Ride high, aiming true
Elite Australian Polocrosse Squad vie for World Cup spots
IT’S less than a year until the strategy, rumble and tough athleticism of the Polocrosse World Cup visits Queensland, attracting 60,000 visitors to the state.
Polocrosse Association of Australia announced the country’s 10 most elite players who will make up the Australian Polocrosse Squad.
The squad will train and play hard over the coming eight months, each vying for one of eight spots on the 2019 World Cup team.
The 2019 Polocrosse World Cup will be held in Warwick, Queensland over April 22–29, 2019.
It is the biggest international event on the polocrosse calendar and will attract 60,000 people to rural Queensland.
Making up the squad are competitors from Queensland, NSW and Western Australia, who bring to the squad a mix of seasoned world-class representative players and up-and coming young elite competitors.
President of the Polocrosse Association of Australian, Michael Rynne, said polocrosse was an action-packed, tough sport, often referred to as ‘rugby on horseback’, and the 10-person squad represented some of the most skilful, physically fit and coordinated athletes in the country.
“Polocrosse requires the toughness of rugby, the strategy of netball and the ball skills of lacrosse, all while riding and manoeuvring a 500kg powerful horse, which is an athlete unto itself!” Michael said.
“These 10 people have been selected from a pool of over 100 players from all over Australia.
“They are at the height of their game.
“The Australian selectors have been monitoring player performance for around a year in order to select the most elite to represent the country on an international level.
“From these 10 players, eight will be selected to play in Zambia, Africa in July and the final World Cup team selection will take place after the National championships in Perth in October.
“We are all very excited to see what these players can do and how they will perform on the national and international stage over the coming
months,” Michael said.
The event has gained the support of the Queensland Government, via Tourism and Events Queensland, and the 2019 Polocrosse World Cup features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar.
Rural Weekly looks forward
to introducing the Australian Polocrosse Squad members to readers across the coming year in the lead-up to the World Cup.
Polocrosse is one of only three homegrown Australian sports, along with Aussie Rules football and campdraft.
The 2019 Polocrosse World Cup will attract 300 competitors from around the world, 2000 international guests and 60,000 spectators, making it the largest international sporting event ever held in rural Australia.
Polocrosse requires the toughness of rugby, the strategy of netball and the ball skills of lacrosse.