The next Fall League Match will be THIS Sunday after lunch. All
players are asked to please to talk to Mary in the next few days
regarding the start time. Team colors: Black (Ryan, Marcos, Dante
team) versus Red or White. The Black team's line up is fixed for
the season but the White Team has one swing player slot that Dr.
Keith and Asmeen have filled so far. If you are interested in this
slot, please call Mary today since it will be gone FAST! This will
be the third match of the Fall Season League. We've had awesome
weather and outstanding club-level play so far and we encourage all
of our students to come out and watch.

We had a big class of nine happy students on Saturday morning and
then Mary and I made a hasty exit from the ranch and it was off to
the wedding of the year for friends Tareq and Michaele at the Oasis
Winery. Partying all night with 600 guests didn't visibly slow us
down (but I was pretty tired inside!) and we got the non-league
players' tournament off on Sunday afternoon. Beautiful weather
graced us all weekend and Sunday's match couldn't have been nicer.
We were pleased and honored to have our resident, world-class
professional Charlie Muldoon on hand to provide individual team
coaching before the match as well as coaching during the half time
break. He also provided lots of encouragement to the players during
the match. The Red Team was composed of Capt. Kerry, Michelle, and
Melinda. The Black Team, led by Dr. Chang included Delrie and
Kathleen. This marked the first time that several of the players
have participated in a tournament match and they definitely will be
back for more. Everyone looked great in his or her competition
whites as the match got underway. The first chukker had Capt. Kerry
alone on the scoreboard with an offensive goal as well as a nicely
done foul shot. The foul committed by the black team resulted in a
free case of beer sponsored by Dr. Chang; however, as team Captain
he remained in control and didn't let a little dirt on his pants
slow him down. Indeed, in the next chukker Dr. Chang picked up the
first goal for his team. However, Michelle also scored a goal for
the Red and it looked like the momentum might be getting away from
the Black Team as we entered half-time time with Red up 3 to 1.
Black quickly changed things after some very instructive coaching
from Charlie Muldoon and chalked up two additional goals (one more
from Dr. Chang and a decisive hit into goal from Delrie) while
completely shutting down the Red Team. We entered the fourth and
final chukker with Red and Black tied and it stayed that way until
Capt. Kerry knocked one in just as the clock expired. Everyone felt
great, albeit a bit exhausted, as the match ended. It was a lot of
fun to see our non-league players mixing it up so well. There were
very few fouls and some excellent examples of good teamwork. Dr.
Chang did a fine job of matching the up and downfield runs of Capt.
Kerry throughout the second, third and all but 5 seconds of the
fourth chukker. Kathleen was solid and always seemed to be in the
right spot to pick up Dr. Chang's well placed passes. Delrie,
coming off a few months layoff from polo, was right back in the game
and made some strong shots. Capt. Kerry was selected as MVP and
rightfully so as she led her team to the win. Melinda played
exceptionally well and it manuvered the ball nicely in traffic. She
may have not notched any goals but her team couldn't have won
without her. Michelle did a great job connecting with ball's sweet
spot and definitely moved the action downfield. Dr. Chang's pony,
India, received MVP for doing such a great job, not only repeatedly
running down Capt. Kerry's plays on the ball but also for keeping
Dr. Chang smiling and safe throughout the day. We had a nice party
after the match and were pleased to have Lt. Greg, Britney, and
Julia in attendance. The awards ceremony was held at the Red Eagle
Clubhouse at sunset and then it was time to call it a day. Mary,
Charlie and I really enjoyed this tournament and the exceptional
camaraderie of the players on both sides. Thank you to everyone who
played and attended. We'll be having more of these one-day
tournaments in the next month or so.

Give us a call, there's plenty of polo this weekend as well as by
request daytime classes.

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