Croquetwest

It has been a busy few weeks for me but it is nice to be back home. Having a look around, it has been fairly quiet on the home front.

The Interstate Shield was such an amazing event and I now know why everyone is so keen to be a part of it. I have sifted through the collection of videos and photos I took and collected over the week in the hope that you get a sense of how much we all enjoyed the event.

Two weeks ago, York hosted a group of players from the Bullsbrook Croquet Club. I never realised that Bullsbrook had a club! You can find more photos on York’s Facebook page.

The Mandurah B Grade Doubles was conducted on the 10th and 11th of September. I’m unsure of the winners but I do know that Bernie Lynch and Steve Newbold were 2nd!

On the same weekend, Geraldton conducted a GC Advantage Trial event.

East Fremantle started their Inter Club Doubles on the 15th. Trish looking dashing with red hat and shoes, Alistair playing a shot.

Today at Forrest Park, the C Grade have been battling it out in a SWISS event. Full results can be found on Croquetscores.

Ray Chapman is the new National Ricochet co-ordinator and has recently announced that the Australian Ricochet championship will be held at Tempe from 15-19 April 2023. This is a great opportunity for all those interested in this form of the game.

Two dates to watch out for on our 2022/23 Calendar are:

Sorrento: 11th October 2022

Dunsborough: 25-25th March 2023

After visiting Waitpinga Beach in the morning and then checking out the Hindmarsh railway bridge designed by Sir John Monash prior to the war, a window of opportunity seemed to present itself.

Kay Chynoweth had earlier sent me an email to let me know that this was her home club back in the day. She also passed on a few names and said if i did go and play, to make sure I said hello to everyone. Sure enough, I turned up and met Shirley Howlett, Noel Young and a few others. They remembered both Kay and Colin fondly and so what better way to spend a few hours. Caroline joined in and talked to the locals while Shirley gave me a lesson in association croquet.

Another great video from John Hutchison.

After spending 9 days on the croquet court, it has been really nice to get out and about, as well as lazing around.

After settling in, one had to go and do the usual thing and check out all the local landmarks. There was only one thing that really caught my interest.

Yesterday we visited Granite Island and hitched a ride on the horse drawn tram. Albert had the honour of doing all the work and amazingly, he seemed to do it effortlessly (even his gait was much better than mine)

Today we caught the Cockle Train from Goolwa to Victor Harbour. It runs along the beach for a substantial part of the trip and I even spied the locals playing GC!

The weather was a bit overcast and there was some drizzle around so we decided a road trip was in order. Firstly, a quick drive over the bridge to Hindmarsh Island and then on to the mouth of the Murray River. From there, we headed to Crows Nest Lookout and Hindmarsh Falls.

The view from the lookout was stunning 😬and the steps to the falls proved worthwhile.

It certainly is a great area to visit. I believe tomorrow afternoon is association day at the Victor Harbour Croquet Club. I might have to venture down and check it out.

Subiaco croquet club was a founding member of the Western Australian Croquet Association.

Early interclub matches played by the club helped start the pennant competition.

The first greens and clubhouse were located in the Subiaco Municipal Gardens and opened in 1904 ( more likely November 1903 ).

They existed there until moved to the wedge shaped section of land between Thomas, Nicholson and Rokeby Rds in probably 1929.

Interestingly the old pavilion accompanied the move and a new brick building was not installed until 1938.

Subiaco was involved in a minor dispute in 1932 when a complaint was received that some ladies were observed playing croquet during the ANZAC day ceremonies.

The clubs initial colours were yellow and white, not the usual colours for a Subiaco sporting team, the traditional maroon and gold was in vogue in 1938, exactly when the change was made is unknown. The croquet association struggled to control club colours at times and many clashes occurred.

Subiaco was a host club when the first country week competitions began.

Subiaco was a powerhouse in pennants at times but also maintained the Subiaco tradition of long droughts between success.

A grade was won in 1907, 1908 and 1951

A2 in 1941

B grade in 1908, 1922, 1950

C grade in 1965, 1966, 1967

C2 in 1957

After the change from grades to divisions

Division 1 in 1974, 1977, 1978

Division 2 in 1970, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1989

Division 3 in 1986

Division 5 in 1983

The clubs finest hour was being a host venue for the Eire Cup in 1989, when WA won the event for the first time.

