How big is Croquet in the UK? There are 176 clubs registered with the Croquet Association. Most clubs i have contacted have an average of 55 members. So, there are just under 10,000 players in the UK. There are a lot more who play the game though, that are not members of clubs. The amount of Croquet sets, we at Sportsballshop sell, suggests there are many players, playing the game for fun, in the privacy of their own garden. I would hazard a guess, there are another 10 to 20,000 players. These are players the clubs would dearly like to be part of their clubs. How clubs manage to get these people to play competitive Croquet is the big issue. As, with most sports there are variations to try to make the game quicker. So the game of Golf Croquet is the quicker version of Association Croquet. This is the way to recruit new players. Your club should have 2 open days per year to try to get new members. Advertise locally your open day with free barbecue and invite the local press too. I am convinced, if organised well, your membership could go up by 20%. The rise in popularity in the game has seen a lot more young people start playing. Quite a few clubs are setting up club coaching days for the new players too. The image of Croquet is its for posh people with lots of time and money on their hands. This is far from the truth. Croquet is not an expensive game to play and most clubs have kit available for new players to use. We specialize in sets manufactured by Garden Games Ltd, as they are great value and have good reliability. Get your committee, to organise a big open day and let me know how you get on.
