Guatemala Joins Elite Teams in the II FIP Arena World Polo Championship 2025

Guatemala will compete alongside USA, Pakistan, Italy, Argentina, and France in the 2025 II FIP Arena World Polo Championship.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA, UNITED STATES, October 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- For the first time in its history, the Federation of International Polo (FIP) Arena World Polo Championship will take place in the United States. Scheduled for October 5-12, 2025, the tournament will be co-hosted by Roseland Polo Club in Crozet, Virginia, and Virginia Polo Inc., home of the University of Virginia polo club, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Modeled after the FIP World Polo Championship, the second edition of the prestigious event will showcase top-tier international arena polo as nations from around the globe battle for the title.

"For Guatemala is an honor to be participating in the FIP 2nd Arena World Cup. Being a country based on amateur polo our main goal is to participate in all of the FIP World Cups, we have participated in two of the grass editions (Santa Barbara and Chile) and in many Zone A qualification games. This is our first time participating in the FIP Arena World Polo Championship. I think is an amazing achievement of FIP that will help grow the sport."- Jose Aguilar

Arena polo, also known as hockey on horseback, is a ball and mallet sport played on horseback. Arena polo is played in an enclosed arena with two goal mouths set into either end of the 300 by 150-foot dirt or sand arena. The game is played with teams of three players all mounted on horseback. All players are equipped with bamboo cane mallets and attempt to move the ball into their respective goals to rack up points. Arena polo allows spectators to get up-close to the action - feeling the thunder of hooves as the play rushes by. It is a fast-paced sport, and the thrill of international competition will make this event like no other.

The tournament will feature six teams including the host country, USA, and defending champions France who have automatically qualified for the competition. Guatemala (Zone A – North and Central America), Argentina (Zone B – South America), Italy (Zone C – Europe) and Pakistan (Zone E – Pakistan, India and Iran) have secured the remaining spots in the championship tournament.

"Arena polo started in Guatemala around the early 2000s when the Molina family built the first arena of the modern era. I heard that in the past they played some arena but not with an official arena. Afterwards, both the Guatemala Polo Association in Las Canchas Polo Club and El Cabanal Polo Club each built an arena. Since the grass polo season goes from November to April during the dry season, the arena gives the Guatemalan polo players access to polo year-round,"

"Our history as country with arena polo has been closely related with USPA I/I Intercollegiate program. We have a long list of local players that have participated in it. At Texas A&M under coach Mike McCleary is where we have the most players, to name a few: Victor Aguilar, Christian Aycinena, Jose Ignacio Beltranena, Alex Molina, Andres Solis and myself," says Jose Aguilar. "At Babson: brothers Luis Roberto and Sebastian Aguilar. At Cal Poly: Guillermo Montano and Alain Berger. In the Interscholastic level Coky Molina coached a team for several years. For me, college polo was a great experience. I was lucky enough to have learned from so many great people at Texas A&M with Coach Mike McCleary and many teammates like; Steve Krueger, Parker Flannery, Jake Little and Miguelito Torres."

On Thursday, September 18, a virtual draw took place for the II FIP Arena World Polo Championship which determined bracket placement and schedule. Defending champions France, and the host country USA, were automatically placed into separate brackets.

Guatemala will face USA Sunday, October 5 at 3:30pm EST in their first game.

All matches are free and open to the public, with optional ticketed seating and tailgating experiences available for the Sunday final at Roseland Polo Club. The ticketed event is marked with an asterisk and can be purchased at kingfamilyvineyards.com. For fans not able to attend in person, every game of the II FIP Arena World Polo Championship will be livestreamed on the USPA Polo Network, providing global audiences the opportunity to watch the international competition.

U.S Polo Assn. is the official apparel brand for II FIP Arena World Polo Championship. “As the official sports brand of the United States Polo Association and the official apparel sponsor of FIP, we are honored to support the FIP Arena World Championships through our custom performance jerseys and other branded keepsakes for the teams. We are honored to host this global event in the United States where arena polo is one of the fastest growing segments of our sport. We wish all the country teams from around the world the best of luck and welcome them to Roseland Polo Club with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and wine vineyards as the backdrop,” stated J. Michael Prince, President & CEO of USPA Global who manages the multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. sports brand.

TEAMS AND ROSTERS

Bracket One
France
Elouan Badarello 3
Dorian Bulteau 4
Louis Jarrige 5

Argentina
Damián Oscar Mondaca 1
Francisco Crotto 5
Andrés Lariguet 5
Coach – Azumendi Gonzalo

Pakistan
Ibrahim Khalil 3
Muhammad Saqib Khakwani 4
Hamza Mawaz 5
Coach – Shaukat Ali Malik

Bracket Two
USA
Kareem Rosser 3
Jared Sheldon 5
Patrick Uretz 4
Coach – Billy Sheldon

Guatemala
Jose Ignacio Beltranena 3
Sebastian Aycinena 4
Jose Miguel Aguilar 3
Alt/Coach - Antonio Aycinena 3

Italy
Stefano Giansanti 2
Giordano Magini 4
Mariano Raigal 5
Coach – Franco Piazza

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sunday, October 5
Bracket One 1:00pm ET: Game 1 - France vs. Argentina at Virginia Polo Inc.
Bracket Two 3:30pm ET: Game 2 - USA vs. Guatemala at Virginia Polo Inc.

