On June 23rd, Polo Canada held its Annual General Meeting, where a new board of directors and officers was elected.

New directors include Derek Wolstenholme, Don Pennycook, Mike Egan and John Gibson, who will serve a two-year term, ending in 2009. Grant Hardwick, Justin Fogarty, Scott Hunt and Michael Sifton are returning directors, their terms ending in 2008.

The new board then elected Polo Canada’s new officers as follows:

President – Justin Fogarty

Vice-President – Pennycook

Secretary – Derek Wolstenholme

Treasurer – John Gibson

At the meeting, outgoing members Fred Mannix, Sonja Norgaard, John Emery and Ian Angus were honoured for their contributions to Polo Canada and the sport of polo.

Currently, Polo Canada is in the process of transitioning the head office from Calgary, Alberta to a new permanent location in Toronto.

Polo Canada is going to strive to provide its members with even greater support. One of the platforms to achieve this goal is to work with the FIP polo team, which recently defeated the United States. They will strive through fundraisers, media and sponsorship opportunities to increase the profile of Polo in Canada. 

Polo Canada is committed to assisting and working with clubs to raise funds for capital infrastructure projects such as fields, irrigation, training facilities, etc. This will be accomplished through strategic fundraising practices.

In addition, while Polo Canada will not be directly involved in the funding or training, it will act as a liaison between the clubs, the PTF, the National Polo Association and the U.S.P.A. to facilitate access to both funding and training.

Furthermore, dialogue has been opened with the Polo Training Foundation which has expressed their support in facilitating training clubs.

Polo Canada wishes to assist polo players and clubs to have better access to information with what’s going on in the sport in Canada. By way of example, information with respect to horses, tournaments, club management, field management and fundraising opportunities will be shared through bi-monthly communication with the members, and they hope through the organization of an annual polo conference open to all members and guests.

Polo Canada will also be working with media and public relations consultants to assist in taking advantage of our Polo Canada brand, and our athletes and club successes in an effort to attract prospective players to our sport and sponsors.

Polo Canada is calling on all members who have an interest in serving on these special committees to respond via email, with a brief note of what areas are of particular interest and concern to you so that you can contribute to the appropriate committee. The proposed committees are:

1. Fundraising

2.  Media Relations

3. Communications/Website Committee

4. Membership

5. Club Liaison

6. Polo Conference Organization

7. Polo Training

8. Field and Umpire

9. FIP

10. Junior Polo

Polo Canada hopes, that by broadening the base of involvement, the organization will be more responsive to the needs of the membership through participation of the members from different clubs across the country in carrying out the mandates of Polo Canada.

For more information check out www.polocanada.ca

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