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Anyone For Croquet? Free Events In Sussex To Celebrate National Croquet Week

One of the 'most misunderstood sports' has a series of free events across England for National Croquet week this May 20 -30.

The National Croquet Association, is using its anniversary to hammer home how diverse, accessible and fun the sport is.

Men line up against women, children play against pensioners and people with disabilities can wipe the floor with their able-bodied opponents during a game of croquet.

They say it's one of the most misunderstood sports, but it’s inclusive, easy to pick up and truly levels the playing field. Once the sport of aristocracy, now a sport with hundreds of clubs across England, croquet has seen some huge changes in recent times. 

"Literally everyone is welcome to take part," says Paul Hetherington, Marketing Director of The Croquet Association, who wants new players from all backgrounds to pick up a mallet during a series of free events held during National Croquet Week.

The week culminates in the national county finals at Sussex County Croquet Club in Southwick, near Brighton, May 27 - 30. 

“Many people think croquet is only enjoyed by rich people playing on the lawns of stately homes,” Paul said.

“But in fact, there are over 200 local clubs across England, and croquet hoops are springing up in gardens of all shapes and sizes across the nation.

“There are players across the country with ages ranging from 15 to 95 competing. We have amputees beating able-bodied players, women and men playing against each other…it truly is the most diverse, accessible, and levelling sport.”

Croquet clubs across the country are opening their doors to anyone who wants to give it a go, find out where your nearest croquet club is and get down there for a free taster.

Visit www.croquet.org.uk  or  https://southeastcroquetfederation.org.uk/ to find the nearest events and clubs across the South East.

There are over 20 clubs in Sussex.

ABOUT CROQUET

The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897, is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Croquet Association, formed
in 1974, now has responsibility for croquet in Scotland. At the 2013 AGM the association formally relinquished control of the game in the other parts of the United Kingdom and now covers England only.
 

What is croquet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCW_Rb5Y7t4 

Croquet: six hoops, four balls, two mallets, one peg and a patch of grass. Sounds easy enough.

Croquet is a game of skill and strategy, angles, tactics, and guile. A bit like snooker on grass. Will your balls get through the hoops and peg out before your opponent? 

It is played on equal terms by men and women and between young and old.

Croquet offers sport, friendships, fun, competition, and a whole lot more.

Croquet is played on a 35 x 28 yards completely flat and closely-mown fine grass court.

Six cast-iron hoops and a peg set firmly into the ground, four balls weighing one pound (in top-class
competition it's only slightly smaller than a hoop), and mallets weighing around three pounds are used to play at
club to international level.

Golf Croquet and Association Croquet are the two main variants of the game played in the UK:

Golf Croquet - one stroke per turn and when a hoop is scored all players move on to the next

Association Croquet - score many hoop points in a single turn by playing breaks

Short Croquet - a handicap version of Association Croquet played on half-size lawns

Garden Croquet - simplified Association Croquet suitable for playing in the garden

Just-for-fun games you can play on a croquet lawn.
 

Fun facts about Croquet.

In 2005 American scientists became the first to play a game at the South Pole, outside the South Pole Observatory.

Wimbledon the famous tennis club was originally a croquet club.

The most common form of the game is Association Croquet.

Rapper P Diddy held a croquet party to celebrate becoming the first rap performer to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Croquet was the first outdoor sport to achieve equality, allowing male and female players to play the game on an equal footing.

Croquet was an Olympic sport in 1900, sadly only once. The event was so poorly organised that it is alleged one competitor went to his death without ever having known he was an Olympian.

One time Deputy Prime Minister John Prescot was responsible for a surge in sales when pictured playing at his official residence in 2006, it prompted a 300 per cent increase in sales of croquet sets at Asda.

Lewis Carroll had a surreal version of croquet in Alice in Wonderland. A hedgehog was used as the ball and a flamingo as the mallet, while soldiers doubled over to make the hoops.

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