The Jamaica Polo Association Tournament ended with the Senior Cup Finals, staged last weekend at the St Ann Polo Club. Many might be forced to ask if this is a cup for old people. Quite the contrary, the Senior Cup boasts some of the island’s players vying for the honour of putting their name on a cup that has been around since 1907. The Senior Cup is the most historic and often the most competitive of the trophies in the Jamaica Polo Association series, as it was first contested for between the top teams from each Club in 1906 and the actual trophy is the same one presented in 1907 after the great earthquake. Kingston Polo Club and St Ann Polo Club are both well over 100 years old, and while other Clubs have come and gone they have taken part in this competition since its inception.

The great rivalry between the clubs escalates into a battle to reign supreme over the island’s polo. It is played between the top teams that each club can produce on an open basis and, at 14 goals, is the highest handicapped local tournament on the calendar. Win or lose, it is an honour to be selected to play for your club and the teams are heavily backed by the rest of their clubs with moral, equine and tactical support – producing a highly competitive match with club spirit at the highest.

Although St Ann Polo Club had already won four of the five JPA Inter-Club tournaments – the handicapped Tonka Browne Memorial (0 goal) and Hurlingham Cup (12 goal) and the open Junior “B” (0 goal) and Junior Cup (7 goal), they were very nervous about their chances in the prestigious Senior Cup as Kingston were the defending champions and St Ann had their key 4-goaler Andy Vernon sidelined by kidney stones, reducing their team’s possible strength to 10 goals. Kingston sportingly matched their 10-goal team of Lesley-Ann Fong-Yee at 1, Kurt Chin at 2, Shane Chin at 3 and Craig Russell at back and with Raymond “Mitta” Rousseau at 1, Alexander Melville at 2, Mark Wates at 3 and James Robertson at back.

For the third year in a row, St Ann Polo Club teamed up with the Jamaica Cancer Society St Ann/St Mary Branch in a fundraiser to raise awareness of Paediatric Cancer that is highlighted in May.

St Ann jumped out to an early lead in the first chukka, catching Kingston completely flat- footed as Craig Russell opened the scoring by picking up the ball on the back line and turning it through traffic into the goal. Fong-Yee then pounced on a long shot driven up the field by Russell and carried it down the field for the second goal of the day. Shane Chin then converted a spectacular 60-yard penalty to give St Ann a 3-goal lead. Mark Wates opened the scoring for Kingston in the second chukka, but St Ann continued their dominance as Shane Chin converted another 60-yard penalty and Russell a penalty 2. Wates scored again in the third chukka but St Ann opened up their lead with Russell scoring twice to give them a 7 – 2 lead at half-time.

Kingston changed its line-up at the start of the second half and the St Ann team lost control of the game as the Master of Polo Mark Wates brought his team back into the running. Mitta Rousseau opened the scoring, Melville added a hat-trick and Wates was so dominant in the middle of the field that they managed to cut their deficit to one goal.

St Ann kept their composure and battled back in the fifth chukka as play charged up and down the field, but neither team was able to dominate or score. The last chukka was action-packed as Mark Wates took a spectacular fall when he and his mount Sylvia somersaulted, digging huge tracks in the field as they went down but they both survived with the loss of some skin. St Ann capitalised when Fong-Yee won the ensuing throw-in, worked the ball to goal and Shane Chin backed her up to tap it in. The Kingston team held out to the last second, battling to score the goals to even up the game and bring it into overtime, but lady luck was not on their side: St Ann rode out the winners by 8 goals to 6 at the final bell to give them the “Clean Sweep” of the JPA’s Club Cups – their first since 1982.

The prize-giving ceremony was somewhat chaotic as the PA system quit and the large crowd on hand could barely hear whose names Peta Goldsmith, secretary of the Jamaica Cancer Society’s St Ann/St Mary Branch, drew for the Gate Prizes – a weekend for two at Sans Souci, a swim with the dolphins and a camel ride at Prospect Plantation from Dolphin Cove and dinner for two at Ocean’s Eleven. The JPA annual trophies were then awarded to the winning teams by Johnny McFarlane, President of the St Ann Polo Club.

Individual awards were then made of the Eddie Junior trophy for the Best Back to Mark Melville, the Tara Couriers trophy for Sportsmanship to Craig Russell; the Gleaner Independence Trophy for the individual with the greatest contribution to polo was presented to Mark Wates, the Ricky Chin Memorial for the most improved young player went to Rory Vernon, and the Bob Skeene trophy for the most valuable player of the series went to Craig Russell. The Senior Cup was then presented to the St Ann Polo Club team of “Lesley Fong-Yee, Kurt Chin, Shane Chin and Craig Russell.” Craig Russell was judged MVP of the Match and Pumba was awarded Best Playing Pony of the Match.

The match was a spectacular game of sportsmanship and skill that thrilled the crowd and brought them to their feet. Cheering on their respective clubs, some just cheering on the flashy display of skill that the players seemed to have dug deep to produce. Some of the players displayed an uncanny skill to pick the ball out of mid-air, in the midst of flying hooves and clashing bodies. Overall the game was sweet, the day was a success and we fulfilled our purpose by bringing people out for a good cause, raising money for the Cancer Society and to heighten our awareness of such a deadly disease. After all the adrenaline was drained, players retired to the Club House to celebrate their win or drown their sorrows and rehash the plays and fouls over and over as we scarfed down Chinese food and celebrated Lesley-Ann Fong-Yee’s birthday and danced into the wee hours of the morning. Some were even caught swinging from poles, but then that’s another story. See you there next year same time.

– Lesley Ann Fong-Yee and Shane Chin

Save the Date for the Hi Pro/ICWI Family tournament starting July 20-July 31 at the St Ann Polo Club.