SouthAfrica.info
Brad Morgan
21 July 2011

South Africa captured the Polocrosse World Cup title for the first time when they defeated neighbours Zimbabwe in the final at the Onley Grounds Equestrian Centre near Rugby in the United Kingdom on Sunday.

Both teams were undefeated heading into the final and both had beaten Australia, who had previously never lost a game at the World Cup, which was held Down Under in the first two editions in 2003 and 2007.

South Africa had finished third in both the 2003 and 2007 events, while Zimbabwe had finished fifth in 2007 and fourth in 2003.

For those not in the know, polocrosse is a combination of polo and lacrosse and the format features men and women playing alternate chukkas. It’s easy to understand and makes for a fantastic spectator sport.
Zimbabwean expectations

Much was expected of the Zimbabweans this time around, after they defeated a South African team full of capped internationals three-nil in a series in Johannesburg in early June. It was not, however, South Africa’s World Cup team.

Playing in the United Kingdom proved to be a test for the two southern African nations, who are used to dry conditions.

Heavy rains in the final created some muddy patches on the field, but South Africa adjusted especially well to them to run out convincing 29-18 winners after eight exciting chukkas.

For the record, South Africa’s World Cup winners were Gavin Cocker, Jossie Spilsbury, Graham MacLarty, Nikki Crook, Jan Albert Steenkamp, Celicia Jacobs, Nico Van Wyk, and Julie Royden-Turner.
‘Phenomenal’

“It was phenomenal, especially for Southern Africa,” to be playing Zimbabwe in the final, South African captain Gavin Cocker told SAinfo. “And to win it was the ultimate, a special moment.”

Jan Albert Steenkamp was in excellent form for South Africa in the title-decider and was later named the best male player of the tournament. The women’s award went to Kelly Redfearn of Zimbabwe.

South Africa had earned their place in the final with an excellent 25-11 victory over Australia in the semi-finals. Zimbabwe reached the title-decider with a 24-10 win over the USA.

It was in the game against the highly-fancied Australians that a huge turning point occurred, said Cocker.
‘After four chukkas, it was over’

“In the first two chukkas, our girls went down 3-0, but then pulled it back to 3-3. Our men then won their first chukka 5-0. After four chukkas, it was over, Australia weren’t going to come back from being so far down.”

Zimbabwe had earlier downed the Australians 21-12 in pool play. They also edged New Zealand 17-15 and saw off Zambia 22-10.

South Africa won their first two pool matches 19-9 over Ireland and 18-7 over the USA before sneaking past the UK 14-13 on a last-gasp goal by Graham MacLarty.

Australia dominated the USA in the clash for third place, romping to a 31-8 win, while New Zealand held on for a 20-19 victory over the UK in thee battle for fifth.
Visual skills

It was a World Cup win a long time in the making, explained Cocker. Work on the South African challenge began some nine or 10 months before the tournament and visual skills’ work with world-renowned Doctor Sheryl Calder was “very helpful”, he enthused.

At a World Cup, for health and safety reasons, players use borrowed horses which are put into pools and draws are then made for them. Adjusting to the horses is vital and this, too, was part of the South African team’s preparation, Cocker related.

“We got the horses into the right positions for the right riders and we were lucky that the horses suited our playing style.”
Stellar defence

Questioned about South Africa’s stellar defensive showing throughout the tournament – the 18 goals they gave up to Zimbabwe was by five the most they conceded in any game – Cocker again put it down to game planning for each side they faced.

Winning the World Cup is a “great opportunity” for South African polocrosse, he said. “People are excited and interest in the game is on the up. People who were doubters about South African polocrosse are now on board.

“It’s also good for Zimbabwe,” he said about the all-Southern African World Cup final and what it means for polocrosse in the region.

And with the next Polocrosse World Cup taking place in South Africa in 2015, the defending champions have plenty to look forward to, and to build towards.

