Nominations are now being sought from players interested in selection for Ballarat Nationals in 2020.  Nominations can be simply completed via the online form on the SZ App.  They have been open since Easter and will close at midnight on Monday 3 June 2019. So get your phones out and get nominating now. If you have already nominated no need to do twice.

Club Championships are just around the corner.  So a quick answer of some of the most frequently asked questions:

• Nominations close via the online database on TUESDAY 28 MAY 2019
• Partial club teams will go into a separate pool player competition numbers allowing.
• If sufficient numbers for a fair and equitable pool competition are not achieved pool teams may be slotted into the regular draw.
• Pool teams cannot win points towards the Club Championship pointscore
• All players, pool included, will get a participation point towards the Club Championship pointscore.
• The Club Championships is a nominated selection carnival for all divisions. It is not compulsory for players to attend.
• $500 will be awarded to the Club who wins the Club Championship pointscore.

Sydney Carnival will be the place to be if your an intermediate player in 2019.  NSW Polocrosse is planning a range of coaching, mentoring and squad activities for the Under 21 age group to be run in conjunction with the PAA Intermediate Squad games.  These activities will be for all intermediate players with a focus on participation and development. 

Please indicate via the new app if you are interested in attending. A link to the eform is shown below.

The PAA and NSW Polocrosse would love to hear from any interested polocrosse enthusiasts who could help us out for a couple of hours at the NW School Horse Expo at Coonabarabran.  The event will be held 1/2 June and we are after some volunteers to help with enquiries at the Polocrosse Publicity Stand. 

April/May 2019 News from the Umpires

There have been some carnivals run and won over the last few weeks and there have been a few incidents that are worth mentioning from the Umpires. This is general feedback from the NSWPA Chief Umpires.

Score sheets: It has been noted that there are quite a few score sheets, in all Zones, that have not been correctly filled out. These documents are a record of the game that has been played and it is very important that all the information is filled in correctly. The Scorer and Time Keeper need to be noted, the Umpires also need to check and sign, as they will be responsible if there are any issues with the game or any incidents.

Umpire Jackets: All Umpires are required to wear umpire jackets, we need to see them being used.

Blood Rule: Blood on horse or rider must be cleaned up immediately, prevented from occurring again and the source removed (eg spurs removed)

This is the responsibility of the umpires. From Horse Welfare: It is important to find out what is exactly causing the blood, ie spurs, a bitten tongue, buckle cut etc and evaluate the level of injury.

Two Umpires: (Rule 20c and 20d) This is a requirement for the 2 top grade games and on all finals.

Recommendation: Players are not to Umpire games involving their own club.

Kicking horses: This vice is not to be tolerated. There was an incident recently where a player was kicked by an ‘off field’ (section off) horse behind the goal posts in a run off after a goal had been scored. This horse was at least 12m behind the back line, but as the horse ran behind it, it lashed out and hit the player in the ankle. This was only a young horse, but no excuse and was removed from the game. One thing we need to emphasise to all players and especially young ones is, NOT to ride closely, or cross over closely, behind any horse, on and off the field.

Numbers: All clubs are reminded to have correct playing shirts, with correct numbers on all players in all chukkas, even if a player is doubling up.

Round Robin Draws: Clubs and teams are reminded that in a Round Robin draw, if a team forfeits a game, then this will exclude that team from any finals , as the Round Robin has NOT been completed.

Line ups: Umpires and players are reminded that players shall line up as follows ”In 2 parallel lines, knee to knee, facing the umpire. No 1 players are nearest to the throw in, followed by the No 2 players and then the No 3’s. All horses shall be no closer than nose to tail. The No 1 players shall be 7 metres from the sideline, and at least 3 metres from the umpire”.

“No player may make any move for advantage in the match until the ball has left the umpires hand. This includes charging, pushing, and screwing of horses in the line-up”.

Milton club ran a great weekend of highly competitive polocrosse hosting 19 teams in A, B, C and D Grade. The sun was shining, the fields were amazing and the food delicious. 

The subbies had a fantastic weekend learning more about the rules and techniques of our sport.

Eurocoast were the A Grade winners after some very close games.

Best A grade female was awarded to Farran Mathie and best A grade male to Brenton Ward. 

There were 5 blue bandage participants who all started a little nervously but by the end had big smiles and were feeling very comfortable with the game.

Thankyou to Kym McMaster and Murray Fox for showing them the ropes.

As a club we are happy that we ran a successful carnival, showcasing our outstanding sport, with many spectators delighted by the tight competition.

We look forward to running our carnival next year and would like to thank everyone that came, played, helped and made the weekend perfect.

Thankyou to our major sponsors 

Milton Ulladulla Exservos

Willinga Park

Agri west 

We appreciate your support.

Holbrook, the first of the Albury Carnivals was held at the Holbrook Equestrian Centre on 11/12 May. 
A few showers on Friday saw the fields a little slippery first up on Saturday, but by mid morning they were awesome and the weather was spectacular.
In the SWS we have been a little low on numbers, but we welcomed 18 teams, with players attending from SWR, SWS, SH and CW, as well as some passionate players from Victoria.
It was a great carnival, and we had a World Cup Thankyou party n the Saturday, and celebrated with our 3 Albury-Holbrook players Lucy, Jim & Abbott Grills and Jugiong player Will Weston. A very entertaining Q & A with players by Liam Cardile and Dustin Bradshaw, kept the crowd silent and in awe.
It was a great multi horse event, with a wonderful spread of players across all the levels of competitions, and all played in great sportsmanship.

Results:

SUBBIES - DIV 1 Winners: Show Ponies R-Up Zebras - DIV 2 Winners: Mustangs R-Up Brumbies - Best Player: ZOE STEVENSON Sydney

C OPEN - Winners: JUGIONG 3 6 R-Up: ALBURY 5 3 - Best & Fairest: RYAN WESTON Jugiong

B OPEN - Winners: ALBURY 4 9 R-Up: WAGGA 2 8 - Best & Fairest: WILL IRELAND Albury

B MIXED - Winners: SYDNEY 11 R-Up: TUMROY 10 - Best & Fairest: JACQUIE MINAAR Albury

A RES OPEN - Winners: ALBURY 3 9 R-Up: BLUEBUNG 7 - Best & Fairest: BEC CARDILE Albury

A RES MIXED - Winners: JUGIONG 1 12  R-Up: POOL 11 - Best & Fairest: RACHEL PERNICE

A OPEN - Winners: ALBURY 2 14 R-Up: WAGGA 1 10 - Best & Fairest: LAUREN SIBLEY Albury

A MIXED - Winners: ALBURY 1 15 R-Up: JUGIONG 2 11 - Best & Fairest: WILL WESTON Jugiong

Look out for our next issue of the newsletter for a wrap up of the World Cup and Barastoc competitions.

In the mean time follow the links below for some great photos of the event:

The Wife Creative  and  Calico Pony