Welcome to the Edinburgh Croquet Club
Croquet is a game of strategy, tactics and skill.
The Edinburgh Croquet club is based in the magnificent surroundings of Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh with the lawns having a fabulous outlook over the waters of the Firth of Forth.
On this site you'll
find information about our activities and facilities, along with details of how you can participate in this unique sport.
We hope you will find all of the information you are looking for about our club.
|
Upcoming Events
The 2013 Season started on 13th April 2013
Beginners' Course
starts on 4th May
|
Beginners' Course 2013
There are a few places left for the Beginners'
Course starting on Saturday 4th May 2013. Just come along to Lauriston Castle at 10:30am and you will be made very welcome.
Further details of the course can be found on the "Try Croquet" Page. One of last year's participants
(Alex Lamley) has written this outline of his own experience last year:
I signed up to the beginner's
course last year after seeing it advertised in the Stockbridge Spotlight. To be honest I thought it was just an afternoon
taster and was amazed when I found I was getting 6 weekends for my £20!
I had never been up to Lauriston until my first attendance
at the ECC. I arrived to find a stunning location and a good turn out of club members both benefitting that morning from beautiful
weather. Allan Hawke introduced himself and took us all through the basic ways of holding the croquet mallet. We where soon
hitting balls towards hoops and had members moving between new players chatting and offering guidance. It was a great way
to meet new players and club members and to get to grips with the first few principles of how to hit the ball. If I learned
anything on Day 1 it was never to assume anything is as easy as Allan makes it look! The variety
of styles used to play a multitude of different shots became apparent fairly quickly and I very much enjoyed the serenity
that came from practising each shot until I got the desired effect. Having been made to feel so welcome on my first visit to the club lawns and having come away feeling
so much more relaxed after a busy working week I was keen to attend the second session on the following weekend. In fact,
from Day 1 onwards I was keen to make all of the weekend practice sessions. After the beginners had settled into the swing
of things playing golf croquet Allan introduced the group to Association rules. This opened a whole new set of reasons to
get into croquet for me. Where Golf croquet provides a cheerful competitive
game to play with friends Association offers a complex game of strategy more akin to billiards or snooker. Now I found myself
being drawn out of my meditative absent mindedness while other were playing shots and drawn into watching the more experienced
Association players setting up balls for three or four moves ahead. And so from there I have found myself admiring those players
able to play the game laid out in their minds eye and to execute the shots needed to get them there. While I certainly feel
I progressed each and every week under the tutelage of the other club members
and was brave enough to enter some of the competitions over the summer following the beginners course. For anyone thinking about whether to come along to the beginners course I would urge you to at least
give it a try. The club is very collegiate, inclusive and most importantly friendly. I have found croquet to be a great game
for meeting new people and for engaging play. Whether you want a game of fun with friends or something more competitive and
strategic it is a game that can be enjoyed on many levels by all ages.
Ian Wright Inducted
into the World Croquet Federation Hall of Fame
In August 2012 our President, Ian Wright, was inaugurated into the World Croquet Federation Hall of Fame.
His citation reads:
Ian
Howard Wright Ian Howard
Wright was one of Scotland's top players at his peak, and the most influential of the pioneers that helped the formation
of the Scottish Croquet Association in 1974. As croquet in Scotland expanded after the CA Centenary in 1967, Ian was
one of the prime movers in the setting-up of the Scottish Croquet Committee as part of the Croquet Association. This organised
competitive croquet in Scotland, from whose numbers the next three "All-England" winners came, and included setting
up the Edinburgh Week Tournament in 1969, which has been run annually during the Edinburgh Festival since 1972. When
it became apparent that the Scottish Sports Council (now sportScotland) would support sports only with autonomous National
Governing Bodies, Ian used his contacts and influence in the CA to initiate the amicable secession of the Scottish Croquet
Committee and its rebirth as the independent Scottish Croquet Association. He was also a key figure in getting the 1974 New
Zealand MacRobertson Shield team to play a warm-up match against Scotland, an event which further stimulated Scottish competitive
croquet. While Ian did not do all of this alone, he has continued to be involved with Scottish croquet for 45 years and, particularly
in the East of Scotland, he has been known as the "Father of Scottish Croquet". Ian was awarded SCA Life Membership
in November 2011 as recognition of his contributions to Scottish Croquet. These contributions, in turn, have furthered the
WCFs objectives, and therefore the Scottish Croquet Association nominated Ian for the WCF Hall of Fame.