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgSA capture Polocrosse World Cup

MEN

Gavin Cocker Captain	Gavin is a farmer and plays for Richmond Club. He is married to Karen. Gavin has represented Zimbabwe at Junior and Senior level and has Captained the SA Senior side since 2006. Gavin played for the winning team Dominus Sport in the 2010 Zim Open. Goal : To win this world cup.
Jan Albert Steenkamp (Jannie)	Jannie is 22 years old and a student. He plays for Cape Hunt Polocrosse Club in Cape Town and has represented South Africa in all age groups. He represented the South Africa mens team in Australia 2007 and 2009 . Also South Africa vs UK in 2009. Motto: Dedicated commitment leads to success!
Graham MacLarty	Graham is 17 years old and plays for Nyati Polocrosse Club. He has represented SA at all junior levels and has played for the SA senior Team since 2009. Graham played for the winning team Dominus Sport in the 2010 Zim Open. Motto : Ride it like you stole it !
Travis Timm	Travis is the new cap in the team. He is 18 years old and is a student at Treverton College. Travis plays for the Nyati Polocrosse club and has represented SA at all junior levels . Travis played for the winning team Dominus Sport in the 2010 Zim Open. Motto : With God all things are possible.

LADIES

Jocelyn Spilsbury (Jossie) Vice Captain	Jossie is 25 years old and is married to Sipho (Gary). Jossie plays for Nyati Polocrosse Club. Jos has represented SA at all junior levels has played for the Seniors since the age of 17. This is Jossie’s 3rd World Cup. Motto: If you think you can you can , if you think you can’t you are right !
Celicia Jacobs	Celicia is a student , she is 21 years old and plays for the Maties Polocrosse Club. Celicia has represented SA at all junior levels and has played for the Senior team since 2007. She played in the 2007 World Cup and 2009 Quadrangular.  She also played for South Africa against the UK in 2009. Motto: Float like a butterfly , sting like a bee !
Nikki Crook	Nikki is a horse trainer and plays for Port Elizabeth Polocrosse Club. Nikki lives in PE with her fiancé Steven and son Tristan. Nikki has represented the SA senior Team since the age of 16 and played against the UK in 2009. Motto: She who controls the ball controls the game.
Julie (Soss) Royden Turner	Julie is 26 years old and Breeds Race Horses. Julie plays for the Mooi River Polocrosse club with her boyfriend Ross. Caroline Minnaar has been her biggest influence in polocrosse. She has represented SA at junior level and has played for the Seniors since 2006. Motto: Lead by example and the effort you put in is the effort you get out!
Bruce Maclarty Coach	Bruce is 42 years old.  He is a beef farmer in Natal, and is married to Beth and has 3 children, Graham, Natalie and Paula. Motto:  Coming second is overrated !!
Wessel Strauss SA President	Wessel is the president for the Polocrosse Association of South Africa as well as the International Polocrosse Council President.  Wessel’s son Johan also plays polocrosse and has represented South Africa at junior level.

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgWORLD CUP 2011 TEAM: SOUTH AFRICA

25 March 2011

All countries to participate in the 2011 World Cup

As per previous communication I paid a visit to the UK this week to have a look at the new venue, and meet the new organisers. I can positively report back as follow.

The venue itself is situated in a much more visitor friendly environment as to Bishop Burton and is located 80 miles from Heathrow Airport London and 30 miles from Birmingham Airport by road and forty minutes by train from London

It is also located in an area with a variety of tourist attractions for supporters which should keep them very busy during the days when no test matches are being played.

The fields as they are now I am positive about that we could play on them immediately without any trouble and they are continuously being upgraded till the event itself.

At the fields areas are being prepared where Marquee tents will be erected with all facilities available and more than sufficient parking and back-up playing fields if needed.

I had the opportunity to meet with Phillip Baker the owner of the grounds who is currently putting in a huge effort to have everything in place in a very short time. He also gave me the assurance that the venue will be available with all requirements for the entire period of the World Cup.

