June 2021 Polo Players' Edition - The Feldman Cup

By Abi Abel • Photos by David Murrell

Texas Mustangs galloped away with The Feldman Cup, defeating Triple Threat in the final, 17-14.

Legends Polo Club in Kaufman, Texas, was filled with passionate intercollegiate and interscholastic alumni April 24-25, all competing for the USPA national I/I alumni tournament—The Feldman Cup. This year’s tournament drew former players from Culver Academy, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech University for an amazing weekend of old-school rivalry and competitive arena polo. Horsemanship was also in top form with players riding their personal horses as well as horses from Legends Polo Club and the Texas A&M polo program.

Six teams competed in the event overall, four vying for the chance to have their names engraved in a coveted spot on the Feldman Cup trophy, and two teams in a B-flight.

The first semifinal of the Feldman Cup pitted Texas Mustangs (Zain Saud, Jason Atkins, August Scherer) against Hufflepuff (Cuatro Tolson, Don English, Megan Rahlfs) with Hufflepuff receiving one goal on handicap. Scherer and Atkins each scored a goal for Texas Mustangs, only to be answered by Tolson and Rahlfs. Texas Mustangs benefited from a Penalty 1 and a goal scored off one of Hufflepuff’s ponies late in the chukker, giving the team a narrow 4-3 lead. Three goals from Scherer and one from Tolson in the second took the teams to halftime with a score of 7-4 in favor of Texas Mustangs.

A high-scoring third chukker saw Saud and Scherer combine for four goals, while Rahlfs led the opposing team with three to bring the score to 11-10 in favor of Texas Mustangs.

“The key success of our team dynamic was that each of us recognized our roles early on and stuck to them throughout and it got us the win,” Saud commented.

The energy was high headed into the fourth, and all six players upped their game, but Texas Mustangs outscored Hufflepuff, 5-2, to end the match on top, 16-13, and earn its place in the final.

Gig’Em Gals (Amanda Massey, Stephanie Massey Colburn, Abi Abel) went up against Triple Threat (Brady Williams, Mark Osburn, Lara Straussfeld) for the second semifinal. Gig’Em Gals had a lead of 6-4 over Triple Threat after a hard-fought first chukker. The second chukker saw Colburn scoring two from the field answered by Straussfeld with two and one from Osburn to bring the score to a tight 8-7 at halftime in favor of Gig’Em Gals.

Everyone was on their toes in the third chukker as Triple Threat brought the heat. Straussfeld and Osborn put two each on the board while Colburn tallied twice for Gig’Em Gals, giving Triple Threat an 11-10 lead. Williams and Straussfeld scored early in the fourth. Gig’Em Gals was awarded a Penalty 1 before the game ended, 13-11, advancing Triple Threat to the final.

The final was held on the second day of competition, with Triple Threat staring with a threegoal leg-up on handicap. In the first chukker, Texas Mustangs came out strong with five goals, but two goals from Straussfeld leveled the playing field, 5-all. Play heated up in the second with Straussfeld and Williams each scoring a goal, but Scherer retaliated with six goals to take the game into the half with a score of 11-7 in favor of Texas Mustangs.

Triple Threat rallied in the third and upped its game with four goals. Texas Mustangs hung onto the lead with one goal contributed from each teammate, bringing the third chukker to a close with a score of 14-11. The final chukker saw some strong play both offensively and defensively from all six players and incredible horsemanship. Scherer jumped out with the first goal of the fourth and was answered by two goals from Straussfeld and one from Osburn. A strong offensive force, Scherer sealed the win with three additional goals, ending the game with a win for Texas Mustangs.

Participating in the inaugural Feldman Cup in 2014, Atkins was excited for the opportunity to reunite with fellow alumni again.

“It’s great to see people I haven’t seen in a while,” Atkins said. “Robin [Sanchez] always does such a

Longhorn’s Stephanie Colburn, Robin Sanchez and Kim Buttram won B Flight. great job putting these events together. If you ask who are the people that keep I/I polo going, I guarantee her name will always come up.”

