Irish Polo Foundation awards at the tournament for the Tricolour

THE Irish Polo Foundation awards were at the centre of a tournament for the Tricolour, Ireland hosting the USA against Polo Wicklow, Keelings and Sixt over two days (Saturday-Sunday 18-19 May) at Polo Wicklow.

Ireland secured their spot in the tournament qualifiers against USA in a
tournament for the Tricolour at Polo Wicklow

Pictured is Caroline Keeling (left) just after a goal she scored for Keelings in the Ireland v Ireland qualifier against Sixt (pictured right: Denise Power)

While goals awarded on penalties by umpires John Corbett and Siobhan Herbst favoured Ireland’s eventual winning scoreline, neutral ground was found in the arena’s clubhouse for the IPF awards between qualifiers and finals. This year’s awards were all about contributions made to the Irish polo community by some of the longest serving, both on the field and off; acknowledged were Wendy Herbst, one of the mainstays of Polo Wicklow; the USA’s Eileen Flint of the Yale University team and a proud Irish citizen, and media contributor Kim Mullahey.

Pictured at the IPF awards in Polo Wicklow (l-r), IPF Director-Chairman and
Founder James Kennedy, award recipients Wendy Herbst and Eileen Flint,
ambassadors Siobhan Herbst and Michael Herbst

Siobhan Herbst, IPF ambassador remarked about the special occasion in presenting awards to her mother Wendy Herbst (the Polo Ireland Special Award), who was there at the beginning of Polo Wicklow and Eileen Flint (Major Hugh Dawnay Irish Women’s Polo Award), founder of the USA team in Ireland; she took great pleasure in successfully catching polo contributor Kim Mullahey on the hop at the award presentation (special award for media promotion).

A special award for promoting Irish polo in media was presented to Kim
Mullahey (right) by the IPF’s James Kennedy and Siobhan Herbst

“For us, it was a very special occasion,” said Siobhan Herbst in her remarks. “It is always very impressive when you make incredible family from people who started out as friends.”

Ireland’s Siobhan Herbst (l-r), Delfina Valor, Katie Kanne and Toby Walsh won the tournament for the Tricolour

Pictured with IPF ambassadors Siobhan Herbst and Mickie Herbst (back row) are the USA’s Eileen Flint (for Sergio Valor), Jimmy DeAngelis and PJ DeAngelis

Ireland won the Tricolour tournament against the USA with a scoreline of 12-7 in the qualifiers, relegating the ‘Stars and Stripes’ to the subsidiary final to win against Ireland’s Sixt team on 10 goals to 6. Polo Ireland wrapped up the final with a score of 13-8 against Keelings, who had bested Sixt in the qualifier.

Action from the day’s polo games.