Furthermore I met with Eric Jenkinson, Quintin Cornforth and Iain Heaton the CEO of the organising committee.

All three these gentlemen are fully supportive and positive towards the running of the World Cup and never hesitated to answer any questions asked and assured a very successful event.

The entire organising committee for this event has been restructured and it was found that communication in surrounding areas has already been distributed as various places were visited and everybody of importance knew about the coming World Cup. That can also be seen in the communication received from Iain the last few weeks regarding the progress entry fees etc.

The horses available for the World Cup were also discussed and assurance were also given that the correct total of horses would be available although they might not be to the same standard of horses supplied in Australia.

In view of the fact that the organising committee had changed and the draw send out previously was done by the previous organisers also came under discussion and agreement had been reached that the draw would change as per the last discussion between Iain and Odette with the input from Bill Bleechmore which means that the draw will now be as put together by Iain after studying a variety of possible draws. I am however of opinion that at the IPC meeting a standard format must be tabled for future World Cup events which would be used by all countries hosting a World Cup. We have the two previous versions done by Australia for 2003 and 2007 which worked out well, and now this one from Iain.

Pool A

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Zimbabwe
• Zambia

Pool B

• United Kingdom
• South Africa
• Ireland
• United States of America

I have taken some pictures of the venue and the type of stabling which I am attaching to this e mail for your view.

As said I am happy with the venue and would like to thank the UK organisers for their hospitality and support during my visit and wish them all of the best for the last few months of preparation and at this stage has no doubt that they will host a successful 2011 World Cup.

If you have any further questions please feel free to ask and regular updates will be received from Iain as they proceed.

I call on all countries to be positive and support the UK in every possible way we as member countries can.

Kind Regards

Wessel Strauss

PRESIDENT: INTERNATIONAL POLOCROSSE COUNCIL

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.org2011 World Cup UK Venue Review

Our wonderful Juniors took home the 3 Test Series against South Africa defeating them 2 games to 1.

The third and final test was a very close affair! Scores and Results as follows

1^st Test – Australia 22 d Sth Africa 20

2^nd Test – South Africa 28 d Australia 22

3^rd Test – Australian 23 d Sth Africa 20
Individual Awards for the Series

Best No 1 – Natalie McLarty (South Africa)

Best No 2 – Mitchell Whiteley (Australia)

Best No 3 – Farran Mathie (Australia)

Champion Horse – “Limit Up” ridden by Hilary Beech (Australia)

Photo Gallery:

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgAustralian Junior Mixed Team Victorious!

1^st Test – Sth Africa 26 d Australia 18

2^nd Test – Australia 25 d Sth Africa 24

3^rd Test – Australian 22 d Sth Africa 20

Individual Awards for the Series

Best No 1 – Christie Edwards (Australia) – tied with Henru Potgieter (South Africa)

Best No 2 – Sara Cawood (South Africa)

Best No 3 – Lucy Grills (Australia)

Champion Horse – “?” ridden by Henru Potgieter (South Africa)

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgAustralian Invitational Team Wins!

1^st Test – Australia 22 d Sth Africa 20

2^nd Test – South Africa 28 d Australia 22

3^rd Test – Australian 23 d Sth Africa 20

Individual Awards for the Series

Best No 1 – Natalie McLarty (South Africa)

Best No 2 – Mitchell Whiteley (Australia)

[[Show as slideshow]]Best No 3 – Farran Mathie (Australia)

Champion Horse – “Limit Up” ridden by Hilary Beech (Australia)

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgAustralian Junior Team Tour of South Africa

Senior Open Squad for 2011 World Cup in England – 22 July 2010 at 00:00

SOUTH AFRICA worldcup team

Polocrosse members.

The Senior Selection Committee has selected an Senior Open Squad of 6 Men and 6 ladies for the 2011 World Cup in England. This is an open squad and the final team will be announced after Club Champs at Noodsberg.

