Horse Week: Tyrella polocrosse juniors enjoy success in the USA

The Under 16 team of six girls and one boy are all members of the Irish Polocrosse Association. Two of them, Max Lewis and Abbey Wallace, are from Northern Ireland.

They play for Tyrella Polocrosse Club and are also members of the North Down Pony Club.

Leah Peare, Maria Migasiewice, and Eva Murrell, are all from Horetown Polocrosse Club in Wexford, and Diane Moore and Sophie Quirke (team captain) are both from Limerick Polocrosse Club. The coach was Debbie Harris, umpire Dara Mangan and manager Angela Fynn.

The team flew from Dublin to Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, April 20, and spent two days recovering from the journey. They got their adrenaline kick through white water rafting on the Chattahoochee River and visiting the cowboy shop to get kitted out with cowboy boots and hats. The team finished each day with some on foot polocrosse training.

The team was in high spirits, and each time they boarded the tour bus the play list started, and the girls rarely stopped singing until they arrived at the destination. At the end of the trip, they even had Max joining in with his own style of rapping!

On Wednesday, they met the USA team over a late breakfast at the venue in the very green and beautiful McIntosh Reserve, where the tournament was to be hosted by Sandie Creek Polocrosse Club.

After the pool draw to see which team gets which horses, they had the chance to get to know the horses in the pool they had drawn. They trained that afternoon and the next morning before heading out with the USA team to do some extreme ziplining!

The first of three test matches got underway in serious heat at 3.30pm on Friday. By this stage, the players were ready for the challenge, but also very nervous as the USA team had home advantage and were riding their own horses.

After a shaky start, the team started to gel and gain confidence. In the second chukka, Max Lewis playing number one, the goal scoring position, came out all guns blazing and kept firing the ball between the posts. Abbey Wallace was playing number two midfield where she chased the ball to feed the number one and marked players on the opposing team so they couldn’t get to the number one. The team members kept the momentum going, finishing this match with a score of 21 Ireland goals to 28 for the USA.

In Saturday's match, they were getting to know their horses better and the way that their very talented opponents played. Their coach gave them great direction for how they should play the game and the girls and boys were totally committed with the final score line being closer – 18 to 20 in favour of the USA Juniors.

The 15 parents and supporters who had travelled with the team were helping in every way they could, walking horses, keeping the kids and animals hydrated and cheering them on louder than the whole USA crowd.

On the Saturday evening there was a formal dinner where teams exchanged gifts and thanked the American Polocrosse Association, Sandie Creek Polocrosse Club, and all the hosts who had kindly fed teams and supporters.

The evening finished with singing and music from the multi-talented Ireland Squad.

All the Irish contingents were looking forward to the final test match on Sunday, knowing that the Irish team had improved and grown in confidence so much over the last two days.

Still, they were well aware that the USA team now knew the Irish team’s way of playing and would be using tactical play to make things more difficult.

As the match got underway, it became obvious that the team talks and coach Debbie’s positivity were paying dividends, and the players were giving their all.

With three chukkas out of eight, the Irish defence had worked so well that the American team didn’t score a single goal. Coming into the last chukka, both teams were pumped, the USA saving their best players and horses for a final push to win all three matches, and the Ireland team doing everything they could to stop the USA scoring enough goals to win or push the match to a Golden Goal finish.

The minutes and seconds ticked away and, to the supporters, the six-minute Chukka felt like an hour, as USA managed to score four goals and pushed towards a draw, but Ireland held on and fought back, scoring three goals to close out the very exciting match with the final score of Ireland 21and USA 18.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the very emotional Ireland camp, and all that travelled with the team will never forget the skill, passion and pride displayed by this amazing junior team.

Many thanks to all who have supported this team, and especially Polocrosse Training in the North of Ireland, Lessans Riding Stables, Gransha Equestrian Centre, and Oak Tree Farm.

Good Luck to the team in the coming season and especially to Max and Abbey who will also be hoping to play at the Pony Club Championships in England in August.