Once an Elite Sport But Now Played Worldwide

Nov 16, 2009 Robin Anderson

Croquet Set

One of the game of croquet’s main attractions was that both ladies and gentlemen could play, together or separately. It was neither too strenuous for women nor too difficult for children, an activity for the whole family. But flirtations, fights with mallets swinging and the risqué showing of women’s ankles resulted in croquet at one time being denounced from the church pulpit, its pleasures banned as immoral.

A man by the name of John Jacques is credited with popularizing the sport, printing editions of his Laws and Regulations in 1857, 1860, and 1864. As rules were established and national competitions organized, croquet grew to become a major sport of the times . The Wimbledon All England Croquet Club became the sport’s first national headquarters. And the company begun by John Jacques, Jacques of London, is still one of the largest manufacturers of croquet equipment in the world.

By the 1870s, a sport called tennis began to overshadow croquet,. But the ball and mallet game was still popular enough to be included as an event at the 1900 summer Olympics, and a variation of croquet, called roque, was featured at the 1904 Olympics. As the game of tennis continued to eclipse croquet in popularity, most croquet fields were converted to tennis courts.

Internationally, croquet or versions similar are played in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and the United Kingdom as well as in Japan, Egypt, Russia and China. This year’s World Croquet Championship was held in Palm Beach, Florida.

In addition to Croquet sets check out my web site for other outdoor games:

http://www.cysbackyardsports.com

“Dad… I’m bored!”. “There’s nothing to do!” How many times have you heard those in your life? How many times have you said it yourself? I remember in college, I went to a small school in a small town, we’d sit in our dorm rooms and complain about not having anything to do.

The Goby website has brought Web 2.0 to choosing your own adventure.

The interface is simple to use, you just put in a keyword of what you want to do, where you want to do it and when you’d like it to happen. Clicking on “Search” then provides you a list of opportunities in your area to take advantage of your request.

The display you receive is a nicely arranged and organized list of possible matches, and from my own search, very accurate matches of my desired results. Provided with a map of the area used in your request and links to more information and the source website.

So, the next time you’re bored and looking for something to do in your city, or perhaps if you’re visiting a new city and looking for an event or activity to fill some time between business meetings or other responsibilities. Go uncover something to do with Goby.

Uncover some fun for your and your family with the Goby website