I am new to the sport of croquet, as a professionally
competitive sport. I have played
backyard croquet and poison croquet with friends and family, but there have
never been clubs or professional competitions in my vicinity. I am therefore researching various
tournaments, where and when they occur, along with how they are played and how
one can enter those tournaments. This is
the first of probably several articles which I will write on the subject.
This first
article will be written on the United States National Croquet
Championships. According to the United
States Croquet Association website, the tournament occurs from May 31 to June
5. Because the tournament follows
international rules, it is also termed the USCA International Rules National
Championships, as opposed to the USCA AC National Championships American Rules,
which is held annually in November and December. This year (2005) the tournaments were held in
Seattle, the
same place they were held in 2001, and hosted by the Puget Sound Croquet Club.
According
to Jeff Soo, who reported on the National Championships in the Croquet World
Online Magazine, (May 25, 2005), eleven of the top twenty croquet players, as
determined by the World Ranking, competed in the tournament. Because of the small number of lawns
available for the tournament, it is limited to only twenty players per one
flight. Jeff Soo also said that five of
this year’s competitors can claim nine of the last twelve singles titles in
this event – Leo McBride, John Taves, Bob Cherry, and Mik Mehas. “Paul Scott has won the last three doubles
titles with two different partners." Also,
according to Soo, the games will be played as “straight knockouts," meaning
that each match is won by the best out of three games in both singles and
doubles. There will also be a singles Plate
match in “flexible Swiss format."
Danny
Huneycutt, Croquet World Online Magazine (6 Jun 2005) mentioned that for the
first time in North America, competitors were
allowed to play “plate game, even prior to being eliminated from the main
event." The plate games were limited to
two-and-a-half hours while main event matches, doubles and singles, were
limited to seven-and-a-half hours. Time
limits and other technical changes made the tournament run smoothly and
efficiently.
Entry into
the tournament was restricted to invitation.
Players entered the tournaments by mail invitations, which posted the
requirements for entry hence, I do not know all of the requirements for
entry. Since it is the national
championships I would assume that all contestants must have won other
tournaments, which qualified them for the national championship. The entry deadline was May 16. Jerry Stark and Jeff Soo were co-tournament
directors for this years match.
This years’
tournament ended with a new national champion, Danny Huneycutt, who beat Paul
Scott in a three-game match. Stark won
the Plate knockout over John Taves. The
tournament did receive some media in Washington
where it was held, giving publicity to the sport of croquet and providing an
opportunity for croquet players to explain to locals and visitors about the
tournament, and the sport of croquet itself.
There are
many other croquet tournaments in the United
States, Canada,
and other countries. I will write
articles about the other croquet tournaments as well. For more information about croquet or croquet sets, go to
www.playcroquet.com
Peter Jay is a yard game enthusiast with Yard Game Central and a
manager and web administrator with PlayCroquet.com. For information about croquet sets, visit www.PlayCroquet.com.
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