Introducing your new President & Board of Directors
This week's AGM saw Stephen Philip elected as President. 4 new directors were elected to the Board: Peter White and Ben Osborne for the Northern Zone; Tim Boyd and Angus Campbell for the Southern Zone. Sam Hopkinson and Adam Tolhurst were re-elected for the Hawkesbury Zone. They join Sam Ballas (Treasurer), Dick Rodgers, Glen Gilmore, Bruno Mascart and Simon Walker.
The Handicap Committee remains unchanged: Andrew Williams, James Archibald, Dick Doolin, Simon Walker, Angus Campbell and Jock Mackay.
Thank you to Retiring Directors (years on Board): Joe Curran (19 years), Ian McDuie (23 years), Beau Blundell (6 years) and Eugene Marais (8 years).
Special Presentations were made by: Sinclair Hill (Life Director), Anto White (National & NSW Chief Umpire), Peter Higgins (World Polo Championships 2017) and Lindsay Nylund (Horse Rider Fall Safety).
President's Report from outgoing President, Joe Curran
President’s Report 2016
Welcome to the 2016 NSW Polo Association AGM. Thank you to all of you making the effort to come to Sydney so as to review the year, plan for next year and beyond and to vote in new Directors and various committees.
Vale
Sadly over the last year, we have lost a number of our members. Most recently in a tragic accident, Adam O’Regan, a former player and Secretary of Scone Polo Club for many years. Rob Tressider passed away in April 2016, he was a member of Scone, Windsor & Killarney Clubs and did a lot for NSW Polo insurance. Trevor Johnson (Kelvin Johnson’s father) passed away in January 2016. He was a regular at Polo in NSW and was a very proud father of Kelvin. Roger Sawyer passed away in December 2015. He was a prominent and popular member of Scone Polo Club. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Adam, Rob, Trevor and Roger.
Directors
I would like to say a little bit about all the NSWPA Directors. I am going to start with our three departing directors, Ian McDuie, Beau Blundell and Eugene Marais:
Ian McDuie has been a Director of NSWPA for an amazing 23 years. He was President for three years and Vice President for three years. He has had many years as Director of the APF, formerly the APC as well as chair of the National Selection Committee. He was chair of the Discipline Committee for many years and has been a member of that committee for the last few years. Ian has done a lot for RAS Polo and has commentated there since 1980. Ian has been involved in the Scone Polo Club since 1982. Furthermore Ian has been commentating polo for around 50 years and his knowledge of horses and polo is second to none. Ian was instrumental in the establishment of the new NSWPA Constitution which is giving equal representation to each zone. On a personal note, Ian has been a great mentor to me in helping me to assume the Presidency at a relatively young age. I think it is appropriate for us to express our gratitude in the normal way.
Beau Blundell has been a director for 6 years. Beau has done an amazing job with coaching, player development, kids’ polo, ladies polo and colts’ polo. Beau is a keen polo player and runs a successful contracting business, owns group one winning race horses and has managed to squeeze in getting married and having a couple of kids too! Beau continues as the President of the Wirragulla Polo Club which run a very successful annual tournament. Please put your hands together for Beau’s contribution to NSWPA.
Eugene Marais has been a Director for 8 years, a Vice President for 3. Eugene sat on the Discipline Committee for a number of years and most importantly has been in charge of formulating the NSWPA Tournament Calendar. With Eugene’s diplomacy skills he has been able to bring to the AGMs Calendars that are all but formed so as to make the AGM a less taxing affair. Eugene is also a prominent member of the Millamolong Polo Club which runs one of the best tournaments in the south. Please put your hands together to thank Eugene.
I would like to thank our other NSWPA Directors and I will just say a few words about each Director.
Steve Philip has been a Director for 5 years, Vice President for 3 years and a Director of APF for several years. Steve’s legal background has been of great benefit to both the NSWPA and the APF. Steve was a driving force in the new NSWPA Constitution and has put considerable effort into the APF Constitution. Steve and I have been friends for over 30 years. Thank you for your support to me as Vice President. Thank you Steve.
Sam Ballas has been a Director for 11 years and Treasurer for 10 of those 11 years! I congratulate Sam particularly in my term as President for each of the annual results. As Treasurer, Sam has been very generous in terms of spending in important areas and at the same time keeping unnecessary expenses to a minimum. He has sat on the APF for a number of years, including as Treasurer. He also sits on the Discipline Committee and Safety Testing Committee.
Dick Rodgers has been a Director for 6 years. Dick has done an incredible job in the areas of insurance and discipline. In this litigious society we live in, insurance is a critical area. Dick has chaired the Discipline Committee in the last few years and in this difficult job has always been very fair. Thank you Dick.
