SUPA: The Schools and Universities Polo Association Ltd

Excellent play was the order of the day on Sunday 17th June at the SUPA National Schools Intermediate and Combined Tournament. Longdole Polo Club welcomed us back in style after our successful Arena Season there. Many thanks go to Bridget and Christopher Hanbury for their hospitality and Rob and Sue Cudmore and all their staff for their hard work for and support of SUPA. Despite heavy rain in the days prior to the tournament, the pitches held up well and played straight and true.

The Final of Division 4 between Winchester/ St. Swithuns and Clifton College proved too close to call. The first place was decided by a run down which Winchester /St.Swithuns won. Clifton College must also be congratulated though, as this is their first season in SUPA competitions. We hope to see them for many years to come.

Friends off the pitch

The teams competing in Division 3 were closely matched. The three teams in Group B all tied on points, goals for, goals against and goal difference. Their placings were decided by penalties and a run down. This meant that Hurstpierpoint A faced Cheltenham Ladies' College in the Final. Hurstpierpoint A got into gear quickly and despite Cheltenham Ladies' defending tenaciously Hurstpierpoint won 3-0.

In Division 2, the two finalists Sherborne/Blundells and Cheltenham College B powered their way through to the Final by winning all their group games. In a closely fought match Cheltenham College B managed to score the only goal and thus became the winners.

Winners Millfield School

Then came the finale to the day, the climax of Division 1. Earlier in the day, some parents watching from Ground 2 exclaimed “Wow, they really go up a gear in Division 1”. The SUPA committee agrees. The play in all matches was skilful, committed and exciting. The 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th places were decided by run downs so the teams couldn’t have been closer. The Final was a tightly marked affair with Millfield A (Libby Arnett, Harry Medina, Max Secombe and Jamie Fry) just sneaking past Marlborough A (Freddie Dear, Tabitha Woodd, Harold Hodges and Sasha Seymour-Williams) by scoring the only goal. Millfield A were crowned the SUPA National Schools Intermediate and Combined Champions and received the Wellington College Schools Polo Trophy from Tony Emerson of SATS, who are our most generous sponsors. The Most Valuable Player was Max Seccombe of Millfield and the Most Promising Player was Tom Carew of Sherborne Boys.

Finally thanks go to our commentator, Peter Trotter, for keeping us “on the ball” and commentating on the matches with such an elegant and eloquent style, the umpires Dan Banks and Lavinia Black, and the scorers and time keepers Pam Cowley, Jilly Emerson and Jane and James Williamson. Also many thanks go to Caroline Ralph and Cheltenham Ladies' College for collating and printing all our programmes – they used to just be plain text but now pictures are incorporated in every programme. We will be printing our own Blue Book soon!!!

	Division 1	Division 2	Division 3	Division 4
1st	Millfield A	Cheltenham College B	Hurstpierpoint A	Winchester/St. Swithuns
2nd	Marlborough A	Sherborne/Blundells	Cheltenham Ladies' College	Clifton
3rd	Cheltenham College A	Harrow Cream	Rugby	Bradfield Combined
4th	Harrow Blue	Millfield B	Felsted	Hurstpierpoint B
5th	Pangbourne A	Shrewsbury	Pangbourne Combined	Sherborne Girls
6th	Wellington	Marlborough B	Heathfield St. Marys Combined	Dean Close
7th	Stowe
8th	Sherbourne Boys