Opening Game (October 2009)
Here in the Kansas City area, croquet is starting to wind down a bit as the weather cools down for fall. Behind the scenes though, we've been working feverishly on the November issue of the Croquet Network Online Magazine which will focus on the Nine-Wicket championships and kick off two new departments. The new issue will be out during the second half of the month and is already weighing in at 16 pages (first issue was 11).
In addition, the prep work for future issues is already underway, because even though croquet play here in the midwest may be ending, we all know that the next few months will be busy for the game with Selection 8's later this month and the USCA Championship and Women's Golf Championship in November. December has the USCA Golf Croquet Championship and the Solomon Trophy on deck.
Covering the Nine-Wicket Tourney in KC was a good way to get started, but the next challenge will be providing coverage for the very busy tournament schedule across the country and beyond. As I've been making contacts and requests across the croquet community, I'm already impressed at how willing players are to help out and how supportive they have been of the online magazine concept. That's great news as I'll be counting on the community for access, results and photos as we build this thing up.
Along those lines, I would like to remind everyone to feel free to utilize the forum/message board to talk croquet, pose questions, post tourney results or announce upcoming events. The link is located on the top menu and you can also check it out here:
Also, if you have not yet subscribed to the online magazine, you can do that by entering your name and e-mail address in the form to the upper right of the website. The magazine is still in the "Free Trial" phase right now, so you've got nothing to lose by signing up and checking out the premiere issue. Again, the November issue will be released in the second half of this month.
Enjoy the coverage and hopefully those in the midwest and north can get a few more games in before the really cold weather hits.