UKPA Trophies – The Minter Strover Memorial
As we approach our 35th anniversary of the UKPA, we have been starting to look back across our rich history of the sport in this country. Our Membership Secretary, Jan Jenkinson, has been taking a walk down memory lane for us during lockdown, and the result is a fascinating look at the origin stories of our annual awards and the familiar names that have appeared on those trophies over the years!
The Minter Strover award is presented annually to ‘ an under 16 player who has contributed most to the sport as a player, in stick and horse skills, is an ambassador to the sport, their club and the Association ‘.
The Minter Strover Memorial trophy was presented to the UKPA by Angus Strover, a now retired orthopaedic surgeon who founded Droitwich Knee Clinic, in memory of his father, Dr Minter Strover.
Dr Strover introduced polocrosse to Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1948. He had read about the sport in a magazine on a visit to England and, impressed with what he read, he returned to his hometown of Fort Victoria (Masvingo) and soon had a keen following. Our UKPA historian, Jan Jenkinson, remembers Angus bringing his father to tournaments in the UK!
You can find out more about the evolution of polocrosse in Zimbabwe on the PAZ website:
Polocrosse Association of Zimbabwe Website
Past Winners of the Minter Strover Trophy
Year| Winner
---|---
1996| Matt Lodder
1997| Ellen Brookes
1998| Robert Jenkinson
1999| Tom Simkin
2000| Becky Shearing
2001| Sophie Lodder
2002| Annie Waterer
2003| Oliver Beckerlegge
2004| Will Hunt
2005| Oscar Harding
2006| Alex Richardson
2007| Tom MacLeod
2008| Simon Amor
2009| Tom Bowden-Eyre
2010| Olivia Miller
2011| Katie Newbrook
2012| Steph Thomas
2013| Max Pedley
2014| Alice Kish
2015| Jack Brown
2016| Jack Chrisp
2017| Hugh Ralli
2018| Boy Wilson Fitzgerald
2019| Keegan Jacobs
2020| ?
A quick skim of the Minter Strover roll of honour shows how many familiar names have received the award over the years. Players such as Tom Simkin, Robert Jenkinson, Sophie Lodder and Alex Richardson to name but a few went on to represent their country, as did so many of the more recent names. In the last ten years we’ve seen Max Pedley, Jack Brown and Alice Kish all move on from their U16 squad years to continue to play for the UK at higher levels.
Our most recent recipient of the award, Keegan Jacobs, tells us a little more about his 2019 season and what winner the Minter Strover means to him:
“I have been playing polocrosse for just over two years now, and I had set myself several goals for the the 2019 season. My biggest aims were to play in the Welsh Pony Club Four Nations team and also be selected to represent the UK in the test matches against South Africa. I knew these goals were huge but with hard work and determination I managed to achieve them both which made me feel ecstatic! However, I still have many goals which I constantly set in place in order to make myself a better player, in stick skills, in communication and in many other aspects to help me become better player, on and off the pitch.
“I am so pleased to have received the Minter Strover trophy for 2019, as this is a huge achievement for me after a relatively short time playing. The trophy has been previously awarded to so many playing legends, it’s a privilege to be among them! I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way including my parents, coaches, friends and many others. I would also like to highlight the time and effort that has been invested in my development by the PDP, which has helped me tremendously to make me the player I am today.”
With new faces coming into the sport each year, through both Pony Club and UKPA, we hope to see many more generations of young players aspiring towards this particular trophy and the values that it endorses.
The Minter Strover trophy itself is unique, sculptured in bronze by James Maberly, a Suffolk artist. James was born in Zimbabwe where as a young man he played polocrosse. He came to the UK in 1988 and played for Suffolk Polocrosse club in 1996.
Want to find out more about the history of polocrosse in Zimbabwe?
If you are looking for something a little bit different to read during lockdown, check out ‘The Story of Polocrosse in Zimbabwe’ by Chris Pocock. The book is an insight into sport in Zimbabwe from its early beginnings in 1948 at Fort Victoria and covers sixty years of development. It recollects all the characters that played their part through different clubs and brings out the humour, frustrations and determination that made this small turbulent country a nation to be reckoned with.
It also digs deep into the past in search of where it all began before Australia gave the modern sport its name and follows through with the sequence of nations joining the global family of Polocrosse.
The book is available to buy on Amazon, either in paperback or as an e-book on Kindle.
Visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/story-Polocrosse-Zimbabwe-Chris-Pocock-ebook/dp/B00H97QI12/