2020’s been an unconventional year, to say the least, but despite it’s ups and downs we managed to make the best of the 2020 season thanks to a great group of players (and players in the making). So to show our appreciation, remember the good times and show off everyone’s achievements we’re going to be doing a series of year end achievement awards. Below is the full list of awards and winners, congratulations to everyone!
Most Dedicated Award: the most dedicated player award goes to the players who have consistently shown up and put the most time into improving their polo and enjoying the polo lifestyle. There are winners in 3 categories:
Club Player: goes to Josh Hendin for playing nearly every club game on offer and making time to always come and ride/stick and ball in between
Newbie: goes to Keith Watts for always finding an extra hour in his busy schedule in addition to polo school to squeeze in some extra practice.
Peewee: goes to Abby Weir for always showing up for both peewee polo sessions a week and working steadily at her own pace on her polo
Horsemanship Award: goes to Matt Wilkings for learning how to control some serious horsepower this summer
Surprise MVP of the season goes to Wendy O’Leary for winning her first club tournament and always stepping in with her A game when we needed her!
Most Improved Player Award goes to the players (in 3 categories) who’ve shown the most improvement overall in their game
Club: Asta Torokvei for winning her first tournaments and continually pushing herself to get into the play
Newbie: two way tie between James Baskin for his late season push to improve his riding and horse control and Jane O’Sullivan who started the summer never having played polo and ended the season being one of the stronger progression league players out there!
Peewee: Sophie McLennon for diving head first into peewee games and being a solid defensive player for whatever team she’s playing on
Most Enthusiastic Guest Instructor Award: goes to Andrina Calder for helping us out with some learn to play clinics and making it a blast for all involved
Favourite Teammate: Connor O’Leary for his awesome pre-chukker words of wisdom and for always being the ringer on his team
Most Successful Tournament Player: (determines by number of tournament wins in the season) goes to Brian O’Leary by a long shot who, after a 3 season hiatus, won every League Tournament in addition to the Polo Canada Invitational Game, some of his Covid Challenge Games and the Coupe D’Amour.
Winner of the Coupe D’Amour, Covid Challenge Games, Polo Canada Invitational and all High-Goal League Tournaments
Special mention to Mekhail Bari and Emily Hurst for tying in second place with four tournament wins apiece
Winner of First Covid Challenge, Kilreen Governor General Cup, Ireland Canada Cup and Upper Canada Cup
Winner of 3 Covid Challenge Tournaments, tied 4th Covid Challenge
Best Wipeout: we’ve had a few good wipeouts this year but our winning has to be Georgette Dunn’s progression league wipe out which lucky for us was caught on video!
Most Amount of Wipeouts in a Season: goes to Leandro Leivas who always seemed to hop back on his pony like it was nothing every time he took a spill
Best Fan Club: goes to the players with the most enthusiastic and dedicated fans who regularly tailgated games. Best Fan club is a tie between Matt Wilkings biggest fan Syd McCann who never missed a game or practice and Mekhail Bari who always had a crowd on sidelines cheering him on
Most Popular School Pony: goes to Mummy. From clinics to lessons and progression league to tournaments and club matches Mummy was a real hot commodity this season.
Best Tournament Pony: a tie between two tournament superstars Sophia, played by Brian O’Leary, and Trebol, played by Max Torokvei. These two ponies often found themselves head to head in the final chukker fighting for a win.
Best Equine Teammate: goes to De La Gorra for always going above and beyond to get his rider into and out of the play safely
Most talented greeny: goes to Kelowna for really stepping up her game this season
Worst Penalty Shot Taker: goes to Josh Hendin for missing not only one but several game deciding penalty shots
Best Photographer: goes to David Wayne for always giving his all to get the perfect shot…even when it means almost getting run over at by slightly out of control ponies and players
Special Mentions
Vijay Sappani, Jen Buchan and David Wilkings for their perseverance, tenacity and focus on succeeding. They’re ready to take their polo to the next level in 2021!
Congratulations to all the winners and a huge thank you to everyone who helped us make 2020 the best it could be despite the challenges! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on the field in 2021!