It will be a family affair with sisters Lauren, Penny and Katie from Wamboin Pony Club attending along with siblings Georgia and Zac Hope from Canberra Riding Club and Patrick Ryan from Murrumbateman Pony Club. Katie and Zac will form part of the senior team whilst the other four will compete as juniors.
The annual Pony Club Australia event attracts the top riders from across the nation to compete as state teams in either the junior division, 16 and under, or senior division, 17 to under 25.
The NSW teams, each consisting of five members, were selected in April from the annual athlete development squad of 30 riders. In order to have been selected for the squad riders must have firstly qualified at Zone level, against hundreds of other riders, to attend the 2009 NSW State Mounted Games Championships held in October.
Juniors Lauren Slater and Patrick Ryan both represented their state last year and are tipped to perform especially well this year having won selection to represent Australia at the annual Pony Club International Mounted games Exchange being held in the United Kingdom next month. This will also be the last year they compete as juniors.
Coach for the junior team, David Harris, who will travel with the squad has been holding regular training sessions at both Gunning Showground and Londonderry Pony Club. “Preparation for the championships revolves around horsemanship training as well as riding skills, technique practice and improvement with various equipment related skills and vaulting” Harris said.
“Due to the nature of Mounted Games being a team sport, the coaches also deliver leadership and problem solving training on Saturday evenings on training weekends”.
“The NSW team are quietly confident but they are not taking their opponents for granted and they will all be treated with respect when it comes time to race”.
“This is the first time in the corporate memory of Mounted Games that a NSW junior team has more female riders than male riders”.
It will be a tough two days of competition for the NSW teams as each rider will have to compete on a string of horses that they have never seen before.
“They compete in three races and then change strings for the next three races. This continued until all teams have raced on each string of horses. Typically the championship is conducted over 21 races” Harris said.
“Emails of support to the team can be sent to the State Office and they will be sent to the team before the competition (just like in the Olympics). So let the team know you are behind them and willing them to victory”.
Information: [email protected] or visit the website www.pcansw.org.au
