Wendell Thompson retired last summer after serving Oklahoma Wesleyan University as Head Librarian for over 30 years, but his most recent role as Croquet Coach is really something to read about! The Croquet team (you heard me right, croquet!) at Oklahoma Wesleyan University has been practicing diligently since last fall and is now ready for some competition! I’m not talking about your run of the mill neighborhood croquet match. Coach Thompson has chosen six students to represent the University April 25-26 at the National Collegiate Croquet Championship to be held at the Merion Cricket Club in Haverford, PA. The Merion Cricket Club is a rather large sports complex that incorporates several sports, including 20 Croquet courts, each being 28 yards X 35 yards.
Students, Faculty and Staff on the OWU campus have become accustomed to seeing a “Croquet court” spring up on a regular basis on the lawn just east of the LaQuinta mansion, but rarely do they have an audience of more than just a few. It will be a different scene for these athletes as several thousand spectators are expected to attend the 2-day event in April. The students who have been selected to represent OWU and compete in the tournament are Mariah Klumb, Eric Knight, Ruth Kunkle, Nate Davis, Stephen Luttenberg and Steven Ellison. They will be competing in Golf Croquet and American Rules Croquet against teams from Harvard University, Yale University, U. S. Naval Academy, Davidson University, St. John’s University, University of Virginia, and University of Pennsylvania. OWU is the only University west of the Mississippi to ever participate in this particular competition.
Croquet is a sport that has been around for many decades, but modern day competitive croquet, with revised rules, has become popular in many places in the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. (There is international competition among these four nations every four years) It is played in singles and doubles competition with players representing “clubs” from cities, i.e. Dallas, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, etc., as well as many locations in Florida. Many people have played “9 wicket backyard croquet”, but “golf croquet” and “American Rules croquet” and “International Rules croquet” are played with six wickets and a stake out post in the middle of the court. A string is placed around the perimeter of the court and if one knocks a ball over the string his turn ends. When playing singles, each player plays with two balls and must go through all the wickets twice then hit the stake to win. In doubles, each partner plays with one ball.
There is a uniqueness in croquet. Croquet requires neither strength nor speed, but does require accuracy and strategy. Therefore, women and men compete on an equal basis. There is not a women’s division and a men’s division. Both compete equally in the same events. All players are required to wear white shirts, white pants or shorts, white shoes, and a white cap or hat or nothing on the head.
May 01, 2009