WELLINGTON, Fla., October 28, 2024----SebiLion won its first-ever tournament Sunday at Grand Champions Polo Club.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
SebiLion (Sebastian Mandelbaum, 0, Santos Bollini, 2, Sugar Erskine, 6, Jason Crowder, 5) defeated Newport (Gene Goldstein, 0, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Dominic State, 2, Pedro Gutierrez, 5), 7-5, in the third and decisive round robin match to win the Banyan Cup.
Newport's Gene Goldstein, who finished with four goals including back-to-back goals within the final minute and 25 seconds for an 8-7 win over Grand Champions (Miles Rich, -1, Pablo Dorignac, 4, Martin Jauregui, 6, Juan Bollini, 3), was named Most Valuable Player.
"Gene was playing amazing today," Mandelbaum said. "His back-to-back goals were awesome. We were all cheering for him."
Camilla, a 16-year-old thoroughbred bay mare, played in the first chukker by Mandelbaum and owned by SebiLion, was Best Playing Pony for the second time at Grand Champions. She was also honored during the spring season in May.
Miles Rich, a minus-one player for Grand Champions, was selected Most Improved Player.
For SebiLion it was the second-year team's first win in club history.
"They were just all great teams," said Mandelbaum, 18, a senior at King's Academy. "Sugar, Santos and Jason are really good and have great chemistry. They help me a lot."
Mandelbaum has been playing polo since he was 7. Both his father Leo Mandelbaum and mother Olexa Celine play polo. "My parents have been really supportive, I owe them a lot," he said.
Mandelbaum's plans to apply for college at Florida Atlantic and Lynn University to enable him to stay close to home and play polo, he said.
"I would like to spend as much time on the field as possible and as much time on the horse," Mandelbaum said. "I want to be close to the polo scene here so I'm not out of it."
The fourth medium goal tournament of the fall season was the most competitive round robin. In the opening match, Mandelbaum scored with 17 seconds left in the third chukker to finish with a 6-6 tie with Grand Champions. Mandelbaum finished with three goals.
"All the teams were organized so well," Mandelbaum said. "They were evenly-balanced. Everyone was playing really well."
In the third round robin game, SebiLion and Newport started off with a 3-3 tie, carried over from Friday's round robin opener. On Sunday, the lead changed hands four times with both teams tied 5-5 going into the third and final chukker.
SebiLion dominated the final chukker with back-to-back goals from Bollini with 5:30 on the clock and Erskine scoring an insurance goal with 1:42 left.
In last year's final, La Fe won its first tournament of the fall season. La Fe (Sebastian Mandelbaum, -1/Leo Mandelbaum, 2, Nic Roldan, 8, Grant Ganzi, 3, Louis Devaleix, 2) won the Banyan Cup by one net goal in a round robin over Victory I (Kevin Schmeits, 0, Santos Bollini, 2, Martin Jauregui, 6, Sugar Erskine, 6) that finished with 0 net goal. Victory II (Becky Schmeits, 0, Jason Crowder, 5, Pedro Gutierrez, 5, Pablo Dorignac, 5) finished third with minus-one. Devaleix was MVP.
The Banyan Cup is named after the Banyan Tree which can cover about 14,500 square feet of space, grow branches as high as 80 feet and thrive over two and a half centuries. As it grows, the banyan tree produces aerial roots that hang down and take root wherever they touch the ground.
The nation's largest and most innovative polo club, celebrates its 18th anniversary with two new additions to the fall schedule: Nov. 14 WPL Pride Polo Miami and Nov. 15-17 Beach Polo World Cup Miami. It's the first time the popular beach polo tournament and WPL Pride Polo are being held in the fall on South Beach. The Beach Polo World Cup Miami Beach is the largest and most notable Beach Polo event in the world. It features international teams and over 120 horses. Tickets are on sale.
Grand Champions is hosting both medium and high goal tournaments this season.
The family-friendly club welcomes spectators of all ages. All matches, food and refreshments are free (with the exception of special catered events) and open to the public and dogs on leashes.
Among the season's other highlights are the Nov. 23 doubleheader featuring the Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial and International Cup with GCPC USA playing the Rest of the World this year. In last year's International Cup, Spain knocked off previously unbeaten GCPC USA to snap its 11-year win streak in front of a packed house at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
The fall medium goal schedule features six tournaments. The others are the Oct. 30-Nov. 3 Fall Plates and Nov. 6-10 Casablanca Fall Cup.
Wellington-based ChukkerTV (CTV Sports) is live streaming the entire fall season worldwide. Grand Champions is the only USPA club that is live streaming all its games.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and short work arena. The club has 11 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
Grand Champions Polo Club caters to men, women and youth polo players at all levels. Its' expert staff can customize a complete playing experience including horses, pros and certified umpires in addition to lessons and practice sessions as part of its' Polo On Demand program.
The Polo School is for all ages and ability levels and operates in Wellington year-round. The Polo School, a 501c3 organization and stand-alone USPA club, is dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. Its mission is to provide individuals opportunities in polo at every economic and ability level. The Polo School operates year-round in Wellington. For more information on the Fall Leagues or Polo School contact Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.