APA Certified Coaches | Instructors | Clinicians

Ryan Murphy took a long journey to become the coach he is today. It all started in 1989 at age eight when he was introduced to the sport of polocrosse by his pony club. From pony club polocrosse on small ponies, Ryan began his international travel to the UK in 1996 and started traveling out west playing A grade for the first time in 1998 for Orphan Ranch.

While attending college at SMU in Dallas, Ryan played four years with Lone Star. After graduating from college in 2003, Ryan moved to North Carolina to play and coach the Carolina Club. After coaching from the start in his teens and moving up the ranks in polocrosse to represent the USA in three World Cups, Ryan started Polocrosse Made Simple, LLC in 2011.

Ryan’s style is player coach, because he’s experienced it all on and off the field. He’s coached all ages and played all levels and in many different countries. Polocrosse athletes shouldn’t be treated any different than other athletes and Ryan understands this.

Peter started playing polocrosse in Pony Club years ago in Maryland. He has played all over the US, as well as represented the USA on youth and men’s teams in Canada, UK, Zambia and Australia.

Peter participated in many clinics and lessons when he first started out and feels that those experiences helped him become the player he is today. He looks forward to giving back and helping people learn this great sport of polocrosse.

Ashley found the game of polocrosse through USPC in which she is a Graduate B from Fox Hollow Pony Club in Brooksville, FL. She grew up competing in eventing, hunters/jumpers, and polocrosse. She actively starts and trains young horses for any discipline with her husband, Jeremy Barbour. Their main focus is on horsemanship from the ground up, which makes for better communication between horse and rider.

Jeremy has grown up riding and competing in most western cow horse events. He has attended 2 Chris Cox Horsemanship Seminars. He has been starting and training horses with the focus on horsemanship from the ground up for 10 years. He has only been playing polocrosse for 5 years but in that time has gone all the way to B Grade with the plan of moving to A Grade in the near future.

Stacy has been a riding instructor teaching horsemanship and basic riding skills for 10 years. She has been playing polocrosse for 9 years and this past year started teaching the basics to beginners. By the end of a day clinic beginner players are able to understand and play a slower chukka.

Stacy is now a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist and serves southern Colorado and the surrounding areas.

Virginia Carpenter is a C2/HB from Casanova Warrenton Pony Club and has been riding for 15 years. Virginia competes in Polocrosse, Mounted Games and Eventing as well as participating in Tetrathlon, Dressage and Show Jumping rallies since she joined Pony Club in 2006. Virginia has gone to Pony Club Championships in Polocrosse three times and has played B grade in the American Polocrosse Association.

Currently, Virginia has been training her 4yr old OTTB Captain America aka “Steve”. Virginia and Steve were the first pair to complete and win the Crosse-Over-Challenge at the APA Nationals in 2018. Virginia has gone to Championships in games five times, and has won the Prince Phillip Cup and Presidents Cup with her team, We Got Game. She was also a member of the 2016 US Pony Club International Games Exchange team to Australia.

Virginia thoroughly enjoys teaching and coaching beginners to ride and play polocrosse and mounted games. She has run summer camps at her barn. Virginia is an incoming member of the Pony Club National Youth Board and was selected to attend the 2019 National Youth Congress. Virginia studies National Security and Foreign Affairs at Virginia Tech and is a part of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets in the Air Force ROTC.

Rahul has been involved with polocrosse for many years, starting as a young boy growing up in Zimbabwe, Africa. He has played on multiple international teams throughout his career, with the most recent being the 2019 World Cup. He was the coach of the 2010 USA Open Team that toured to Zambia and has also served as the head coach for the Carolina Polocrosse Club for several years now.

Rahul has experience coaching players of all ages and levels and has previously been a featured clinician for youth summer camps in Greensboro, NC. He has traveled across the USA teaching clinics and is always open to offering assistance to any groups in need.

Sarah has been playing polocrosse for 18 years. She started playing in USPC where she graduated an “A” on the traditional path. She has evented through Preliminary and won an NCDCTA championship at Third Level. She has taught polocrosse and basic balanced riding for 15 years. She has trained top level polocrosse horses for many years with her husband Rahul Desai. She was recently the Ladies Team Captain on the 2019 USA World Cup Team! She has played in various countries to include South Africa and Australia. She loves working with players and riders of all levels to achieve a great relationship with their horse and success on the field.

Virtual Coaching sessions available

I’m a farrier by trade. Spent a year in New Zealand with my apprenticeship. I enjoy traveling, photography, and I love polocrosse. Germany and Iceland have been some of my favorite travels; loved the culture and the landscape. My favorite pictures are those of everyone doing a goofy face.

I am absolutely infatuated with polocrosse. I’m hoping to reach my highest potential as a player and help grow the sport itself. My favorite aspect of polocrosse is the community. Absolutely fantastic people for who I am so excited to see at tournaments all around the nation. I’m looking forward to supporting this community and can’t wait to see polocrosse grow.

Zach learned the sport of polocrosse through Huntsville Pony Club in 2005 from an eventing background. He was on the Youth Development Team exchange from 2008-2010 and later served as assistant coach for multiple inbound youth tours and head coach for the 2014 tour. He is an equine veterinarian that graduated from Auburn University in 2018. He competes in A grade, breeds Australian Stock Horses, and enjoys training young stock to become polocrosse athletes.
Zach is a strong supporter for spreading the sport of polocrosse and can lead in beginner clinics or guide upper level players for improvement. He is a member of the Tennessee Valley Polocrosse Club.

I started playing polocrosse in 1989 and have played for the Lone Star Polocrosse Club in Texas. I accumulated seven National Championship buckles before I quit playing competitively. I have played all over the US, and in Zimbabwe, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico.

I have trained horses to play polocrosse, and coached people to play polocrosse. I wrote a textbook, so others could learn to play polocrosse correctly, and train their horses to play polocrosse. It is still the only book in the world that tells people how to play polocrosse.

In 2006 I taught three players how to break and train horses for polocrosse, and then coached them on their green horses in three tournaments, where they were able to get their unbroke horses to compete up to the players’ level, all within six weeks.

In 2016 I coached a team of six players for four tournaments. Their APA ratings totaled 15 before they started, and after the last tournament their APA ratings totaled 30.

I only teach students that seriously want to learn how to play polocrosse effectively and are willing to put forth the effort to learn.

Wade has been involved in polocrosse for 13 years and currently serves the
American Polocrosse Association as the Player Development Program Chief
Coach. He has served the APA Board as past President, Player Development
Chair and Eastern Zone Representative. He has also served the Carolina
Polocrosse Club as a President, Vice President and Selector.

Wade’s proudest coaching moment was coaching a U16 Team in New South Wales, Australia.
“That team refused to be discouraged or intimidated by the more experienced
teams in Australia. They just kept improving.”