2019-12-28

Keenly contested Vic AC Doubles

The Victorian Open Doubles Championship was keenly contested at Cairnlea on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 December. 

A smaller than usual entry (not surprising with a number of players electing not to come to Cairnlea twice in such a short time with the World Championships coming up!), but the contest was close and some excellent croquet was displayed by the players.

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2019-12-24

Club Public Liability Insurance Certificates are now available for download from the website.

If your club participates in the ACA insurance scheme, you can get a copy of your certificate by following the instructions.

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Welcome to Croquet in 2020 

New Year’s Day was the final day of the Victorian Association Croquet Championships.

We had everything – extreme heat being the most significant event.  Play was suspended on Monday due to the oppressive conditions.  This put pressure on the schedule for the event but the players’ co-operation to start early and finish late on subsequent days was much appreciated.

There was a smaller entry than in recent years.  As I commented on the doubles, many players were unable to commit two trips to Cairnlea in close proximity with the World Championships being their main focus. 

But for the fifteen players who did play it was a most rewarding experience.  And we welcomed two players to their first Open Championship – Andrew Wootton (Brunswick) and Lachlan Berryman (Ringwood).  Both players are returning to our sport after an extended absence.   We look forward to seeing both players at more events.

The blocks went pretty well according to rankings and eight players progressed to the quarter finals.  Kevin Beard (Yarrawonga), Chris Grant (Ringwood), Callum Hyland (Tasmania) and Ron McBride (SA) won their matches and moved to the semi-finals.  Kevin beat Chris is a marathon best of three match which ended late on Tuesday evening.  Simon had beaten Ron in straight games and Kevin and Simon moved to the final.  In two tight games which went to time (3 hours for the first game, and 2.5 hours for the second) Simon won with scores of 22/21 and 21/17.  While these were not really typical final type games they were close and very hard-fought. 

Congratulations to Simon.  This was the first time Simon has won the title.  Kevin was runner-up with Chris Grant finishing third ahead of Ron McBride.

Our thanks (again) to the referees - Brian Foley, Mike Cohn, Marie Calthorpe, Eric O’Donnell and Kate Patrick – who are an important part of the event.  We greatly appreciate their commitment to our sport.  Refereeing is a tiring and taxing part of our game.

In terms of major events all attention now turns to the World Championships at Cairnlea in February.  A wonderful opportunity for all sport lovers to see the very best exponents of this great and challenging game.  We wish all our Victorian entrants the very best in the event.

John Grieve
Tournament Manager

All results are on Croquetscores.

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2019-12-16

Under 21s win scholarships to Geraldton

Croquet Victoria Council has awarded two under 21 players scholarships of up to $1000, to help them attend the Croquet Australia Under 21 championships in Geraldton, WA, later this month.

The recipients are Felix Gelman-White, of Williamstown, and James Wombwell, of Casterton.

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2019-07-01

Croquet Victoria wins two government grants

Croquet Victoria has been doubly successful in the 2019 round of the Victorian Government Together More Active program.

We have received two grants: a Foundation grant of $20,000 a year for four years; and a Project grant of $20,000 over two years for a Player Development Project.

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