But demise came quickly after that and the club disbanded in the late 1990’s.

The venue is now the Subiaco Petanque club and a public park. 

We were back playing at North Adelaide for the day against the host team South Australia. It was quite windy throughout the day which made things a little challenging with those playing on Court 4 having the best of the conditions.

Just as we entered the courts, we all noticed a slight change in the set up of court 3. My initial thought was that they were predicting Brett was going to play on this court again but i suspect it was to stop any balls going onto the walkway. This whole week, we have all been mindful of player and spectator safety.

There were no easy games but we eventually finished the day winning the test. The star of the show was Robyn who won all of her singles games as well as playing brilliantly in our doubles game. A highlight was her winning shot on hoop 13 where she jumped over all three balls.

Full results can be found on Croquetscores

At the end of the days play, we finished a few net matches short of overall victory but we were pleased as punch to have finished 2nd in what was such a tough competition. Congratulations to NSW who had an awesome last day.

WA has plenty of work ahead of us as we are due to host the event in 2023. South Australia is to congratulated on the outstanding job they have done this year. The countless hours of hard work by the organisers, the host clubs and their members has been greatly appreciated and helped make this event one to remember.

A special mention to Joan, Maggie and Dianne who came out and supported us each day and to John, for standing out in the rain and cold officiating.

Finally, many thanks to my team mates: Chris, Marty, Alan, Brett, Janine, Robyn, Joyce, Judith and Jennifer. It has been a fantastic 5 days and the wait was worth it.

We were back at Norwood yesterday for our match against Victoria. The conditions were soggy but fair. I am continually amazed at how well the courts have stood up to all the rain and heavy use. All clubs have done a magnificent job, not just in terms of preparing the courts each day (starting as early as 6am and finishing quite late) but in making sure the event is managed well, the teams are well catered for (yummy GF orange cake at Norwood) and even coming to watch some of the action.

Yesterday I learnt how tough this event really is. Every game was a battle and our opposition came to play with a fierce determination to do well. Nobody gave an inch and so taking photos never even crossed my mind. I suspect today will be similar.

We started off well in the doubles but in the first round of singles, Victoria won 5 of the 8 matches. Brett was the only WA player to be undefeated in their singles game during the day. I have it on good authority that the games against Lester were a great watch with lots of good hitting from both players.

In the recent world championships, the AC players did really well and after playing Stephen and Kevin today, I can see why. Great touch, awesome short angled jumps, consistent clearances, attention to detail, and excellent hoop running techniques. They were great to play against.

Coming into the last day, the event is wide open and so every hoop, every game and every match is critical. What more could one ask for.

However, regardless of what today brings, it has been an absolute buzz to be able to finally play in this event, spending time with quality people and having the opportunity to wear the WA colours.

Good luck to everyone today but GO WA!

Today we visited North Adelaide for our game against New South Wales. It started life as an old bowling club and sits right next to the football oval. We were spoilt throughout the day by our hosts and the whole team stayed on for dinner.

The courts are terrific, especially when one considers the amount of rain over recent times. For the majority of the day, the weather was okay but we did have a delay after the doubles as there was significant surface water on courts 1,2 and 3. The other clubs hosting the ISS teams also had delays. The members worked hard and borrowed two super soakers to take up as much water as possible.

Competition throughout the day was tight. Western Australia gained an early ascendancy but New South Wales fought back strongly over the last rotation. Joyce and Judith both showed great resolve and managed to win the crucial games to get us over the line. It was a great team effort.

Full results on Croquetscores

The days are quite long. Pick ups just before 7am, usually a 15 minute drive with Jack Brabham, unpack the gear, a quick hit up, followed by a morning briefing and then 3 rounds of best of two.

After a big day, some of us like to have a quiet drink while others make themselves comfortable and catch up on the world.

In perhaps a first today, one game was held up for at least 10 minutes when a ball from court 3 managed to escape the grounds by jumping over a fence. Thank goodness the neighbour’s pool had a cover otherwise the retrieval would have been even more difficult. No prizes for guessing whose red ball it was.