Tuesday, October 7
Bracket One 1:00pm ET: Game 3 - Pakistan vs. Loser of Game 1 at Roseland Polo Club
Bracket Two 3:30pm ET: Game 4 - Italy vs. Loser of Game 1 at Roseland Polo Club

Wednesday, October 8
Bracket One 1:00pm ET: Game 5 - Pakistan vs. Winner of Game 1 at Roseland Polo Club
Bracket Two 3:30pm ET: Game 6 - Italy vs. Winner of Game 1 at Roseland Polo Club

Friday, October 10
10:00am ET: Consolation Final at Roseland Polo Club
4:30pm ET: Semifinal 1 - First Place Bracket One Team vs. Second Place Bracket Two Team at Virginia Polo Inc.
6:30pm ET: Semifinal 2 - First Place Bracket Two Team vs. Second Place Bracket One Team at Virginia Polo Inc.

Sunday, October 12
12:00pm ET: Bronze Medal Match at Roseland Polo Club
2:00pm ET: II FIP Arena World Polo Championship Final at Roseland Polo Club*

*Denotes a ticketed event but free admission is available on a first come, first serve basis.
In the event of rain, all matches will be moved to the indoor arena at Virginia Polo Inc.
For more information and updates, please visit the 2025 FIP Arena World Polo Championship landing page https://www.uspolo.org/fip-arena-world-championship

About U.S. Polo Assn. and USPA Global
U.S. Polo Assn. is the official sports brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the largest association of polo clubs and polo players in the United States, founded in 1890 and based at the USPA National Polo Center (NPC) in Wellington, Florida. This year, U.S. Polo Assn. celebrates 135 years of sports inspiration alongside the USPA. With a multi-billion-dollar global footprint and worldwide distribution through more than 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores
as well as thousands of additional points of distribution, U.S. Polo Assn. offers apparel, accessories, and footwear for men, women, and children in more than 190 countries worldwide.
The brand sponsors major polo events around the world, including the U.S. Open Polo Championship^®, held annually at NPC in The Palm Beaches, the premier polo tournament in the United States. Historic deals with ESPN in the United States, TNT and Eurosport in Europe, and Star Sports in India now broadcast several of the premier polo championships in the world, sponsored by U.S. Polo Assn., making the thrilling sport accessible to millions of sports fans globally for the very first time.
U.S. Polo Assn. has consistently been named one of the top global sports licensors in the world alongside the NFL, PGA Tour, and Formula 1, according to License Global. In addition, the sport-inspired brand is being recognized internationally with awards for global growth. Due to its tremendous success as a global brand, U.S. Polo Assn. has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Modern Retail, and GQ as well as on Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg, among many other
noteworthy media sources around the world. For more information, visit uspoloassnglobal.com and follow @uspoloassn.

USPA Global is a subsidiary of the United States Polo Association (USPA) and manages the multi-billion-dollar sport brand, U.S. Polo Assn. USPA Global also manages the subsidiary, Global Polo, which is the worldwide leader in polo sport content. To learn more, visit globalpolo.com or Global Polo on YouTube.

About the United States Polo Association^® (USPA)
The United States Polo Association^® is organized and exists for the purposes of promoting the game of polo; coordinating the activities of its member clubs and registered player members; arranging and supervising polo tournaments, competitions and games; and providing rules, handicaps and tournament conditions for those events. Its overarching goals are improving the sport and promoting the safety and welfare of its human and equine participants. Founded in 1890, the USPA is the largest voluntary sports organization in North America for the sport of polo. The USPA is currently made up of more than 200 member clubs and over 5,000 registered player members. It annually awards and oversees roughly 50 national tournaments hosted by its member clubs. For more information, please visit uspolo.org.

About FIP
The Federation of International Polo (FIP) is the international federation representing the sport of polo, officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The FIP was founded in 1982 by representatives of eleven national polo associations, and it represents the national polo associations of more than 80 countries. Its principal aim is to enhance the international image and status of polo. In addition to organizing international tournaments, the FIP develops international tournaments for children, conducts umpiring and coaching seminars, encourages participation in the sport at all levels and ages, and makes the international rules of polo through a cooperative agreement with the Asociación Argentina de Polo, the Hurlingham Polo Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States Polo Association (USPA). For more information, please visit fippolo.com.

About Roseland Polo Club
Located in Crozet, Virginia, Roseland Polo Club is an organization of polo players and polo supporters working to increase the number and quality of polo players, clubs, schools and tournaments in Virginia. Aiming to create a sustainable polo community in the Charlottesville area with continuous growth in the number of participants and level of play, Roseland Polo Club supports all levels of polo for its members through polo schools, clinic and outreach programs. Additionally, Roseland Polo Club actively promotes and organizes tournaments to attract intrastate and inter-circuit play in accordance with the rules of the USPA.

About Virginia Polo Center
Home of the distinguished University of Virginia (UVA) polo club, Virginia Polo’s training facility sits on 75 spacious acres just five miles from the historic University’s main campus. Equipped to support play year-round, top-notch facilities include a 300’ by 150’ indoor arena building, 400’ by 150’ outdoor arena and a regulation outdoor polo field.
Led by current coach and general manager, Lou Lopez, the Virginia Polo program at UVA is widely regarded as a powerhouse in intercollegiate polo. Some of their many illustrious achievements include 12 Men’s National Championships, 11 Women’s National Championships and 18 Polo Training Foundation (PTF) Intercollegiate Player of the Year Awards.
The Virginia Polo Center is host to numerous USPA interscholastic and intercollegiate tournaments, including the 2024 Division I National Intercollegiate Championships. Formed in the early 1950s, the polo club is a student-run organization which strives to instill core values including the merits of responsibility, hard work, dedication, rewards of fellowship, working as a team and the ability to compete in an intercollegiate sport on the national level. Throughout the year, the facility hosts USPA interscholastic and intercollegiate events for players of all ages and skill levels. During the summer months, Virginia Polo Inc. also serves as a premier destination for high school players to participate in renowned clinics.

Robin Sanchez
US Arena Polo
+1 717-645-8778
robin@usarenapolo.com
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Coming This October to Virginia - FIP Arena Polo World Championship

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