I would like to congratulate the following:

Ladies

• Nikki Crooke
• Celicia Jacobs
• Dawnay Jacobs
• Josi Spilsbury
• Elri Van Der Merwe
• Leanne Van Wyk

Mens

• Gavin Cocker
• Steven Kane
• Graham McClarty
• Jannie Steenkamp
• Attie Van Wyk
• Nico Van Wyk

I wish them all the best for the announcement of the Team to go to The World Cup in 2011 at Noodsberg in August.

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgSouth Africa World Cup Squad

UK Polocrosse will make its debut on Sky Sports at the end of October in a series of four programs of the recent UK versus South Africa test match series. The test match series took place at Ashfields polocrosse club in Essex on the 18th and 19th of July and the UKPA arranged for the Country Channel to come and film it and screen it through their own TV channel.

After filming the Country Channel showed some of the footage to Sky Sports and Sky promptly said that they would also like to show the programs. The result is that the four half an hour programs (one for each test match) will be shown a number of times on Sky Sports at the end of October.

I think you will all agree with me that this is a brilliant thing to happen for the sport. Half the battle of growing polocrosse is that a lot of people don’t know it exists so to have it on Sky should hopefully make a lot more people aware of it and interested in it.

We are preparing to kick off a big off season sport development program and hope that polocrosse being on Sky, combined with the recent polocrosse demonstrations at Blenheim Horse trials, are the perfect launching pad to grow the sport.

The Country Channel themselves will also show the programs, through their web based TV channel, www.countrychannel.tv, and through their listing on My Channel (Channel number 171) after Sky have run the program on Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports Xtra.

The below running schedule shows the planned running times for the programs on Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports Xtra (please be aware that Sky use a 28 hour clock to plan their programming so 28:30 is 04:30 am). Below them is the running times for My Channel (which is the freeview channel that the Country Channel run progarmmes through). I would like to thank Country Channel for their help throughout this process, I hope we can work with them more going forwards.

Iain Heaton, UKPA Sport Development Officer
Sportsdevelopment@ukpolocrosse.co.uk

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgUK vs. SA on TV & Web

Things got off to a start on the Wednesday – well actually preparations for the open got off to a start long before the Wednesday but proceedings for the annual Zim Open 2009 got underway on Wednesday the 9th of September with their meet and greet, black tie ball the traditional gathering of all the players, managers, sponsors, interested spectators and family, as well as honoured guests and the few friends looking for a good party. The setting this year was spectacular the ball was held at the venue as usual however this year they had stepped it up a notch as they always do and we were treated to a fantastic array of drapes and lighting surrounding the main seating area, the tables were covered in flowers and confetti and it definitely was a world class event especially for the polocrosse community.

The bidding process got off starting with the B pool. Bidding is done in order to gain 1st 2nd or 3rd pick and 1st pick in the B pool went to the Progroup team which consisted of Sophie Lodder (uk)  Graham Keith (zim), Brad mallet (conf SA\Zim ) Gary Parham( zim) Dan Duhig( uk) Dale Scott(zim ) and from their first bid they chose Francis Dodd. Second bid went to the High Voltage team – Jonjon Rutherford (conf SA\Zim), Craig Mannix (zim), Lucas Holtzhausen (zim) Brian Wright ( zim ) Steven Kane( sa) Gordon Shaw( sa) and they chose as their 2nd pick Arlene Crookes. Third bid went to Alcredo they consisted of Steven Gardini ( zim ), Skye Bradford (au), Ian Taylor (zim) Bosse Joubert ( zim ) Hamish Micheals (uk) , Lynton Bauer ( sa) and their 3rd pick was for Nikki Hopgood. The final team was Kelly Redford (conf Zim\sa), Lee- anne Van wyk (sa) Audrey Logan ( zim ) Stacey Logan (zim ), Nicky Crookes(sa) and their wildcard was Alison van Heerden(zim)