Bruno Mascart joined the Board last year. He has wasted no time in being a valuable member of the Board. He has helped formulate the Hawkesbury 2017 Calendar, he is the President of Windsor Polo Club (which is going great guns), is an energetic player himself and has two keen children who also play. Thank you Bruno.
Adam Tolhurst has been a Director for 3 years and is showing outstanding qualities as a Director. Adam is one of the Directors responsible for Tournaments and has done a sterling job with the Dudley Cup and Hector King. Adam is the Club Captain of the Arunga Polo Club, runs a successful building company, is one of the leading amateur players in Australia and also managed to find the time to get married during the year. Congratulations Adam!
Sam Hopkinson has been a Director for 3 years and has made a significant contribution to polo in NSW. Sam oversaw the construction of the community polo yards at Windsor Polo Club, on the Dudley Cup Committee and gives a valuable international and professional perspective to polo in NSW. I am sure Sam will be a driver of women’s polo in the future with two gorgeous young daughters!
Simon Walker has been a director for 3 years. Simon brings with him a huge amount of energy and passion and we are fortunate that we always know where we stand with Simon! Simon is a member of the Handicap Committee and was instrumental in returning the Dudley Cup to its former glory. Simon is an important part of the Goulburn Polo Club. Thank you Simon.
Glen Gilmore joined the Board last year and has bought with him a huge amount of Australian and international experience. Glen has been outstanding in terms of coaching and kids polo and very kindly with the support of Ellerston, hosted the Women’s Polo Circuit Interstate Challenge in March 2016. I can’t fail to mention that NSW won the final against a much more favoured Queensland team. Glen has also been very helpful in regards to rules and umpiring. Thank you Glen.
The Board recently nominated Billie Mascart to liaise with the Board regarding women’s polo. I note women now make up approx 25% of our playing members and form an integral part of NSW Polo. Thank you Billie.
Suzie Ruse has been NSWPA Executive Secretary for 12 years now. She is an extraordinary talented woman who can handle all the interesting personalities in our sport and has made my job as President a pleasure. Suzie has assisted various sub-committees of the NSWPA and APF including the Handicap Committee, Safety Testing Committee, Discipline Committee, Player Development committee. I also note that Suzie has been able to secure 5 grants from the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation totalling $50,000 during her role. Many thanks Suzie.
APF
On behalf of the NSW Polo Association I would like to thank Amanda Jansen, Executive Secretary of the APF for all her efforts on the Rules, APF policies and procedures and for being so helpful to myself Suzie. Amanda has a wealth of horse experience being a polo player and endurance rider.
I would like to acknowledge and thank Tim Clarke, President of the APF, who has brought great stability to the national body.
Handicap Committee
I would like to pay special thanks to the Handicap Committee for what they have done over the past three years during which time Dick Doolin has been Chair of the committee. Dick has shown great leadership in the role. I would like to thank all the handicappers for the games they watch and the work they do in this capacity. Having been on the Handicap Committee myself and Chair over some years, I well appreciate the amount of effort and time that goes into this important aspect of our sport.
Clubs
I would like to thank all the Clubs, their committees and office bearers who really drive polo in NSW. The tireless energy of so many of you who give your time to organise tournaments and chukkas, encourage new players. Thank you to the Clubs.
Safety
There is a degree of danger in all horse sports and polo is a particularly dangerous horse activity. I would to thank all office bearers for their work in ensuring all players are registered before a tournament, the Event Checklist is completed and any incidents are promptly reported. I encourage you all to be vigilant in terms of potential risks involved and take immediate action where safety may be compromised. This may mean directing a spectator to move their car, put a dog on the leash and asking children to stay behind the safety lines, etc.
Whilst on the subject of Safety, I would like to pay particular thanks to Lindsay Nylund who has undertaken fall safety training in the Hawkesbury at Easter, Scone League and also recently at Ellerston. Lindsay is coming to address the AGM later this morning and I encourage clubs to promote fall safety to their members as a means of making polo a safer sport.
Horse Welfare
Horse welfare should be at the forefront of our minds at all times. Clubs should be proactive with regard to horse welfare issues. You only have to look at the state Government’s ban and lifting of the ban on greyhound racing to know all animal sports are under the microscope. When tournaments take place in hot, humid weather, I encourage you to look at the APF Heat Policy which gives clear guidelines on action to take in these circumstances.
Safety Testing
With thanks to the APF, Safety Testing has been operating in the NSW over the past two years. Testing has been undertaken both in the Hawkesbury and at country clubs. I can assure you that in terms of keeping polo safe for participants and spectators, that safety testing will be continuing next year and beyond.
