©2006 GranDesign |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
1. EDUCATE YOURSELF -- by getting all the information you will need to organize your club and facility. Start by calling the USCA and asking them to send you their USCA member club information packet. Buy at least the first volume of the Croquet Foundation's MONOGRAPH SERIES ON CLUB BUILDING, ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT, titled "Getting Started," which details everything mentioned here, and more. 2. START TALKING -- to friends, family, and working associates about croquet and enrolling them in the idea of the club. 3. GET THE EQUIPMENT TOGETHER -- If you decide not to spend $1500 buying top tournament-class equipment to start out, at least acquire a decent backyard set or even two (to cover equipment loss and breakage)--the Forster "Challenge" model, the Brookstone "Competition" model, or an equivalent, selling for $200 to $300. The sets include four balls, four mallets, wicket clips, nine wickets, and two stakes, and can be used for either Backyard Croquet or USCA Six-Wicket Croquet. Buy the book or books appropriate for the game(s) you've chosen to start out with. 4. BUILD OR FIND THE BEST LAWN AVAILABLE -- to you for your initial adventures with equipment, rules, and potential members. The lawn should be as flat and as fast as possible. Arrange for using a bowling lawn or a practice putting green, if possible. If you're clever and make the right contacts, you can engineer a permanent arrangement with an existing under-used facility by fitting into the other lawn sport's schedule and perhaps paying dues to support maintenance. In Canada and the U.S., several dozen croquet clubs use bowling greens; others play on lawn tennis courts; many new croquet groups are starting at public and private golf clubs, which typically find that croquet adds a new activity focus, variety and therefore profit to their operations. (Details on these shared use agreement are in the MONOGRAPH SERIES, Volume One.) 5. JOIN THE MCC AS A MEMBER CLUB -- to benefit from their regular communications and publications about all aspects of croquet, including member clubs and tournaments, rule books, the MCC CROQUET BULLETIN all included as a part of a MCC annual membership. 6. PERFECT YOUR CROQUET SHOTS AND STRATEGY -- as soon as you're up and running as an organization, and find out if you're born to be a croquet champion. If you're VERY good, you can achieve national championship status within two years. If you don't turn out to be a champion, that's okay, too. Because croquet is a sport that can be enjoyed at all levels of play--and for a lifetime.
Missouri Croquet Association |
