{"id":614153,"date":"2026-04-18T02:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T02:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614153\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T02:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T02:20:17","slug":"social-croquet-connects-communities-as-clubs-record-jump-in-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614153\/","title":{"rendered":"Social croquet connects communities as clubs record jump in numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are exasperated cries and jesting from the opposing team as Patricia Schramm, 94, gently swings a mallet, knocking her ball to block another.<\/p>\n

But it’s all in good fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is golf croquet, the simplest form of croquet.<\/p>\n

It is improving lives in Port Lincoln on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.<\/p>\n

Croquet conjures images of white linen dresses and afternoon teas on manicured lawns, none more famous than the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon, England.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

The Kapunda Croquet Club in 1868 poses with their sticks, balls and hoops. (Supplied: State Library of South Australia)<\/p>\n

Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll, a member at Wimbledon, immortalised the game when he wrote of flamingo mallets and hoops, and the Queen of Hearts yelling, “off with their heads” for wayward shots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Thursday competition in Port Lincoln is a more casual gathering with laughter, morning tea and new faces each week, building friendships and healthy bodies and minds.<\/p>\n

\"Elderly<\/p>\n

Marina Holland, 88, enjoys playing golf croquet. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

There are at least four variations of croquet played in Australia but only association croquet (AC) and golf croquet (GC) are governed by the World Croquet Federation, which sets the rules.<\/p>\n

AC is the traditional game.<\/p>\n

The object is to be the first player to send each of their balls through six hoops in both directions, in a fixed order, and to strike a central peg.<\/p>\n

The game can take between up to three hours.<\/p>\n

One player at a time is on the court, whereas in GC, which became popular in the 1990s, all players, sometimes in teams, are on the court at once.<\/p>\n

The first to get their ball through the hoop gains the point, so players try to knock opponents’ balls out of the way.<\/p>\n

About 85 per cent of Australia’s 10,000 croquet players are GC players and about 25 per cent play AC, while some play both forms.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

Golf croquet is accessible for all physical abilities. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

The Port Lincoln Club only plays GC on weekends and at a Thursday morning social event where player numbers have increased because it is easy to learn.<\/p>\n

Mrs Schramm is one of about 30 social players in the Thursday morning competition.<\/p>\n

She says she loves it so much she’s purchased her own mallet.<\/p>\n

“We’re not here to win,” Mrs Schramm says.<\/p>\n

“We’re here to enjoy the game, and enjoy the people, and the mixing, particularly for people like me who live alone, and spend their lives on their own.<\/p>\n

\"black<\/p>\n

Women playing croquet at Mount Lofty in 1907. (Supplied: State Library of South Australia)<\/p>\n

“You’ve got all these people to talk to and I haven’t seen anyone to talk to for a week.<\/p>\n

“It’s lovely.”<\/p>\n

Marina Holland, 88, also enjoys the social outing.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to be sitting there staring at the television all day,” she says.<\/p>\n

“I love this because I’m not sitting at home embroidering by myself.”Baby boomers boost croquet numbers<\/p>\n

Port Lincoln Croquet Club president Terry Trudgen says croquet has been in Port Lincoln since 1928, but numbers were dwindling before GC mornings revived attendances.<\/p>\n

“Not that long ago the club was down to five people and that was it,” Mr Trudgen says.<\/p>\n

That number has grown to about 28 competitors.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Terry Trudgen plays association and golf croquet. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

There are 900 croquet members in South Australia across 33 clubs, but this year the state had lost five country clubs from formal competitions.<\/p>\n

Canberra Croquet Club member and former Croquet Australia events manager, Peter Freer, says player numbers nationally have grown steadily as baby boomers retire and look for something to do.<\/p>\n

“The social side is really good, and that’s very good for people who are perhaps risking being isolated because they’re empty nesters and people have all left home, so it’s a way of connecting,” Mr Freer says.<\/p>\n

He plays five days a week at the Canberra Croquet Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He says it is a good sport for keeping the brain active.<\/p>\n

“It’s all about putting balls through hoops \u2014 so on one level it’s very silly, but tactically, there’s a lot of things [like thinking] about ‘Do you go for the hoop? Or do you hit someone[‘s ball] away? Or do you be patient?'” Mr Freer says.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Peter Freer plays association and golf croquet. (Supplied: Peter Freer)<\/p>\n

Flinders University sport participation research associate Sarah Crossman says playing sport is important for functional capacity but also social connection.<\/p>\n

“From a mental health point of view, playing sport has excellent benefits \u2026 we know that as people age, social isolation and loneliness tends to increase,” she says.<\/p>\n

“Just having something to go to, whether it’s sport or something else, is great for your quality of life.”The ‘thinking game’<\/p>\n

Fifty kilometres north of Port Lincoln, Tumby Bay’s croquet club is 102 years old.<\/p>\n

It has dwindled to a dozen dedicated members who only play AC, because they enjoy the longer, more challenging version of the game.<\/p>\n

\"team<\/p>\n

Tumby Bay Croquet Club is willing to introduce golf croquet to recruit new players. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

Marlene Poole has played for 50 years.<\/p>\n

“Croquet is very much a thinking game; you’ve got to think of your moves,” Mrs Poole says.<\/p>\n

“If you come once a week, it would take you three months to learn, so it is a commitment.”<\/p>\n

Club president Karyn Speed says the members love AC but are willing to add a GC social day to attract new people.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Marlene Poole and Karyn Speed with some on the trophies from past Tumby Bay competitions. (ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton)<\/p>\n

“It’s important that we get members,” she says.<\/p>\n

“We are very, very passionate about our club for the sake of the village really, because if this just goes to rack and ruin it will stay rack and ruin \u2014 no-one is going to look after it [the lawned courts] like we do.”<\/p>\n

More news from regional SA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are exasperated cries and jesting from the opposing team as Patricia Schramm, 94, gently swings a mallet,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[298183,64,63,298182,298186,298181,298185,298188,298187,44,298184],"class_list":{"0":"post-614153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-association-croquet","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-croquet","12":"tag-game-that-involves-mallets","13":"tag-golf-croquet","14":"tag-how-many-types-of-croquet-are-there","15":"tag-how-to-play-croquet","16":"tag-is-golf-croquet-different-from-croquet","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-world-croquet-federation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}