Did you know that croquet involves the use of a wooden stick or mallet, hitting a plastic ball through hoops lodged into a grass court?
One can bet you do. In fact, one can also assume that by the sounds of what the sport involves, you think you can take a swing at it. Only, you are yet to make way to a court. Local resident Meiert Grootes, who has played the sport for about 18 years and is part of the Marks Park Croquet Club, hopes to inspire you to change all that.
The paper met with croquet players on one recent Tuesday morning when club members, along with invited guests from Rose Village, spent some time playing a casual game together. After he was done with his game, he shared that croquet had been at the Emmarentia-based sports club for about seven years, after moving from Zoo Lake Bowls Club.
Grootes reckons that anyone, young or old, should take part in the sport because it is fun, “In every game you get a different situation, and the rules can be strict when you are playing seriously.” Though the game is a mind sport, one has to be physically fit, to take part in the game. He described croquet as a sport that is played outside, and is a mixture of chess for strategy, and billiards for angles.
The club also boasts national croquet players who are eager to train those interested in the sport. Ideally, the club would want to have a whole lot more players sign up. As like with lawn bowls, many tend to think that this is an old man’s sport. For him, this sport is for anyone, at any age, who is willing to take up a new sport and learn something new.
Grootes does fear that more popular sports making their way to the club will most likely see them get marginalised as croquet, for now, has not generated as much revenue like other mainstream sports.
Details: Meiert Grootes 083 574 4245.
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