WCF Golf Croquet WTC: Day Four

By Eric Sawyer | Yesterday was first round of the Plate.  We played and defeated the #4 seed from the other block, Wales.  We won 4-1.  Sherif won his first singles match.  Our boys showed some real character today.
Tomorrow, we play South Africa, my early favorite.  That team features all-time great Reg Bamford.  I have offered to buy whoever plays and beats him in singles tomorrow whatever six-pack they pick.  We should beat SA, as they have not played well in this event.
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WCF Golf Croquet WTC: Day Three

By Eric Sawyer | Today was not our day.  A confluence of misfortunes bit us on the butt. We lost to Egypt, as expected.  Except we got steam-rolled by The Force, 6-0.  The only close match was Ben's spirited loss to world champion Ahmed Nasr in three games, with two games going to hoop 13.
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WCF Golf Croquet WTC: Day Two

By Eric Sawyer | I should have expected it.  Those plucky Irishman.  We ended up in a tie with them, 3-3.
Ben and Sherif were dominant in their doubles match.  But Danny and David lost their second straight doubles match.  We then split singles 2-2, with Ben and David winning their matches and Sherif and Danny losing their matches.  Danny's loss was a bit of a surprise to me; David's win was huge!
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WCF GC World Team Championship: Day One

Good news, our lads beat Sweden on Sunday in the opening day of WCF Golf Croquet World Team Championship block play with a 4-2 score. Today we play the Irish, which will be a really big game as explained below.

USA v. Sweden

Our play today was solid, but not spectacular. Ben, Danny and David were solid in winning their singles matches. Our doubles teams split, with Ben/Sherif winning their match but Danny/David losing their match. The highlight in doubles was when Ben made hoop 9 from the boundary line with a two bounce jump shot that took us to 5-4 in game two of the doubles.

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2016 WCF GC World Teams Preview

This event is about to begin!  Our lads have arrived in London, practiced, participated in team meetings and are ready for action.  Play will begin very early Sunday morning, our time.  Team USA will play Sweden first.
To see all of the teams and their members, read about the history and format of the event and to follow the action, go to the official site of the event, located at: http://www.gcwtc2016.org.uk/
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Survey: What Can the USCA Do For You?

Now is the time to answer that question. Five years ago, we surveyed the membership to get a sense of who they are, why they play, and other questions about their croquet world. Included in the multiple choice survey was an opportunity to voice any concerns about what and how the USCA was doing (or not).
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2016 USCA Croquet News Volume 1, Web Edition

The 2016 Volume 1 issue of the USCA's Croquet News magazine mailed in April and should be arriving in member's mailboxes soon. Today, the web edition PDF is also now available to USCA members on the magazine page of the USCA website. A few of the highlights include:

USCA PRESIDENT'S ROUNDTABLE
In this feature, I held an email roundtable discussion with current USCA President Johnny Mitchell and recent presidents Eugene Young and Rich Curtis. The discussion touched on a range of topics around current USCA challenges and the future vision. Excerpt:

"Promoting the sport is an entirely different issue. I know that all those who are involved in croquet truly have a passion for it and have a hard time understanding why more don’t play. Yes, we have seen pockets of expansion. North Carolina is a good example of this, but I feel it is not as easy as just trying to follow that model. Each area of the country is unique. What works in one may not be effective in another. Development is dependent on having local support. No matter where or who you may sell the idea of croquet to, unless some local support or the drive to keep it going is there, it just won’t work."
--Johnny Mitchell

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Morning Coffee: Back On Schedule

After flip-flopping last week to get the AC Worlds coverage front and center, we are back on track with Morning Coffee kicking off your Tuesday. In the meantime, the croquet underground is abuzz with debates on live streaming. If only there was already a neutral croquet media entity out there with the stated goal of providing live video for croquet events. Oh well, we'll just have to keep our eyes open. Here's your weekly feed ...
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