Florida-Based Team Won the Inaugural United States Polo Association National Youth Tournament Series

WELLINGTON, Fla. - Sept. 3, 2013 - PRLog -- Wellington, FL (September 3, 2013) – Sunday was the final round of the inaugural United States Polo Association National Youth Tournament Series, which culminated in Zone 3 team from the Florida region winning the Cecil Smith Cup by defeating the team from Zone 2, the Southeast, Midstates and Central region with a score of 9-4. The finals, played at the Virginia International Polo Club in Upperville, Virginia, were the culmination of several months of intense tournament play. 2013 was the inaugural year of the National Youth Tournament Series.

The final match was an intensely competitive one. In the first chukker, Wes Finlayson and Justin Daniels scored two goals together against Zone 2’s one, scoring again in the second chukker for a 3-1 halftime lead. The Zone 2 team scored another goal in the third chukker, but Wes Finlayson and Justin Daniels both scored two goals again for a whopping four goals, which upended any possible upset. Even though both teams scored two goals in the final chukker, the match was set – Zone 3 was the nationwide winner. Consequently, Wesley Finlayson was named the Most Valuable Player, and Justin Daniels’s mare Lolita won Best Playing Pony.

At the semi-finals on Saturday, August 31^st, Zone 3 defeated Zone 4 (from the Northeast and eastern region), and Zone 2 (Southeast, Midstates and Central region) defeated Zone 1 (Midwest, Pacific Coast, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Border and Hawaiian Islands region). The Zone 4 team won the third place match, 6-4.

2013 National Youth Tournament Series Final Round Rosters:

Zone 1

Loreto Natividad

Russell Stimmel

Liam Lott

Austin Finch

Zone 2

Andrew Begg

Pierce Alworth

Agustin Arellano

Wesley Bryan

Zone 3

Justin Daniels

Grant Ganzi

Juan Bollini, Jr.

Wesley Finlayson

Zone 4

Marissa Wells

Wyatt Harlow

Johann Colloredo-Mansfeld

Simon Colloredo-Mansfeld

“On behalf of the entire membership of US Polo I would like to congratulate the Zone 3 team on its victory in the inaugural United States Polo Association Youth Tournament” said Chrys Beal, the Junior Polo Committee Chairman of the United States Polo Association.   “I would also like to commend all of the participants in this year’s tournament, for clearly demonstrating that junior polo in the United States is being played at a level that is among the highest in the world.”

In an effort to help expand the sport among youth in the U.S., the Junior Polo Program’s mission is to cultivate and promote junior polo throughout the United States by providing the organizational structure to support junior polo clinics, tournaments, and international competition. Junior polo has seen a great deal of recent growth by partnering with the U.S. Pony Club and other youth equestrian organizations to develop new polo playing members of the Association.