This lead to the A pool bidding and first bid went to Koala park team which was Danie Swan (zim) Micheal Krynaw (zim), Brad Clark (zim), Chris Andserson ( au), Troy Henry(au), Shane Hill ( nz), and their pick was for Lance Anderson (au). Second pick was won by the Renaissance team of Andy Baker (zim) Brendon Leschinski (sa), Squaky Whaley ( sa), Andrew Heynes (sa), Jason Webb (uk) Travis Timm (sa) and their pick was for Beau Moore (au). 3rd pick went to the Millers team of Howy Baker (zim) Nico Van Wyk(sa) Attie Van wyk (sa), Abbott Grills (au), Gysie Bonzaaier (sa) Chavonne Cooper(sa) and their pick was for Guy Robertson (uk). The final team was Capicol which was Jannie Steenkamp (sa) Damien Harris ( sa), Charl Duplessis (sa) Graham Maclarty (sa), Bruce Maclarty(sa) Gavin Cocker(sa) and their wild card was Greg Sergeant (uk). The ball then became very festive as everyone celebrated the triumphs in anticipation for the start of the tournament.

This Year the venue was the Harare showgrounds in the arena traditionally used for showjumping. Making for a spectacular scene the field is surrounded like an amphitheatre with a slope down on to the fields surrounding the field, the one side of the field held the sponsors tents which were lavishly  set out with drapes and seating areas, and served food and drink to the sponsors and their entourage whilst at the top end of the field there was a grandstand for the specators providing shade and a spectacular overhead view of the proceedings great for viewing the exceptional polocrosse.

Play began on the Friday and saw 4 B pool games and 2 A pool games whilst on Saturday they had 4 A Pool games and 2 B pool games, each pool was a round robin with the top 2 teams progressing to the final and the bottom two to the 3rd place playoff. Play started off at 8 am in the B pool with a replay of last years final between the High Voltage team and the Progroup team and as with last years final the Progroup team managed to upset High Voltage to win by one goal with some great play. The second game was between Alcredo and Tanzi this saw the girls from Tanzi come together and win by a fair margin. The first A pool Game was next this saw Koala park, last years champs, take on Millers one of the new teams and although Millers did well and managed to stay in it for a while in the end Koala Park were very clinical and finished with a convincing win. The second game had Renaissance head up against Capicol in a thrilling encounter that had a seasaw of goals from either side, but eventually Renaissance established a lead and managed to keep that lead to the end and claim victory. The second B pool Games in the afternoon started off with High Voltage playing Alcredo and although Alcredo put up a fight the High Voltage team proved too strong and ended with a convincing win. The last game for the day was between the Progroup winners from last year and the Tanzi girls an all girls side made up of the top Zim and SA ladies. The game got off to a flyer and the girls were playing really well, there was some of the best ladies polocrosse on display as they cleaned up the Progroup side to take victory.

Saturdays play started with the Koala Park team taking on the Renaissance side both winners from the previous day however again with clinical and precise play the Koala park team asserted their authority and beat the Renaissance side quite convincingly. The Capicol side took on  the Millers Team next and saw the Capicol side find a bit of rhythm and win the game. The next games were the B pool games for the day and had High Voltage take on Tanzi and in a very closely contested and hard fought game High Voltage managed to come together and with some hard play win by a narrow margin as well as gain themselves a spot in the finals. The next game had the Progroup side take on the Alcredo team with Progroup needing 30+ goals to make the final a very possible task considering Alcredo’s performance so far in the event, and although they got close the Alcredo team pulled them back and away from the delights of another final so although victorious the Progoup side had missed the final. This meant that the B pool final was between the Tanzi Girls and The High Voltage side. The A pool games for the afternoon saw things between Koala park and Capicol get off to a thrilling start and in a tensely contested match Capicol lined up for the last chukka 5 goals down and with a lot to play for. However in one of the most thrilling and astonishing chukkas of the weekend so far Capicol thrashed in a 9 goal Chukka and left the crowd and the Koala Park side in shock with a demonstration of a typical Zim Open style upset in the end. The next game was between Renaissance and Millers where Renaissance needed to win with 35 goals to get into the final in front of the Capicol side and boy did they try with the Millers team putting in all their effort to try and win their first game the Renaissance team got close and ended up with 34 goals missing the final by one goal a real gut wrenching margin and an unlucky end to their run for the trophy.

