This month I thought it would be a good idea to discuss the evolving mission of croquetnetwork.com. In one sense it can be summed up pretty easily, I couldn't find another full-time croquet blog out there, so I thought I'd jump in. Of course, a primary focus is to cover news that comes up in a timely fashion. Frankly, there are not a lot of sources out there for croquet news (best sites listed in the right column), which I suppose is both good and bad. The good is that it validates the need for a good croquet blog. The bad is that it's difficult to find information.

Below the main stories on this site, you'll find a consolidated news feed that tracks this site, my club site (pbrtour.net) and another community site that I also built -- kccroquet.com. There is also a feed for the NYCC blog in there, but it hasn't seen too many updates over the winter.

So, beyond the internet news bits and tourney results, I've decided to approach this from a monthly magazine perspective. This "First Shot" column will be a monthly feature that will act like a publisher's letter to kick off each series. I've also targeted a product review, a skills article, a tournament calendar and interview as re-ocurring monthly departments. I'll also throw in at least one video per month and a photo of the month. Those are the goals, but keep in mind this is a one-man show.

Speaking of which, I'll get into my personal croquet story more in the future, but just so you have a base knowledge -- I've been playing backyard croquet since 1998 with a private little social club that hosts a tournament series in the Kansas City area. I usually play one tournament per year on the Missouri Croquet Association circuit. This year I plan to get into a six-wicket game even if it has to happen in my backyard. I'm also hosting the first team nine-wicket event that our club has ever had.

In other words, I've got a little experience around the game but in no way am I a six-wicket pro or do I have deep connections with the established croquet associations. I'm learning as I go and I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully, I can provide some good information and entertainment for the croquet lovers out there.

A final note this month -- the ads you see for T-shirts (or other products) on the site are my creation and do help fund my efforts here. I'll say it straight up -- I'm not here to make a buck, but I'd love to sell 20,000 shirts and focus on this site full-time. The mission laid out above is pretty modest, but I'd like to see some success because I really enjoy this sport and I can envision a lot of ways to expand this site and I see a bright future for the game. So if you like the site and the shirt or other products, jump right in -- it's good for the overall mission.

Sincerely,
Dylan, Publisher -- Croquet Network