LivingPolo.com

The Avendaño Memorial takes place under the direction of the U. S. Polo Association and for many people it is the leading juvenile polo tournament of the United States. This year, the numbers gave proof of this.

There were no less than 115 youngsters taking part in the 31st edition of this tournament, hosted by the International Polo Club Palm Beach, on Monday, February 20th. The 29 teams were divided into seven divisions.

A series of leading international, high-handicap players have taken part in this event at some stage of their careers, and in 2012, there were four of them that had competed in the event's first edition and who were watching their kids in action this year: Julio Arellano, (Agustín, Lucas and Hope), Luis Escobar (Nicolás and Lucas), Sylvia Firestone (Oliver) and Juan Ignacio "Pite" Merlos (Olivia). Also present was Gonzalo Avendaño, who was not able to take part in the first edition as he was too young in those days, but who was part of the second edtion. He watched three kids of his, Santiago, Benjamín and Joachin, taking part this year.

Among the title-winning teams this year were Grand Champions (Division 1), Casablanca (Division 2), Tackeria (Division 6) and Final Chukker (Division 7).