Who is Tom Goodspeed?
Tom Goodspeed is a well-known author and polo coach born and raised in the Milwaukee region. He has become a well-known equestrian worldwide. He is known to have started riding at the Joy Farm Riding Club in Milwaukee when he was 11. He has overseen prestigious exhibition venues on both coasts of the country, The Los Angeles Equestrian Center and the Ox Ridge Hunt Club in Darien, Connecticut.
Tom has won the National Collegiate Championship, played professionally (with a 9-goal handicap in the arena and a 5-goal handicap outside), and served as captain of the LA Colts & Stars during the storied Pro Arena Polo era in Los Angeles. He has coached multiple collegiate and high school teams, trained horses, served on different USPA committees, and managed clubs for over 20 years. He now serves as the Varsity Head Coach for SMU Polo in Irving, Texas. He is also a certified umpire and polo instructor by the USPA.
Tom Goodspeed is also well known for being the former husband of Juice Newton, an American country and pop singer and songwriter. She has been nominated for many Grammy Awards and won a few, also has Gold and platinum records to her name.
Tom’s Career
Tom Goodspeed, renowned Intercollegiate/Interscholastic coach, USPA Certified Polo Instructor and umpire, and founder of the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Polo Club in Flower Mound, Texas, has dedicated more than 40 years to fostering the growth of arena polo. Goodspeed was presented with the Russ Sheldon Award at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, at the USPA/Polo Training Foundation (PTF) awards event, and he was honored to do so. The USPA presents this national honor to a member who has made remarkable contributions to arena polo. Rodney Fragodt received it in 2017.
When Goodspeed was just 11 years old, he picked up a polo mallet for the first time. He delivered the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper to pay for his lessons at Joy Farm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The farm’s owner, Donald “Mac” McCarroll, also operated a school bus company and ran a bus around the city twice every Saturday to pick up and drop off passengers of any age.
Goodspeed recalled : “He charged $2 an hour to ride a horse and $4 for two arena chukkers. The bus was free. “At that young age, none of us appreciated the wonderful gift of horses we were receiving. I do, for sure, now.”
He oversaw prestigious show venues on both sides of the United States, including the San Diego Polo Club and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. He also started a polo academy that was quite successful and trained horses. He participated in several USPA committees and earned USPA certifications as an umpire and polo instructor. He was the head coach of many university and high school teams, including Culver Academies and the SMU Polo Club. He serves as the SMU Polo Varsity Teams’ head coach in Irving, Texas.
Tom Goodspeed and his wife, Juice Newton have two children together.
Tom married Juice Newton in 1985, and the couple produced two children named Jessica Goodspeed and Tyler Goodspeed. Only a little information about the children of Tom Goodspeed is available because they are not public figures.
Juice Newton : Tom Goodspeed’s wife
Tom Goodspeed’s wife, Judith Kay “Juice” Newton, is an American pop and country singer, songwriter, and guitarist born on February 18, 1952. In the Pop and Country Best Female Vocalist categories, Newton has been nominated for five Grammy honors, winning one in 1983. She has also won an ACM Award for Top New Female Artist and two back-to-back Billboard Female Album Artist of the Year honors. Other honors given to Newton include the “Best Female Vocalist” People’s Choice Award and “Number One International Country Artist” by Australian Music Media.
Juice, Quiet Lies, and her debut Greatest Hits CD are just a few of Newton’s Gold and Platinum-certified albums. She had 14 Top-10 singles throughout the 1980s on the Billboard Country, AC, and Hot 100 charts, with several songs enjoying crossover success and six peaking at No. 1.
1983 Newton purchased the thoroughbred horse Puppy and kept him at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Her husband, Tom, was the center’s manager.
Newton, who is now divorced, resides in San Diego, California. In addition to his involvement in the music industry, Newton also deals in horses. She mostly trades with horses from Europe.