SMPC Wins Their Tournament

The Sugarloaf Mountain A-Grade team of Nick Balogh, Peter Balogh and Halee Stroh, won two games on Saturday and one game on Sunday, before winning the final game by default when their opposition withdrew. Nick Balogh won the Best Horse Award for Aspen, while Peter Balogh won the Best Player Award.

Bucks County Polocrosse Club, from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, came second in A-Grade, while a mixed team of two Sugarloaf players and one player from Carolina Polocrosse Club took third.

Sugarloaf Mountain Polocrosse Club also won the C grade. Sugarloaf was unbeaten over their four games. Their number 1, Karl Balogh, earned the Best Player award while his horse, Pinky, won the Best Horse award. Second place went to another local team, from Bay Area Polocrosse Club in Southern Maryland.

D Grade was narrowly won by Bucks County Polocrosse Club, who beat Olney, Maryland-based No Guts No Glory on a tie-breaker. Bucks County scored just three more goals over their four games.

E Grade was also very close. The final was won by Redland Hunt Pony Club by one goal over Bucks County Polocrosse Club. Bucks County won the first game between the two teams.

The Halloween Tournament attracted 51 players from five states. Five of those players travelled to Rugby, England as part of a Pony Club Championship played alongside the Polocrosse World Cup in July, 2011. All five played in the A-Grade last weekend.

Polocrosse is a team horse sport similar to lacrosse on a horse. Players carry a soft rubber ball in a lacrosse-like racket, while using their horses to dodge and push the opposition on their way to score a goal.

Players are divided into grades based on their abilities. A-Grade players are some of the best in the country, and they include players who have played internationally. Grades step gradually down until E-Grade, where players usually have less than a year’s experience.