Piaget Captures USPA Piaget World Snow Polo Championship

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - Dec. 22, 2014 - PRLog -- The United States Polo Association (USPA), the national governing body of the sport of polo, announced today that Piaget won the USPA Piaget World Snow Polo Championship, an officially sanctioned USPA event, by defeating U.S. Polo Assn. 4-3.   The finals were played in downtown Aspen, Colorado at Rio Grande Park with a large crowd in attendance.  U.S. Polo Assn. – the officially sanctioned consumer brand of USPA was the official clothing sponsor for the World Snow Polo Championship.

Competing for this year’s championship were defending champion St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Piaget, Flexjet, Audi, U.S. Polo Assn. and Aspen Valley Polo Club.  2014 was the tournament’s 15^th year and the second year organized by the Aspen Valley Polo Club.  The tournament was played in an arena format which is played three-on-three.  The horses are shod with special cleated shoes to provide better traction. The ball is larger and lighter, and bright red, to better accommodate winter conditions.

In the hotly-contested four-chukker championship game, Piaget jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with Nic Roldan’s two goals, one from the field and one penalty conversion.  U.S. Polo Assn. erased its two-goal deficit behind Tommy Biddle's two goals.   Jeff Hall’s penalty shot in the third chukker gave Piaget back the lead (3-2) while Piaget’s defense shut out U.S. Polo Assn. again.   Grant Ganzi’s goal in the fourth chukker tied the game at 3-3 before Hall’s winning penalty goal delivered victory for Piaget.   Roldan and Hall each finished with two goals. Biddle had two goals and Grant Ganzi added one.

In the consolation game, Audi (Melissa Ganzi, Kris Kampsen, Roberto Gonzalez) defeated FlexJet (Tommy Kato, Martin Pepa, Luis Escobar), 11-8, for third place honors.

For the first time in event history, the thrilling final of North America's only snow polo tournament will be televised by NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) on Dec. 27th at 4 p.m. EST.

“It was fun but it was a war today, no one was going to let up,” said Nic Roldan, tournament MVP.   “Each year it gets more and more competitive and this year was no different. We were just a little but luckier than they were.”

Please visit the United States Polo Association’s Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/USPoloAssociation for additional tournament photos and tournament details.

About Aspen Valley Polo Club

Aspen Valley Polo Club, the nation's newest private polo club features a complete facility offering stick-and-ball field, club house, wooden horse polo pit, exercise track, indoor school, arena, pony hire, livery, coaches, stable and turn to hire and grooms accommodations. The club has hosted several tournaments featuring several world-ranked players.

About US Polo Assn

U.S. Polo Assn. brand products are authentic and officially sanctioned by the United States Polo Association (USPA), the governing body for the sport of polo in the U.S. since 1890.

USPA Properties, Inc., a wholly owned, for-profit, tax-paying subsidiary of the USPA, manages its licensing program in over 135 countries through independent retail, department, online and U.S. Polo Assn. brand stores.

Primarily featuring sportswear for men, women, and children, the product offering has expanded to include accessories, luggage, watches, shoes, home furnishings and more.    As the steward of the Association’s marks, Properties’ mission is to develop a long-term source of revenue to help underwrite numerous programs for education about and promotion of the sport of polo in the U.S., from memberships and handicaps, to clubs and tournaments; from interscholastic programs to Team USPA mentoring; with particular concern for equine welfare and player safety throughout.

About the United States Polo Association ®

The U.S. Polo Association was organized and exists for the purposes of promoting the game of polo, coordinating the activities of its Member Clubs and Registered Players, arranging and supervising polo tournaments, competitions, and games, and providing rules, handicaps, and conditions for those tournaments, competitions, and games including the safety and welfare of participants and mounts. For more information, please visit http://www.uspolo.org