Polo Players Edition
PTF Pages September 2009
PTF-USPA
Instructor’s and Trainer’s Seminar
Brushy Creek Ranch, Burleson, TX
The annual Instructor’s and Trainer’s Seminar jointly sponsored by the PTF and the USPA will be held November 5-7, 2009 at Brushy Creek Ranch in Burleson, Texas. This event is an opportunity for anyone interested in teaching polo to hone their skills and exchange ideas with some of the top instructor’s in the country. This year the seminar will go beyond basic polo instruction, to encompass the entire package of developing and running a polo school and strong teams.
Event organizer Kris Bowman has lined up USPA Southeast Circuit Governor Joe Meyer to make a marketing presentation. Joe has been involved in several successful endeavors that require a tremendous amount of marketing expertise. Kris has also lined up Mark Brownlee a sports psychologist to address the many psychological nuances involved in developing successful polo players. Scott Brown the developer of the Brandywine Regional Center and the hugely successful East Coast Arena Tournament for Interscholastic players will speak about business plans and budgeting.
PTF Head Umpire Instructor, Steve Lane will be there to give an update on umpire instruction. Brushy Creek Field Director Robin Sanchez , USPA Club Development specialist Kris Bowman, USPA Executive Director Peter Rizzo and I will also be there to participate in various seminars.
The cost of the seminar is $200, which includes transfers to and from DFW airport, housing in the Brushy Creek bunkhouse, and food for the weekend.
If you are interested in attending contact Kris Bowmen for more information: phone 703-362-7656, email polovacations@yahoo.com
PTF Strategic Plan
The 2008-2009 fiscal year was a challenging one for the PTF. With the downturn in the market, most of the year was spent analyzing financials and making adjustments to the budget. An already tight budget was pared to the bone and PTF was able to continue operations at nearly the same service level as before. In studying these budgets the PTF Board of Directors determined that now was a good time to take a serious look at our long term strategic plan. Gaylord Villers, a facilitator, of Transmedia, Inc. was engaged to meet with a group of interested parties in order to come up with a long term strategic plan for the Polo Training Foundation. The question to be answered was; How can the PTF best continue to function as an organization to be of high value to the sport of polo? After two meetings at the American Airlines conference center at O’Hare airport May 18 and June 8 followed by several conference calls the strategic planning committee determined that PTF is a valuable provider of training and educational services; and it leverages its training and educational identity through its 501(c)(3) status in order to raise funds to support these services.
Although at this writing the process is not completely finished the following strategies and action plans have emerged.
I. PTF is a Provider of Education and Training
PTF will leverage and strengthen introductory level educational and training
programs to create a strong brand that supports its value to polo, addresses
all areas of training and further strengthens its image for specialized polo
fundraising.
Strategic outcomes from this will be:
-An improved organization for delivery of introductory education and training, including modified PTF position descriptions, and reorganization of staff/instructor accountabilities.
-Improved education/training offerings and management of clinics, programs, curriculum, and training infrastructure to deliver on a national level.
-Better marketing of PTF programs.
-Stronger brand and “educational identity” that can be leveraged for fundraising, especially for specialized segments—non-polo, families, clubs, youth stakeholders, etc.
II.Fundraising
PTF will leverage and improve its fundraising capabilities (that feature 501c3), which are strengthened by its image as the provider of introductory level education and training; this helps ensure that the PTF continues to financially sustain itself as an organization and reaches the many donors who are not registered/active players.
Strategic outcomes:
-A stronger training image and brand to underscore the focus of fundraising to non-polo, families, clubs, youth stakeholders, etc.
-Improved expertise in fundraising and marketing (job descriptions will have fundraising accountabilities and will use new technologies.
Action Plans
Out of these strategies the PTF has developed Action Plans. Three committees will be formed Educational, Fundraising, and Publicity and Marketing. Each committee will look at current programs within the current budget and determine whether they are successful programs or not and suggest changes or new programs that can enhance the training and educational mission of the PTF.
The educational committee will look at PTF umpire and player training programs including:
-Umpire Training
-Club umpire clinics
-Umpire schools in Florida and California
Junior Polo programs at clubs across the country and the Junior program start-up grants.
Brushy Creek – summer camp, junior, I-I, and adult clinics
Adult club player clinics
-Instructiors and Trainers seminar
-Training literature development
The fundraising committee will study current solicitations and fund raising events held in various place across the country, with a view to improving their effectiveness.
The publicity and marketing committee will work with both the other committees to determine how to best get the PTF message out in order to continue to provide excellence in polo training and educational services and encourage more financial support to help continue to grow the sport by training new polo players and umpires.
With the completion of these Action Plans the Board of Directors, the PTF staff and the polo public will have a much clearer understanding of the PTF’s training and educational mission.
Additional Inquiries
For any other questions regarding polo training or polo in general feel free to call the PTF office: 888-PTF-POLO (783-7656) or email dscheraga@polotraining.org.
