Lucky Helmets!
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Thanks to the generosity of Tom Shanahan, a long-time supporter of Stanford Polo, the new helmets have arrived! The helmets are safety approved and certified, and a massive step up from the club’s old ones. After having the old “crash helmets” in the club for decades, we’re thrilled to have these new helmets! A secondary benefit is that the matching red helmets complement the Stanford jerseys, making us look extra smart and intimidating. Tom Shanahan has truly helped bring Stanford Polo up to modern standards and times, and we can’t thank him enough for his continued support.
Although the helmets didn’t have their first christening game until two weeks ago, since their arrival, Stanford has won nearly all of our games and tournaments. Three weeks ago, the Women’s Team played USC. The game was a little sticky and slow, but Stanford cruised to an easy victory, with goals made by all members playing for the team.
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That Sunday, Stanford fielded lower and upper flight teams for the Horse Park’s Valentine Tournament. New members Raquel and Kathryn did a great job in their first arena tournament! The upper flight team, consisting of seniors Erich Schloss, Laura Kurt, and Olivia Cords, battled it out to win their flight. Their last game against the fierce Sutter Butte team resulted in a tie. Thanks to two true penalty shots made by Olivia Cords (the author herself was pleasantly surprised), the team of Stanford seniors won the tournament! The upper flight’s team success in this fast game had the coaches lamenting over Erich Schloss’ inherent ineligibility to play for the women’s team. Should Erich have been born “Erica” we would surely be on our way to nationals. Other highlights of the day included a bareback chukker. The chukker, enjoyed by all, resulted in only one minor casualty in the very last thirty seconds, as Martini’s rider (we won’t mention names) slipped of her pony. We really enjoyed the camaraderie of what we hope will become an annual event put on by Horse Park Polo, and are very thankful that we were invited to participate.
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Two weekends ago, Stanford hosted three games in a row, beginning with the Women’s Team victory over Westmont on Friday. The women played their second game of the weekend against Oregon State on Saturday. The Stanford Women’s Team got off to a slow start in this game, which was tied through halftime. Re-energized during the second half, the Stanford team pulled ahead during the third chukker and maintained a generous lead for the rest of the game. We’re glad that Oregon made the long drive down to play us, and would like to commend the Oregon girls for their very determined ride offs.
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The men’s team played a fast game against the Idaho Vandals. Both the Stanford team and the Idaho team are lead by strong captains, Erich and Mason, and the game was very competitive through the first half. The Stanford Men’s Team quickly pulled ahead in the second half, resulting in a hard-won victory. We’re glad that we could reciprocate Idaho’s generosity in hosting the women’s team and want to thank Idaho for making the trip down! We’re pleased that we finished off our last few home games with multiple victories, which we’d chalk up to the new helmets if we were superstitious.
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The recent rain has resulted in several cancelled practices, but we’re thrilled to have the arena back this weekend. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the much-needed rain will hold off over the next two weeks, as we practice and scrimmage in preparation for Regionals at Cal Poly.
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