News from 2012 Season
Beginners' Course and Lauriston
Ells
22 people enrolled for the beginners' course starting on 5th May. By the end of Week
3 some had decided to concentrate on Golf Croquet while others preferred Association Croquet. At
the end of the course the traditional Ells competition was held for the course members and this was won by Alex Lamley (Association
Croquet) and Yvonne Gilbert (Golf Croquet).
12 people joined the club after the course and 10 of these submitted
Evaluation Forms.
Comments included:
"All the coaches and regular members
are brilliant – friendly, helpful, encouraging, and a fine example to a lot of other organisations which could learn
much from ECC."
"It’s
also good to do something outdoors without all that running and jumping nonsense… and what a setting.... One of my
favourite places in Edinburgh."
"I thought the
level of tuition was absolutely amazing, the general instructions were always helpful and to the point, and I got a lot of
support from the club members who came to help."
Fun Doubles
After some challenging conditions in the early part of our Scottish "summer"
the weather was quite good for the Fun Doubles held on 14th July, with hardly any rain and some sunshine. The Harold
Wright Rosebowls were contested by six pairs of players. The winners - and the only pair to peg out - were
Andrew Macmillan and Robert Drummond. Congratulations to them!
Short Croquet Tournament
There were six enthusiastic entrants for this year's tournament held on
Sunday 15th July. Hamish Duguid eventually defeated Andrew MacMillan in the deciding round to deny Andrew
his second trophy in as many days. The handicaps ranged from 8 to 28, with the higher handicap players giving an excellent
account of themselves, despite their relative lack of experience.
Stuart McKendrick Trophy
The Stuart McKendrick Trophy, for
members of both the Edinburgh Club and Meadows Club, was held at Lauriston Castle on 29
July 2012 in some of the best weather in July. Unfortunately, this only meant that
it didn't rain very much, patches of blue sky could be glimpsed on a few occasions, and there were periods when it was
almost, but not quite, warm enough to play in just a T shirt.The winner was Vivien Wightman,
one point ahead of Robert Inder and John Graham and 2 points ahead of Jackie Shannon and Frances Dunn.
Edinburgh Tournament
The winners of each event in this year's tournament were as follows:
Edinburgh Midweek Tournament
The one day Edinburgh Midweek Tournament was won by Alistair Malcolm from Kinross. Andrew Milligan
from our club came a very close second, only one point behind. Christine Frayling-Kelly and Alex Lamley are to be congratulated
on entering their very first association tournament, Christine winning her first competitive game. A healthy entry of
8 players overall was the best for some years.
Teapot Challenge
The annual golf croquet challenge match with Meadows
Croquet Club was held on 2nd September. Although we lost the match we had an excellent afternoon in the subshine
followed by a splendid tea courtesy of the Meadows Club!
Chairman's Rosebowl and Malmet Trophy
These competitions for the best
players in Scotland were held at Meadows Croquet Club from 15th to 17th September.
Campbell Morrison
was 4th in the Chairman's Rosebowl with Alan Wilson coming 6th. Fergus McInnes won the Malmet Trophy with Janice
and Hamish Duguid coming joint 4th.
Most
Improved Player
Robert Drummond has been awarded the Adam Plate for most improved player of
2012. Robert is pictured below (right) being presented with the trophy by Allan Hawke.
Unfortunately
Robert will be moving away from Edinburgh but we hope he will continue with his interest in croquet and that he will benefit
from what he has learned so far.
|
