Croquet Victoria Season Opening Wednesday 30 July 2025 
Thank you to the fifty players who attended today at the Victorian Croquet Centre and enjoyed participating in games with players from different regions. Particular thanks to Geelong- (Drysdale, Queenscliff, Eastern Park) Ringwood and Ballarat who all had multiple members in attendance. Many other clubs were represented and it was lovely to see some new faces.
Croquet Victoria was honored to have Brian Reither from Ballarat Alexandra Club run the first hoop of the season.
Brian has an extensive history with Croquet Victoria and was made a Life Member to Croquet Victoria in 2015. Brian managed VCC tournaments in both Association and Golf croquet which included World Croquet Events, Croquet Australia Events and Victorian Events. Brian gained his accreditation as both a GC and AC referee, along with coaching certification. He has also served on many committees over many years, including Tournament and Fixture Chairman for Croquet Victoria. Today Brian provides ongoing support to players and committees. The knowledge and experience he gained over the many years from 1999 when he began his croquet journey is invaluable in the promotion and improvement of our game. His support to Croquet Victoria has continued and today Brian still remains involved assisting as mentor to Tournament managers and managing tournaments for his Region and Club in Ballarat.
All attendees enjoyed a light lunch post “running of the 1st hoop of the season” and had a chance to sit down and meet new players from the various represented clubs. Brian Reither paid tribute to Tony Hall OAM, who died last week. The lunch break began with a minute's silence in memory of Tony.
This social interaction was lovely to see and we hope more players may participate next year.
Special thanks must go to those player’s who attended and also assisted with the court set up and hoop removal and to Heather Dawn who assisted with kitchen duties. This assistance is invaluable and I thank everyone sincerely for their effort to make this a social and fun day. It is the players that make these days so much fun!!!- Thankyou all.
Janet Dickinson
