-The Tournament Committee is recommending the creation of two new Circuit tournaments: Circuit Intercollegiate/Interscholastic (I/I) Alumni Tournament, and a Circuit I/I JV and Club Level Tournament. The Tournament Committee is also requesting the approval of a new National Tournament: Women’s Arena Handicap. Finally, the Tournament Committee is requesting the Board award the 2017 National Arena Amateur Cup to Lakeside Polo Club (Lakeside, California) for 2017.
-Polo Development LLC is requesting approval of changes to the National Youth Tournament Series (NYTS) and I/I Tournament Conditions.

There has been concern among members about forest fires in Stevenson, Washington. The USPA has been in contact with Skamania Lodge and has been assured that all is well and the meetings will go on as scheduled.

Reminder to all Delegates: Please send in your proxy if you can not attend in person. All questions and proxies can be emailed to meetings@uspolo.org.

Meeting schedule HERE

2017 Delegate Proxy