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It’s fair to say, Ember Croquet has been traditionally an Association Croquet (AC) club. That’s the version of the game where if one player gets going (like snooker) (s)he can run all the hoops, and the only thing the other players can do is watch and applaud.

In Golf Croquet (GC), four people can be on the lawn all of the time, taking turns to take one shot each. It is just like golf, but without the rough grass and bunkers. Compared to AC, GC is simpler to understand and quicker to pick up and play, but no less tactical and brain-teasing.

We welcome all guests to come along, no pressure to join the club, just give it a go. A fiver well spent, and if you get the Croquet bug, then we are just the club for you.

Meanwhile, we are booked in to a GC competition this year against other clubs in the area, plus we visit Wimbledon Croquet & Tennis Club soon, so we better hone our skills.

…  some levelling along the East boundary

Diary dates, in line with the Government’s current road map:

Step 1 – 29^th March

Monday 29^th March:  the lawns will be open for play

Tuesday 30^th March from 4pm:  first roll-up of the season

Thursday 1^st April from 2pm:  first GC roll-up of the season

Sunday 4^th April (Easter Day) from 2pm:  first Sunday roll-up of the season (no tea though)

Step 2 – 12^th April

Sunday 18^th April from 2pm:  first Sunday roll-up with tea

Sunday 25^th April – 10.30am to 1.00pm: outside group booking

Step 3 – 17^th May

Sunday Barbeques:

23^th May

27^th June (note change of date)

18^th July

15^th August

19^th September

Friendly match at AELTC Wimbledon: Saturday 17th July

The Mike Lambert Annual Memorial match v Surbiton: tba

Plus the usual roll-ups every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday

SECF ‘B’ league and GC handicap league matches: TBA

Step by step …

…  we’re getting there.  The lawns are open for play from Monday 29^th March.  Please use the online system in the croquet members area of the ESC website to book.  Our start of season social will be a step by step affair, with the Sunday roll-up on 18^th April being stage 1 (with tea); and 23^rd May being stage 2 (with BBQ, allbeingwell!).  Do come along to one, other, or both if you can, so that we can then map out the internal competitions, matches, rotas and so on for the rest of the year.

New system for membership renewal

You will recently have received information via email from Nick Burges about the new ESC membership renewal system.  Hopefully, the process will be straightforward in practice.  Should you have any difficulty with it, please do not hesitate to ask for help and, certainly, do not let it stop you playing!  The health benefits from croquet, especially after the extraordinary past twelve months, are still here, and this is recognised by the generous support from Sport England / National Lottery, enabling the croquet club to enhance its facilities, keep us all Covid safe, and encourage members to return to playing.  Bring your friends, too, and we’ll soon reach that target of fifty people coming along this season, ref my email of 21 March.  For now, up to four players are permitted on the small lawn; and up to six on the main lawn, or eight when divided to make it into two small lawns.  Indeed, we already have a booking which will use this format.

Child Safeguarding

New CA policies mean that there will soon be a requirement for every club to appoint a Local Safeguarding Officer, irrespective whether clubs have junior members or activities, or not.  We shall therefore be looking for a volunteer for this role.  See the links, below, for more information. 

Child Safeguarding Roles (croquet.org.uk)

Child Safeguarding Policy (croquet.org.uk)

If this may be something for you, or you know someone who’d be interested, do, please, contact me.

South East Croquet Federation / Croquet Association tournaments and courses 2021

Let David know, please, if you are interested in being available (i.e. in general, appreciating that holidays and other commitments may rule out availability on some days) to represent the club in AC or GC competitions, or both  –  contact croquet@embersportsclub.org.uk or on 01932 862 841).  We have a trophy to defend!

Lawn and facilities maintenance

Work on the lawn has continued mostly as planned.  The bore hole water pump is primed and on, and an isolation valve has been installed in the North East corner (thanks to Roger S and Steve, and to Roger D for guidance provided remotely).  The hoops will be left in place on the lawns, like we did last year.  The lines, initially, will be marked with 1mm white nylon cord to give the repaired corners and boundaries a little more time to recover over the Spring. Pat has done an excellent job of creating a storage shelf for shed 4; and a border frame for the noticeboard in the summerhouse end of the pavilion, which Steve has now turned into a mural

The mowing rota for April is shown on the lawn booking system. Tuesdays and Friday mornings, as usual, but with some latitude to be expected depending on weather conditions and relative slow or fast rate of growth of the grass.  The white nylon line cord will need to be lifted and moved before mowing.  It is suggested that this is done in two halves, so that one half stays in place while the other half is mown, and so on, rather than moving all the cord at once. 

Recruitment

All ideas are welcome, so do let me know any thoughts you have, and do spread the word with neighbours, acquaintances, and groups whenever the opportunity presents.  You should all have received an ESC disc for your car window.  The idea behind this is that, with the club having no road frontage as such, the disc is a way of making the club more visible, locally.  Steve, meanwhile, is leading on developing our use of social media for raising the club’s profile.  He welcomes a regular supply of content from members: good photos, short texts, and ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ of our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts, both of the Croquet Club and ESC.

Ember Croquet Club (@ember_croquet_club) • Instagram photos and videos

Ember Croquet Club – Home (facebook.com)

Keep well, stay safe, see you soon

Simon

Both lawns are ready for play. Our first rollup is on Tuesday 30th March from 4pm. Feel free to book a lawn.