CROQUET NEWS:  Croquet OK, Says World Champ

13 April 2010
Killara Croquet Club, Killara, New South Wales, AU
story by Julie Huffer in North Shore Times, Sydney, New South Wales, AU
photo by Simon Chillingworth in North Shore Times, Sydney, New South Wales, AU

CHALLENGE: Alix Verge (front), Rosie Graham and Alison Sharpe.

ASK world champion Alix Verge what she most enjoys about croquet and her response is unambiguous: “winning”.

She is world champion in women’s golf croquet and a member of the NSW team that recently won the national championships — the Eire Cup — for association croquet.

Golf croquet is played with two balls [sic], association with four.

Catching up with teammates Rosie Graham and Alison Sharpe at Killara Croquet Club days after their nationals victory, Verge said they were excited to have won the national competition for the second time.

An eight-member NSW mixed team last won the cup — a gift from Ireland — in 2007. The win marked the end of a 27-year battle to secure the trophy.

The women are among a growing number of younger people drawn to the sport after being forced out of high impact activities due to injuries or simply because they sought a new challenge.

“I needed to stop playing golf and tennis because of arthritis and I’m a much better croquet player than I ever was a golfer,” Verge said.

“This is a low-impact sport that relies on tactical techniques rather than strength and can be played by anyone in any physical condition.”

She said people with eccentricities were often drawn to the sport and that a high proportion of players hailed from scientific fields.

“There are a lot of engineers and actuaries, although we do have a chocolate salesman and former mayor of London among us,” she said.

Introduced to croquet through friends, Graham said she found it “an absolute hoot”.

It was inexpensive to join, lessons often were free and participants were mentored by the more experienced.

Sharpe said the sport, in which women outnumber men three to one, was a “challenge for the mind” that also provided opportunity for new friendships and travel.