BINGARA Polocrosse Club’s Cameron Hull and Luka McLachlan recently represented NSW at the Australian Polocrosse National Championships at the Albury Wodonga Equestrian Centre from April 18-24.
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Hull was selected in the Junior Boys division and McLachlan in the Sub-Juniors.
Bingara Polocrosse Club president Louise Dailey said the two had competed at the highest professional level the sport has to offer.
“Not only did they conduct themselves in a professional manner, they were also highly competitive on the field against the best players in Australia,” she said.
The Nationals are run biannually and alternate between states. The seven best players from each state are chosen to compete in different divisions.
Club secretary Simone Duff said comparing nationals polocrosse to normal club carnivals was like comparing a normal race day in a country town to the Melbourne Cup.
“Every aspect of the sport is 10 times higher in standard; the play, the horsemanship, the horses, the professionalism of the players themselves both on and off field and the supports,” Duff said.
“The boys put so much work in to get there and they played their hearts out, we are all very proud.”
Not only did they conduct themselves in a professional manner, they were also highly competitive on the field against the best players in Australia.
- Louise Dailey
The Hull and McLachlan families arrived at Albury on Thursday, April 14, ready for the three days of pre-event practice. The boys were involved with official team presentations, official junior functions and dinners as well as a grand parade and ceremony.
The championships were attended by about 4500 people from all over the country and a large number of Bingara Club members travelled down to support the boys.
Hull’s team played Victoria on Wednesday and took out a 31-10 win. On Thursday the team played Queensland for a 20-13 win, and on Friday they faced Western Australia and beat them 21-9.
Saturday afternoon’s field was lined with spectators and the boys rode onto the field through a supporter’s tunnel to take on Queensland again.
As with any sport, Queensland were very competitive and played strongly until the last, but the NSW team finally took a 27-21 win and the title of Australian Polocrosse Champions.
The boys put so much work in to get there and they played their hearts out, we are all very proud.
- Simone Duff
McLachlan was also a member of a winning combination.
His team started the first day of competition narrowly defeating Victoria 10-9. It rode out against Queensland on the Tuesday and won 15-8. The final was played under lights against Victoria, which was exciting for the under 12’s division, but because of the previous close result against Victoria, there were some nervous parents on the sideline.
McLachlan’s team took out the title of National Championships Sub-Junior division with a score of 14-6.
“Huge congratulations should go to both the boys for the way they played and their professionalism in representing both NSW and the Bingara Club,” said Duff.