The Sunday started with the B pool 3rd place final which was won by the Progoup side leaving Alcrdeo in 4th. Then there was the A pool 3rd place final which was won by the Renaissance team leaving Millers in 4th.

The B pool final was a tense affair between the Tanzi Girls and High Voltage, having met already in the pool matches where High Voltage claimed victory the girls were sure to mix it up and try take the trophy from the high voltage teams grasp. The Match started off  with the score neck and neck with neither team gaining a strong advantage, there was some great play from the girls with Kelly Redford at the 1 supported very well by Celicia Jacobs at the 3 making a great combination in the one section  whilst in the other they had  Audrey Logan bringing her section back  at 1 by putting in some goals  as their struggle to put in goals  was where they had lost it in the previous game. With things close up to the 6th chukka the High Voltage team went into the 7th and really asserted some authority in the form of Steven Kane who had been a pretty much dominant figure throughout the tournament playing some fantastic polocrosse, this took the Tanzi team into the final chukka with a lot of work to do and at the beginning of the chukka it looked like they might be in it but with some great polocrosse in the combination of Gordon Shaw, Craig Mannix and the comeback of Jonjon Rutherford proving too much for the girls High Voltage ran in Winners of the B pool Zimbabwe Open 2009

The much anticipated A pool final set off to a roaring start with everything to play for and everything to loose both teams were grasping at every opportunity they could to try and take the lead. Things were close most of the way however  at some stage both teams managed to gain a 3 goal advantage and it seemed like they would run away with it only to be roped back in by their adversaries. The Sixth chukka was particularly entertaining and interesting at the same time there were 6 players on the field – not a single one of them were Zimbabwean – in the Zim Open!! Anyway as things may happen a fight broke out and a player from each team was sent to the sin bin leaving 4 players on the field – a first for a Zim open final I think. So after the entertaining sixth the players lined up for the seventh with Koala park holding a slight lead there was some great play and the grittiness of the Capicol players in Gavin Cocker, Bruce Maclarty and Graham Maclarty a young 15 year old from South Africa matching a flamboyant Mikey Krynaw, Danie Swan and Chris Anderson proved to be a tense affair with the 7th chukka scores ending pretty much even but koala in front on the scoreboard Mikey and Graham played fantastic polocrosse all weekend and it was great to see such a high standard from both these players. This left things in limbo for the final chukka between sections that had both had yellow cards, Koala lined up with Troy Henry, Lance Anderson and Shane Hill a formidable combination of Australian and New Zealand polocrosse up against Charl Duplessis, Damien Harris and Jan Albert Steenkamp some of SA’s finest talent   it was a ripping final chukka with the Capicol side getting a lot of ball at the back and looking to rope in the Koala Park side however the Koala team managed to turn over possession a couple of times and by making certain of the possession they had they managed to keep the Capicol Team at bay and take their lead to the end as well as  the silverware Koala Park Champions of the 2009 Zimbabwe Polocrosse Open 2009. In a final comment about the overseas players, it is really such a privilege to have such a caliber of player in a tournament but what was really pleasing was the manner in which they conducted themselves nothing short of courteous, grateful and very open and friendly to the people around them it was great to have them out and we look forward to seeing them again.

Terrance From Bombers Equestrian

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Thanks to Polocrosse-international.orgZimbabwe Open 2009

Thanks to Polocrosse-international.org2009 SA VS ZAMBIA JUNIOR TOUR IN ZAMBIA