Summer Obscure Sports: Croquet

I remember once going to Jekyll Island, Georgia to the big hotel on the island.  In the front lawn was a neatly, manicured area where people were playing croquet.  That was the first time I had seen a real croquet field.  It look very fancy and the players weren't even breaking into a sweat playing the game.

The game of croquet originated with hitting balls through hoops can be traced back to 14th century France. There, peasants fashioned hoops from willow branches and used shepherds crooks to hit the balls. It showed up again in 17th century Ireland where a British toy maker saw it being played.

Croquet is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls through hoops or wickets imbedded in the grass.  You can read more about the rules of croquet here.  

Most people view croquet as a backyard recreational game; however, there are about 200 croquet clubs across the United States are members of the United States Croquet Association which is the official governing body of the sport in the United States.  The World Croquet Federation is the international organization.  

Croquet can be played as a team sport or individually. However, many players prefer the individual play in croquet called singles. Team play croquet is usually referred to as doubles because there are typically two players per team. The players work together to advance the balls around the court first.

Croquet is not played in the Olympics or as an Olympic sport anymore. However, croquet did feature in the 1900 Olympics in Paris, and was the first year in the Olympics that allowed women to participate. France won all medals for the individual competition and the gold in the doubles for croquet.

There are also different variations played in croquet such as:

• Association Croquet 
• Golf Croquet 
• Short Croquet 
• Two-ball Croquet 
• U.S. Six-wicket Croquet 
• U.S. Nine-wicket Croquet 
• Garden Croquet 
• Extreme Croquet 
• Ancient Croquet

The world's top ranked player is Bill Arliss (England) and the top women's player is Samantha Thompson (England).  The highest ranked U.S. player is Bobby Greene.  

Approximately 10,000 people play croquet in the United States and Canada.