As we ring in the new year, it’s amazing to reflect that NECP has been playing and promoting polo for over 10 years!

At our annual end-of-season celebration on December 13, NECP members had the opportunity to reflect on the past year’s successes and plan for an even brighter year ahead.

We welcomed many new players in 2009, and the year was marked by enthusiastic turnouts and the opportunity for both new and experienced players to gain experience in practices, training camps, and tournaments.

Longtime member Cheryl Crawford was selected to coach the US Women’s polo team, and we introduced a number of successful innovations, including several changes to the structure and facilities for our summer tournament and a brand new portable floating goal which will greatly improve our practice options next year. We enter 2010 with a record number of prospective players and great excitement for the new year!

We are delighted to welcome our officer corps for 2010. Nick Nagel leaves his position as Equipment Coordinator to take the reins as club President (or “El Presidente,” as he prefers to be called). The club is very excited to benefit from Nick’s expertise as one of our most experienced and dedicated club members.

Michael Buonaiuto, who earned our eternal gratitude in 2009 by allowing NECP to take over his garage for equipment storage, is making his role official by taking over as Equipment Coordinator.

Betsy Reynolds will continue on as club Treasurer, and Rebecca Sugarman will reprise her role as our Insurance Coordinator. Allison Corbett will continue as our Webmaster, and Luke Nagel will be pioneering a new position as our New Media Coordinator, where he will use his expertise in Facebook and other social networking sites to spread the word about NECP and kayak polo.

As we enter 2010, let’s raise a glass to another decade of competition, camaraderie, learning, and above all fun!