This summary highlights events and status of The Springs Croquet Club (TSCC) in 2022. The primary Club goal of finding more opportunities to play and enjoy croquet has not changed. We still try to open and be available to play three times a week, weather permitting. Those times are: 1 PM Sunday, 1 PM Tuesday and 10 AM Thursday In 2022 we had over 475 player visits by club members compared to 425 such member visits in 2021. That means that over 1000 games were played at The Springs. In 2022, during scheduled play and special events at TSCC, there were 113 visitor-players, many of whom are from the nearby neighborhoods. We have five new members. The total membership is seventeen. A reasonable goal would be to increase the active membership until we have croquet being played at The Springs every day. To make use easier for all players we will request that Henrico Recreation and Parks find a system that allows access to the croquet equipment for all members while maintaining security of the equipment. The best way to increase our number of active members is to continue inviting visitors to try their hand at the game. Members may use the red loose leaf binder in the equipment room to record the contact information of prospective players. Also, in the same binder there are Club business cards with our contact information that can be given to interested players. A supply of these cards are also made available to the personnel in The Springs Recreation Center. TSCC assists the Henrico Recreation and Parks (HCRP) by introducing new players to the sport and by offering free instruction. The Club participated in Spring Bash sponsored by HCRP, which highlighted the recreational features of The Springs Recreation Center (TSRC), in April 2022. USCA (United States Croquet Association) National Croquet Day is another similar annual outreach event designed to stimulate interest in croquet. Save the date! In 2023 it will be Saturday, June 3, 2023. Hopefully, we will once again attract neighbors from around the recreation center. In 2022 our efforts were recognized by the USCA by awarding a certificate of recognition for community involvement to The Springs Croquet Club. As last year, plans for the event will be worked on with our County partners in the coming months; I think we can design an event that will entertain both newcomers and experienced players. Please pass along your ideas for this croquet celebration. So, save the date, and plan to join in and help out on Saturday, June 3, 2023. The Club web site: https://thespringscroquetclub.weebly.com has been a valuable resource for potential players who want to learn more about our Club. If you have ideas for web site content pass them along. When members compete in tournaments around the country the Club becomes more well known. Several croquet enthusiasts have become aware of the Club by meeting TSCC competitors at these tournaments. In 2022 seven members of The Springs competed in 25 tournament competitions. These events were far flung. They extended from New England to the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida and from the Chesapeake Bay to Mission Hills, California. Thanks to all who traveled and helped build the Club's visibility. In an effort to make the court faster we have encouraged the County turf managers to cut the lawn as closely as they can. In addition, we requested and received a new set of balls; these "Competition" balls are livelier and effectively make the lawn play faster. This should help all players, especially beginners, extend their range in attempting long distance shots. Club member-volunteers have maintained mallets in need of minor repairs and have painted wickets. These efforts have not been costly but thorough prep and painting of wickets requires a lot of time twice a year. Hopefully, we can get help from Henrico County in periodically painting wickets. Club members have helped improve the appearance of the court surroundings by planting flowers at the top edge of the bank. Minimal Club expenditures and the addition of new member dues have led to a modest increased balance of Club funds. We are grateful for the continued support of members who still contribute but have not been able to use the facility.
The Club monitors the croquet equipment closely and does an inventory of all the items kept in the equipment closet two times a year. These responsibilities are gladly accepted by the Club. We are grateful for the use of this facility and thankful for our County associates who make it possible. Plan to get in on the fun at The Springs throughout 2023. You never know what may show up!
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The Springs Croquet Club was represented for the second year in a row at the 2022 USCA Golf Croquet Club Teams Tournament held in December 2022 at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Recently, club players were treated to experience a club member's meticulously restored 1948 Lincoln Continental. An elegant complement to the day's competition.
Samuel Goldwyn of Hollywood fame with countless achievements. Averell Harriman, American politician and diplomat. Moss Hart, American playwright and theatre director. Harpo Marx, comedian, actor, and mime artist. Herbert Bayard Swope, multiple Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who coined the phrase “Cold War.” Darryl Zanuck, Academy Award winning film producer (20th Century Fox). Howard Hawks, legendary film director, producer and screenwriter. George Sanders, notable actor who, among many great roles, voiced Shere Khan in Disney’s classic The Jungle Book (1967) (and, incidentally, was married, at different times, to both Zsa Zsa Gabor and her sister Magda Gabor).
What do these folks have in common? From the literati to the glitterati, they are members of the Croquet Hall of Fame. While not in the Hall of Fame, even Princess Diana swung a croquet mallet (maybe at Charles, but you didn’t hear it from me). Sean “P. Diddy” Combs celebrated his induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with an extravagant croquet party in Beverly Hills. Pippa Middleton published her guide to croquet in Vanity Fair. One of the first sports that allowed men and women to play on equal terms, croquet surged in popularity in Victorian England, and in 1868 the All England Croquet Club (Wimbledon) was founded. The dimensions of tennis courts come from those used for croquet (tennis court is ½ of an original croquet court). The sport epitomizes equality of the sexes, and it was a co-ed Olympic sport at the Paris games in 1900. (It did not endure as an Olympic sport for lack of easy spectator following, but that was before TV—think, World Series of Poker.) In 1898, Living Age magazine described the game as a “source of slumbering depravity, a veritable Frankenstein monster of recreation.” The author suggested that “it would be well if the enthusiasm of the clergy and laity were enlisted for suppressing the immoral practice of croquet.” In other words, this presented too much opportunity for socializing between the genders. Despite this historical concern, the sport lends itself to social distancing, with minimal risk to infectious particles. Mallets are not shared, and balls are moved with mallets. The Springs Croquet Club would like to host whomever is interested in joining us at this refined sport at the croquet greensward at the Springs Recreation Center in Highland Springs. 302 Lee Avenue, Highland Springs. This is not your grandparents’ nine wicket backyard gig, but you needn’t have ever played before. The sports played here are American Six Wicket and Golf Croquet, with one center peg. This game is played on a well-manicured greensward maintained by Henrico County Recreation & Parks, with solid steel wickets (hoops) firmly embedded in the ground. Croquet has the precision of golf, the strategy of chess, and the angles of billiards. But don’t be dissuaded. Equipment is provided. While white attire is traditional, it is not required. |