One of the quietly growing segments for the sport of croquet on the internet is YouTube. The traffic is still minor compared to the crazy videos that will notch views in the millions, but the overall segment of YouTube channels that Croquet Network tracks has grown from 12 to 18 since the start of 2014. And the total views for that group has gone from 434,000 to 603,000 during the same timeframe.
Read MoreCMOZ: World of Wickets
Your Croquet Moment of Zen for January 2015:
2015 Solomon: Tale of the Tape (Early Look)
Today, we'll take an early look at how Team USA and Great Britain stack up for the 2015 Solomon Trophy test coming up in May in North Carolina. Some notes are below, but here is how it breaks down:
Read MoreCroquet Poll: 2014 US Player of the Year
With Jeff Soo and Ben Rothman battling to a tie with three US national titles each in 2014, we thought we would start the year off by letting the readers vote in the first annual Croquet Network US Player of the Year Poll to get the people's choice. We're also including any player that gained a USCA national title in 2014 along with some of the top finishers in the 2014 USCA Grand Prix, so you have plenty of options to vote for the best performance:
Read MoreMorning Coffee: Soo Claims 2014 Grand Prix
TIGHT GP RACE FOR 2014: With 2014 in the books, that brings another USCA Grand Prix to a close. The standings show that Jeff Soo edged out Ben Rothman with 22,225 points to Rothman's 19,515. Based on Rothman's three national titles (USCA Singles, GC Singles and GC Doubles) versus Soo's two titles (AC Singles and USCA Doubles), it could again spell controversy for the USCA which uses the Grand Prix to select the USCA Player of the Year.
Read More2014 Best of Croquet Network
As we roll in the New Year, let's take a look back at 2014 with the most popular lists for Croquet Network. All four of the lists below, rank the most viewed pages on both the Croquet Network news site and the community/forum site. It is no surprise the 2014 Mallet Poll topped the list for 2014 posts. That poll officially closed on December 31 and I will be going to work on a follow-up post with links and info for all of the top finishers.
Read MoreUSCA's Croquet News: 2014 Volume 3 Edition
The USCA's Croquet News Volume 3 for 2014 went to press just prior to the holidays and is hopefully mailing this week. If you would like to enjoy a sneak preview, you can now access a PDF of this issue in the member's section of the USCA website along with back issues all the way back to 2007.
USCA Croquet News 2014, Volume 3This issue is overloaded as we’ve squeezed in features on Nine Wicket Nationals, USCA Nationals, Seniors Masters, GC Nationals and Selection Eights. We are excited to bring back feature level coverage to the Eights, which many players consider to be our premier event. And with Nine Wicket Nationals taking a quantum leap by hosting the 2014 edition at the historic Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, we are excited to provide an in-depth report on the growing success of the newest USCA championship series.
We have also launched a new Committee Guest Column and Club Profile department. The guest column this issue is from Cheryl Bromley on the Golf Croquet Committee. Going forward we will rotate the column each issue to include all of the key USCA committees. Our goal is to give members a view into the overall progress of the USCA across all sectors of the organization. Our club profile features the New York Croquet Club in this issue and again, we'll continue to explore new clubs in future editions.
Unfortunately, the sport lost a few key figures this fall. Ted Prentis and Jeff Soo have written wonderful tributes to John Solomon and Mack Penwell that are essential reading for all American croquet players. Beyond just recognizing Solomon and Penwell, both pieces provide valuable insight into the history of croquet in the US.
Croquet Poll: 2014 Most Popular Croquet Mallet
Our last mallet poll was in 2010 when Morford Mallets and Oakley Woods tied for the top spot. It's time to update for 2014 and find a new winner. Please vote in the poll below:
Read MoreMorning Coffee: Fletcher Wins Fourth Australian Open
AUSTRALIAN OPEN: Robert Fletcher claimed his fourth straight Australian Open singles title with a 3-0 win over Kevin Beard (26tp-0, 26tpo-14, 26tpo-13) at the Victorian Croquet Centre, Cairnlea, Victoria. The event was held November 18-23 and Fletcher went 14-0 and is the world number one AC player with a 2787 dynamic grade and a 71-9 record for 2014. Full bracket.
HANEKOM INTERVIEW: CWO has an extended interview with new Women's GC World Champion Judith Hanekom. Excerpt:
Morning Coffee: South Africa Rules GC
HANEKOM WINS WOMENS GCWC: Judith Hanekom from South Africa took down New Zealand's Jenny Clarke 7-3, 4-7, 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 to become the fifth holder of the WCF Women's Golf Croquet World Championship. The event played out the over the past week in Cairo, Egypt.