USCA's Croquet News: 2014 Volume 3 Edition

The USCA's Croquet News Volume 3 for 2014 went to press just prior to the holidays and is hopefully mailing this week. If you would like to enjoy a sneak preview, you can now access a PDF of this issue in the member's section of the USCA website along with back issues all the way back to 2007.

USCA Croquet News 2014, Volume 3This issue is overloaded as we’ve squeezed in features on Nine Wicket Nationals, USCA Nationals, Seniors Masters, GC Nationals and Selection Eights. We are excited to bring back feature level coverage to the Eights, which many players consider to be our premier event. And with Nine Wicket Nationals taking a quantum leap by hosting the 2014 edition at the historic Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, we are excited to provide an in-depth report on the growing success of the newest USCA championship series.

We have also launched a new Committee Guest Column and Club Profile department. The guest column this issue is from Cheryl Bromley on the Golf Croquet Committee. Going forward we will rotate the column each issue to include all of the key USCA committees. Our goal is to give members a view into the overall progress of the USCA across all sectors of the organization. Our club profile features the New York Croquet Club in this issue and again, we'll continue to explore new clubs in future editions.

Unfortunately, the sport lost a few key figures this fall. Ted Prentis and Jeff Soo have written wonderful tributes to John Solomon and Mack Penwell that are essential reading for all American croquet players. Beyond just recognizing Solomon and Penwell, both pieces provide valuable insight into the history of croquet in the US.

Read More

Morning Coffee: The Loss of a Leader

Click image to visit store

The murder of WCF President Charles Jones in Thailand last week is still the news that haunts the croquet world. There was an update in that a suspect has been arrested. In the meantime, there has only been a short statement released on the WCF website and I suspect the shock of such an event has everyone a bit paralyzed. After all, there is very little precedent for such an event in sports. And perhaps, a moment of quiet is what is best for the croquet world. Despite the fact that I never knew Charles, the international club of croquet creates a bond and I know that players across the world were saddened by this senseless loss.

Read More

Morning Coffee: It's GC Championship Week

Click image to visit storeBy the time this post hits the web, the BestInvest Golf Croquet World Championship will be well underway. It looks like another update filled week, but at this point, it's not clear how the tourney will be "broadcast." All hints from the Nottingham list indicate the Under-21 GC scoreboard was a test for the open event. It was pretty slick so let's hope so. As soon as I can detect live scoring, Croquet Network will spread the word. In the meantime, here is the regularly scheduled news update ...

Read More

Croquet Search Trends (April 2010)

Here is the April list for hottest trending croquet keywords that hit CroquetNetwork.com last month:

01. Annapolis Croquet
02. St. John's Croquet
03. Navy croquet
04. Croquet Network
05. Wii Croquet
06. Solomon Trophy 2009
07. Greenwich, Connecticut Croquet
08. Alix Verge
09. Sarasota Croquet Tournament
10. Robert V. Salinas
11. 2010 Croquet National Championship
12. Croquet Southern Cal
13. Peachwood Classic
14. Croquet Champions
15. Shane Botwin
16. New York Croquet Club
17. Morford Mallets
18. Croquet Jokes
19. Carie Shapiro
20. Palm Beach Croquet

Opening Game (November 2009)

I'll have to say November kicked off with a great start as the Kactus Kreek Club here in Kansas City was able to sneak in a day's worth of play on November 1. That definitely set a precedent as my latest day in the year to play the game. I'm considering it a reward for getting that second issue of the online magazine out. It was a beautiful day and a full crowd on the court as everyone was anxious to get in a little more play.

Speaking of the magazine, thank you to all of the subscribers that have done a great job of passing it on. Through the stats, I can see that the e-mail and magazine has been viewed by more than five times the amount of subscribers on the list. Great work -- this is how it grows. For anyone that is stopping by today, you can sign up for the magazine notification e-newsletter here.

For November on the website, you can look forward to additional content that was used to build the November issue. I'll be presenting some info from the interviews and I have plenty of photos and I believe more video. I'll also be reviewing a new croquet game for the Wii that is part of the Game Party 3 compilation. Definitely wait for my review this month before you make the purchase.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the people that helped make the November issue possible. For the interviews, thank you to George Cochran, Ben Rothman (croquetpro.blogspot.com), Billy Bob Breeden, Matt Smith and Nick Zink. For the Rothman photo, thank you to Tim Rapuano with the New York Croquet Club. Also, I'd like to mention Matt Griffith and his Kactus Creek Croquet Club as that is where I took the photos for the contents page in both issues.

In addition, Matt Griffith, Matt Smith and Billy Bob Breeden have all been fantastic in teaching me the game over the summer. Sundays are generally always open for practice games at Kactus Creek and those guys are always willing to take some time explain the great tactical dilemmas that pop-up and strategy in general. Personally, I have a long way to go, but I feel like I've been on an accelerated plan thanks to those guys.

Anyway, stay tuned to the website and look for the December issue of the magazine by the end of the month.