"Set x 4 Knox Memorial Aurora Polo Cup Plastic Cocktail Cups" (NEW)

Sz: 3 1/4"H x 2 3/4"D

The Knox polo fields were once well known, with the Aurora polo team competing both nationally and internationally and hosting tournaments at what is now Knox Farm State Park from the 1930s to the 1980s. Now, the Friends of Knox Farm State Park are attempting to revive East Aurora’s polo legacy with the first Knox Memorial Cup, which will be held at the Chur Equestrian Center on Saturday, July 19.

“We’d like to keep the history of polo alive at the former Knox estate for years to come,” said Elizabeth Wallace, a member of the Friends of Knox Farm polo committee.

The event, which is sponsored by the Western Chapter of the New York State Horse Council, will begin at 1 p.m. with an exhibition match by the Western New York Collegiate Girls Squad. This three-on-three match will consist of two chukkers, or 7.5-minute periods, and is designed to introduce the sport to attendees.

Following the exhibition game, two United States Polo Association teams of four players each will face off in a four-chukker match (slightly shorter than a regulation match, which has six chukkers).

Both matches are free to watch, and members of the public are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy as they observe the games.

Halfway through the main match, in a long-standing polo tradition, the crowd will be invited to stomp the divots in the grass to help smooth the field.

“It’ll be a very well-rounded polo event,” John Hatcher, a former polo player and chairman of the polo committee, said. “I’m looking forward to a safe match, an exciting match and a match that resonates both with the general public, with our sponsors and with people coming to the VIP lunch.”

Hatcher is interested in reestablishing a USPA polo club in East Aurora and the local polo legacy.

“There’s a deep, rich history,” Hatcher said. “Seymour Knox II got into the polo, and then he brought his sons along, Norty and Seymour, and they got into it. Later Norty was captain of the US Polo Team from ’65 to ’68, and his brother Seymour III played in a number of tournaments.”

The polo committee hopes that the Knox Memorial Cup will become an annual event.

“We really want to draw people in, make it accessible. We want to involve the public,” Wallace said.

East Aurora Mayor Allan Kasprzak and Jean Knox will toss the first ball of the matches.

At 11 a.m., there will be a champagne brunch reception near the field, catered by The Roycroft Inn. Reception guests will enjoy VIP seating for the matches, and the reception will also feature a local Dixieland band, an art show and other entertainment. A limited number of tickets were available through July 11 for $75 per person for the reception.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Mikey’s Way Foundation, which connects hospitalized children with their communities through technology, and to the Friends of Knox Farm, for the group’s ongoing efforts to restore the stables and other buildings.

Parking is available near the field for reception attendees or for any handicapped guests and can be accessed by Gypsy Lane or Knox Road. General admission parking is accessible on Knox Road via Grey Street for a $10 charge or for free at Parkdale Elementary School, which is a 15-minute walk from the field. Knox Road will be closed from Gypsy Lane to the soccer fields prior to the event.

Hatcher and the polo committee have high hopes that the Knox Memorial Cup will prove to be “a positive event for East Aurora, for the Knox Farm and for polo.”

Polo is played on horseback on a field 300 yards long and 160 yards wide—the area of about nine football fields.

In outdoor polo, played on horseback on a grassy field, a standard team has four players. The players use long mallets to hit the ball down the field and through the goalposts. The ball is made of plastic or wood and is 3.5 inches in diameter, about the size of a croquet ball.

A game consists of four to eight periods called chukkas or chukkers. At the seven-minute mark, a horn sounds to alert the players, and the game continues for 30 seconds more or until there is a break in play. Players typically switch ponies in the 3-minute interval between chukkers and during the halftime break; the horses may play up to two non-consecutive chukkers in a match.

The most basic rule of the game, according to the United States Polo Association, is the “line of the ball,” which is an invisible line extending along the trajectory of the moving ball that governs how players can intercept the ball. In general, the player that hit the ball has right-of-way when riding after it.

The term “ponies” is merely traditional, and polo ponies are full-sized horses, often thoroughbreds or thoroughbred crosses.

The Knox Memorial Cup will feature a 3-on-3, two-chukker exhibition match, followed by a 4-on-4 match with four chukkers, played by United States Polo Association players.