Rules & Umpiring
I would like to pay particular thanks to the NSWPA Umpiring and Rules committee established earlier this year, which is chaired by Anto White and was the members include Glen Gilmore, Sam Hopkinson, Adam Tolhurst, Simon Walker and me. Anto, a special thanks to you for your drive and vision in improving umpiring and to help with better interpretation of the rules so as to improve the standard of polo. Anto is kindly going to address the AGM later this morning to further discuss umpiring and rules.
Juniors
I would like to thank the Scone Polo Club for the work they have done with the Junior Polo School. I understand it has been running for 22 years and has had a profound impact on NSW and Australian Polo. A number of Australian representatives are graduates of this school and they include Rob and Jack Archibald, Alec, Will and Jasper White, Will Gilmore, Sam Gunn, James Lester, and even a few New Zealand representatives such as Tom Hunt. In addition a lot of girls have graduated from the Scone Polo School and gone on to represent Australia and NSW.
I thank Alex Warner for organising this year’s polo school and all the coaches who donated their time. I would again like to thank Beau Blundell for being the driving force of junior development on the Board and Andrew Williams for all the coaching he has done around the state. It is worth making special mention of Adam Meally who coached at Riverlands for well over a decade and bought so many new members into polo. Thank you Adam.
Some of the highlights for the 2016 year were:
Scone celebrated their 125th Anniversary, which I attended – it was a wonderful event. I note it will be the turn of NSW Polo Association to celebrate 125 years in 2017.
The Dudley Cup was won by Garangula again against a very tenacious Sydney team. Congratulations Garangula. Garangula also won the Morton Cup over Town & Country. The Hector King was won by Marshalls. I thank Lindsay Jameson who tirelessly looks after trophies and results.
One of the highlights was the state of origin Ladies Tournament at Ellerston where NSW defeated QLD in a great match. Thank you to Ellerston Polo Club for hosting this wonderful event.
As you are all aware, Sydney Polo Club is hosting the 2017 14 goal FIP World Polo Championships. Congratulations to Sydney Polo Club and Peter Higgins for their winning bid and all the work they are currently doing. I am sure the polo community will embrace and support this wonderful event and assist with horses where possible. Peter is going to speak about the World Cup later in the AGM.
Thank you & looking forward
I have very much enjoyed the friendships I have forged with my fellow directors over many years. I thank you for having the faith in me to preside over the Association for the last three years.
I feel very confident in the current Board we have, and I am excited about the outstanding nominations for new directors for 2017. The NSWPA Board have the capacity to grow our sport and prosper into the future. I look forward to sharing a light lunch at the end of this meeting with you all and I thank you again for your support and all your wonderful contributions to polo.
Joe Curran
President, NSW Polo Association
Ian McDuie acknowledged Joe Curran with the following words: Joe was voted onto the Board in October 1997, on the Handicap Committee for many years acting as Chair of this Committee Oct 07 - Oct 10, was 2nd Vice President from Nov 10 – Oct 13 and President Oct 13 – Oct 16. Joe has managed RAS Polo for many years, along with Ian. He was instrumental in developing the APF Safety Testing Policy and implementing safety testing in NSW. He has been relentless in his pursuit of making polo safer and more enjoyable, such as the rider fall safety and more consistent umpiring. He spoke of Joe’s generosity in the polo community, for example in lending horses. Ian believes Joe leaves a legacy of improved player safety and rules and umpiring knowledge.
Dear NSW Polo Association Players, Directors, Handicappers, Club Office Bearers, Life & Kyeemagh members,
The NSW Polo Association warmly invites you to this year’s
Annual General Meeting.
Please click on each of the links below:
Each club is entitled to send one voting delegate or give a proxy to another delegate to vote on their club's behalf. All other members are welcome to attend. Directors may not vote.
• Monday 24 October starting at 10.00am - approx 12.30pm followed by sandwich lunch
• Venue: Woollahra Hotel, Queen Street, Woollahra
• Street Parking mostly 2 hour limit, so car sharing recommended.
Voting at the AGM: Only Club Delegates or a Proxy can vote. A Club Delegate/Proxy form is attached in case this applies to you / your club.
NSWPA Directors & President Nominations: being an even year, two Directors from each zone will retire and can be re-nominated. Nominations may be received for the position of Director and President and Nomination Forms must be returned to the office 14 days prior to the meeting, ie by COB Monday 10 October. A Nomination Form is attached.
Please contact me if you have any queries.
Suzie Ruse
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, NSW POLO ASSOCIATION
Tel: 0409 764 607
Email: nsw@australianpolo.com.au
Web: www.nswpolo.com.au
PO Box 957, Bondi Junction NSW 1355