USCA's Croquet News: 2014 Volume 3 Edition

The USCA's Croquet News Volume 3 for 2014 went to press just prior to the holidays and is hopefully mailing this week. If you would like to enjoy a sneak preview, you can now access a PDF of this issue in the member's section of the USCA website along with back issues all the way back to 2007.

USCA Croquet News 2014, Volume 3This issue is overloaded as we’ve squeezed in features on Nine Wicket Nationals, USCA Nationals, Seniors Masters, GC Nationals and Selection Eights. We are excited to bring back feature level coverage to the Eights, which many players consider to be our premier event. And with Nine Wicket Nationals taking a quantum leap by hosting the 2014 edition at the historic Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, we are excited to provide an in-depth report on the growing success of the newest USCA championship series.

We have also launched a new Committee Guest Column and Club Profile department. The guest column this issue is from Cheryl Bromley on the Golf Croquet Committee. Going forward we will rotate the column each issue to include all of the key USCA committees. Our goal is to give members a view into the overall progress of the USCA across all sectors of the organization. Our club profile features the New York Croquet Club in this issue and again, we'll continue to explore new clubs in future editions.

Unfortunately, the sport lost a few key figures this fall. Ted Prentis and Jeff Soo have written wonderful tributes to John Solomon and Mack Penwell that are essential reading for all American croquet players. Beyond just recognizing Solomon and Penwell, both pieces provide valuable insight into the history of croquet in the US.

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Morning Coffee: Fletcher Wins Fourth Australian Open

AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Robert Fletcher claimed his fourth straight Australian Open singles title with a 3-0 win over Kevin Beard (26tp-0, 26tpo-14, 26tpo-13) at the Victorian Croquet Centre, Cairnlea, Victoria. The event was held November 18-23 and Fletcher went 14-0 and is the world number one AC player with a 2787 dynamic grade and a 71-9 record for 2014. Full bracket.

HANEKOM INTERVIEW: CWO has an extended interview with new Women's GC World Champion Judith Hanekom. Excerpt:

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Morning Coffee: South Africa Rules GC

HANEKOM WINS WOMENS GCWC: Judith Hanekom from South Africa took down New Zealand's Jenny Clarke 7-3, 4-7, 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 to become the fifth holder of the WCF Women's Golf Croquet World Championship. The event played out the over the past week in Cairo, Egypt.

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Morning Coffee: CWO Interviews Soo

CWO INTERVIEWS JEFF SOO: An extended interview with American legend Jeff Soo has been posted on the the Croquet World Online site. Lots of good stuff. Here's an excerpt before you jump in:

Golf Croquet is a boon, nothing mixed about it. The health of croquet isn't measured by how many dues-paying members there are, but how much croquet is being played. Golf Croquet has a much broader appeal than Association Croquet or American rules. Maybe if the USCA put more work into the development Golf Croquet events we'd get more members. Right now there's very little on the calendar.

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Morning Coffee: World GC Qualifier

The WCF has space is available in the 2015 Golf Croquet World Championship Qualifying Tournament for USCA players.  If you are interested in playing, please contact Eric Sawyer ecsccs@sbcglobal.net or Martin Selman martynselman@yahoo.com before December 7,

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2015 Solomon Trophy Set for North Carolina

The Pinehurst Croquet Club in North Carolina will host the 2015 Solomon Trophy test between the United States and England/GB May 8-11, 2015. England/GB leads the series 19-2 and has a two-test streak in progress. The US team took wins in 2009 and 2011, but the England/GB team roared back with 13-8 and 17-4 victories in 2012 and 2013.
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Jeff Soo Chasing Number Six

Jeff Soo certainly has his name all over the USCA Champion's page. In fact, he currently holds five National American Rules titles in both singles (2013, 2008, 2005, 2002, 2000) and doubles (2013, 2008, 2002, 2001, 1999). When the balls roll out for the 2014 USCA American Rules Croquet National Championships to be held October 5-11 at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, Soo will be on the cusp of an unprecedented achievement in US croquet.
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Morning Coffee: USCA 9W Nationals Primer

The USCA returns to Kansas City today to host the 2014 Nine Wicket National Championship at Liberty Memorial. It is arguably the most visible setting the sport has enjoyed since the days of Wimbledon. I suppose there is Central Park, but even those courts are sort of hidden away. Players will be in wide-open view near the Memorial and the National WWI Museum which all rests at the southern part of downtown Kansas City.
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