August Scherer was named MVP.

“It was an awesome weekend and successful event at Legends Polo Club,” Scherer said. “Our strategy was focused around throw-in execution, creating picks to create space, and aligning our horse strings correctly. Also, the Saturday barbecue was undoubtedly the highlight with great food, atmosphere, and karaoke!”

“My strategy was basically riding people off and staying out of August’s way,” Atkins added. “He is a machine!”

Best Playing Pony honors were presented to Platinum, owned and played by Brady Williams. Don English was awarded the Sportsmanship Award, while the Horsemanship Award was given to Stephanie Massey Colburn.

“The best part about the tournament was seeing familiar faces again and rekindling some old rivalries,” Saud said. “All the games in the tournament were very evenly-matched, and a high level of polo was played throughout.”

“It was great seeing people from before, after and during my time in I/I,” Straussfeld added. “We are all still quite competitive. Our team did well because we’d all been competing in Texas Arena League, and even though we hadn’t played together before, we knew each other’s playing styles.”

Meanwhile, in B-flight, the all-women Longhorn Cowgirls came away the winner over A-OK after two matches.

In the first game, A-OK (Omar Polio, Amanda Osburn, Julio Trevino) dominated the first, when each of its players added to two handicap goals it began with, and Osburn converted a penalty shot, to lead, 6-2. Longhorn Cowgirls (Kim Buttram, Robin Sanchez, Katie Anderson) rallied in the second chukker, with an all-out team effort bringing the team to within one, 10-9, at the half.

The third chukker was hard fought with the teams both adding goals, but Longhorn Cowgirls were able to take the lead, 12-11. In the final chukker, the Longhorn Cowgirls applied relentless pressure. It was awarded a Penalty 1, before Buttram added three goals, Anderson tallied two more, and Sanchez added one goal to take the win, 19-12.

Polio was in fine form in the next game, scoring three for A-OK added to tallies from Trevino and Osburn. Two goals from Anderson ended the first chukker with A-OK leading Longhorn Cowgirls, 8-2. With a goal from Trevino, A-OK maintained the lead in the second despite two more goals from Anderson and one from Sanchez, entering halftime, 9-5.

With each player landing on the scoreboard, A-OK stayed strong in the third, holding Anderson to one and extending its lead to 12-6. The fourth was another competitive chukker with Longhorn rallying. Buttram and Sanchez each scored three from the field, however Osburn and Trevino kept fighting and with five more goals brought the score to 17-12, giving A-OK the win.

With each team counting a win, net goals were used to determine a winner. The Longhorn Cowgirls prevailed by two, 31-29.

First-time participant Omar Polio was MVP.

“It was great being able to see old friends come together to play while being able to support our former college clubs,” Polio said. “In our second match, our team was able to better cover our men and get along the walls to defend against the other team. Being placed on a team with people we’ve never played with before was a challenge, so it took us [until] the second game to get a better feel of how to work as a team and build off our individual strengths.”

Best Playing Pony honors were presented to Pamela, owned by Legends Polo Club and played by Kim Buttram.

“It was a good competition and I really enjoyed playing with other former I/I players,” Buttram commented about her first Feldman Cup experience. “The horses all played really well and I would definitely do it again.”

Julio Trevino received the Sportsmanship Award. The Horsemanship Award was presented to Robin Sanchez.

“It’s fun to watch a bunch of fabulous fellow alumni battling it out for the Feldman Cup,” said SMU coach Tom Goodspeed. “It’s really a joy to watch all these flights and levels.”

Receiving the Texas Arena League Best Host Club honor in 2020 and 2021, Legends Polo Club had another successful event and all participants enjoyed the weekend festivities. The camaraderie among the I/I players was warm with respect and admiration. Also, Julio Trevino won the Karaoke King Award by bringing down the house with his rendition of Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”

A-OK’s Omar Polio, center, was MVP and Legend’s Panela, played by Longhorn’s Kim Buttram, right, was Best Playing Pony in B-Flight.