Tired of endless days on the golf course?
Looking for that next big challenge?

The Yorkshire Nations Cup is proud to offer six lucky individuals the opportunity to experience the ultimate red-letter day!

With several months before taking the field on Friday the 19th June as a curtain raiser to The Nations Cup Final itself don't let fitness or horsemanship worries put you off. Believe us when we say that we've recruited the best in the business to look after these details. Our ideal candidates will share three essential ingredients – grit, determination and the will to win! Male or female success must be second nature.

Those who suggest that this is simply 'faking it' are badly mistaken, we don't plan to just let a group of people loose on Polo ponies easily the equestrian equivalent of formula one racing cars. When our six take the field in June in front of an expectant crowd numbering close to 2000 there will be a great deal at stake.

With the closing date for notes of interest on Friday the 27^th February all interested parties will be invited to attend a meeting in central York on Sunday 1^st March to discuss the project in more detail. For those who still believe they have what it takes it's onwards to selection and a distinguished panel awaits you including former Scotland and Bath Rugby Captain Andy Nicol and present Scottish International Polo Captain and renowned exponent of the sport Alasdair Archibald. Our final six will be named at the end of February and from there the real hard work begins, the effort required will be great but so will the rewards.

Polo, the sport of Kings, combines pace, power and passion with unsurpassed skill and accuracy and The Nations Cup provides the ultimate stage. Don't leave yourself asking 'Could I have made the cut'?

You'll never know the answer unless you're willing to throw your hat in the ring.
Our meeting on Sunday 1^st March in York is intended to give all interested parties the opportunity to find out about the project in greater detail before deciding to progress to selection it will also allow you to put forward any questions you may have.  If you would like to attend this meeting please contact us prior to Friday 27^th February 2009 at:

jl@teammanagement.org.uk

Please ensure you include a contact telephone number within your email.

Lynne Smith

They say life begins at forty and at 41 I would agree!! I have been married to Steve for 21 years and have two beautiful daughters Jenni and Becky aged 17 and 16 respectively. I saw the advert in the Beverley Advertiser asking for willing parties to enter into a Pro-Am Polo event and as it stipulated that no horse riding experience was necessary and there was no age limitation I threw caution to the wind and went along to the Open Meeting.

I have had a hand full of horse riding lessons with my daughters at Bleach yard stables but they very quickly got fed-up and so we never went again but I really enjoyed it. This was a perfect opportunity to test my resolve and stamina and get me back on a horse and out of my comfort zone. I was delighted when I was selected and even more so when I learned that my close friend Mel had too!

For the past 2 years I have worked for Cisco, (Cisco designs and sells hardware, software, networking, and communications technology services) in the Central Government team as an Account Manager with responsibility for police forces and Police Agencies within the UK. The job can be very demanding and so the Polo has been a fantastic experience as it is all consuming and certainly prevents me from thinking about work!!!

I am loving the training and just can't wait for the big match on the 19th June - our team will be the jubilant winners! :-)
 

Melanie Northgraves
 
I am 39 and live in Seaton. I have been married to John for 15 years; we have two children Harvey 12 and Brandon 11. We also have two Bulldogs Gucci and George.

I did my Beauty Therapy training at York College and have now been working for over 20 years. The last five years I have worked from home, which I love.

I heard about the promo through a close friend and I knew I just had to give it a go. In fact we both ended up getting through which is great.

My interests include golf, weight and fitness training, cooking and entertaining and of course clothes shopping.

I cannot wait to start the intense training and I am determined to master this sport and hopefully I will be in the winning team on the 17th June.

Thank you to my husband and his Company, Coastline Leisure Ltd, for sponsorship and enabling me to take part in this challenge, but John, I doesn’t think I’ll want to stop after the 17th June! .
 

Mark Keating

I work in the food industry heading up the Commercial and Npd functions for a chilled foods business - part of the Bakkavor group of companies - supplying own label products to most UK and European Retailers. It's a fast, intensely competitive, demanding and rewarding environment - all the things that attracted me to Polo.

I had never replaced the exhilaration of racing motorcycles until my first Polo session! Having not ridden for over 20 years it was incredible how quickly it can became addictive.

The pro am programme tests on many levels - personal attainment and teamwork, the challenge is both physical and very definitely mental!

I hope our hard work delivers a performance on the night that's entertaining and I look forward to tasting the victors champagne with my other Team members
 

Sarah Preston

I was born in Beverley and moved back to this area seven years ago. I am 42 years old and I am a lecturer at East Riding College in Beverley. I have two children, Emily age 15 and Chris age 13. I have a busy and fulfilling job working with 16 to 19 year olds, and no two days are ever the same. Having not ridden regularly for over 20 years, I saw the Pro Am as an exciting challenge with the opportunity to learn a new sport, and to be a part of a team, hopefully winning on the big day! The experience has challenged me to improve my fitness, and I am fortunate to be part of a fantastic team who are all fully supportive of each other. I have quickly discovered that polo is a real team sport, which requires determination, control, lots of hard work and nerves of steel! I am looking forward to an exciting and memorable match on the 19th June.




 

David Thomson

David Thomson 37 Born and educated in Harrogate, north Yorkshire. Married to Bethan with two children, George 2 years and Jessica born mid January this year. We own a number of retail outlets including the fast growing Ripley ice cream company.

Had lots of adventures in my 20s and 30s living and working in 4 countries and travelling to 58 including sailing the Atlantic crewing a traditional square rigged tall ship , circumnavigating the world by train. Dog sledging with the Inuit in Arctic Greenland and working on a ranch on Colorado. I worked for a couple of years setting up development projects in Ghana in west Africa before returning to my native Yorkshire.

After being totally immersed in building a business for the last few years I was looking for a sport or hobby to be a focus other than business. I was delighted to be selected for the polo pro am team and looking forward to be on the winning team for Beverley at the Yorkshire Nations Cup in June.