Younger players are setting a new tone for elite level Association Croquet with a special exhibition game open to visitors and press at noon on Friday, April 15, 2016, at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Some, like 17-year-old football player Matthew Essick from North Carolina, grew up in croquet families. Others, including the two teenagers from New Zealand, learned croquet at secondary schools in a program sponsored and run by the country's national croquet organization. They are in West Palm Beach to compete at the WCF World Assocation Croquet Championship next week and will go up against a field of 80 players from 13 different countries.
The youth exhibition will welcome all players to West Palm Beach and as they mentally prepare for a rigorous nine-day trial that will end on April 24, when the top two survivors from the field of 80 will face each other at the NCC in the final match.
USCA president Johnny Mitchell will introduce the youth exhibition game, and some of the most experienced coaches and referees in the world will do a play-by-play to describe the action in a three-hoop contest between American Matthew Essick and New Zealander Felix Webby.
For more information on the youth exhibition or the World Championship, contact the USCA at 561-478-0760.