Jolly Olde England: The East Midlands

My first stop on my English tour was the East Midlands Championships in Nottingham.
I arrived in one piece after a daunting day long commute including:

• 5:30 am departure from Southwest Harbor, ME to the bus station in Bangor, ME
• 6 hour bus trip to Logan airport in Boston with a layover in Portland, ME
• Commuting flight to Newark International Airport
• Red-Eye flight into Birmingham, England with a time change and 4 hours to sleep
• 2 hour Train to Nottingham in a foreign country with a huge duffel bag
• Bus to the tennis center which was a short walk from the Nottingham Courts (12 pm)

After a few hours of blurry eyed play with no company but the few local ladies who showed me where I could change and on which court I could play, I finally met my host and tournament director Dr. Ian Vincent. For those of you who do not know, Ian has been a staple of the Croquet Association committees and created and manages the Nottingham Board, the quintessential croquet mailing list. I met a few locals and players warming up, but I spent most of my time playing with Kieth Aiton. Kieth was number four in the world and one of the best Scottish players who was extremely informative and willing to talk about the finer points despite the fact that I would be playing against him in the Solomon Trophy. I managed to beat him 7-0 in golf croquet which he rarely plays and then I got skunked in return 26-0 in the Association game that followed. Kieth did not play the East Midlands, but he did show up to watch and add to the peanut gallery throughout the weekend.
When Ian had finished his tournament preparation and squared away some club business, we left. I had my first meal in a pub and was intrigued with Ian's commitment to bell ringing at a local church that night. While the bells were loud and the precise orchestration of the ringers was interesting I could not help but drift in and out of consciousness during the practice session. When we got to Ian's house I excused myself with a mumble and while it was still light out at 8 pm I passed out for 11 hours.


Nottingham had five very nice courts that were about the same speed as American courts but because they were a clay/dirt base, the hoops were more difficult (at one point, I tried a death roll peel and while I was standing three feet back from the hoop, I had to jump to avoid the rejected ball). The thing that most impressed me with this regional tournament that had more depth than any American tournament I've played in, was the variety of grips and swings. In the USCA one sees a few players with their hands spread apart and a few players using the Irish grip, but most people have hands close together, near the top of the mallet with a standard or Solomon grip. At this one tournament I saw one of the best shooters in the game with an incredibly wristy, off center swing, a top player who hits every shot side saddle, and a new player with a 46 inch mallet and a casting swing that arced about 200 degrees (from straight back to head height in his follow through). All of these methods were employed with brilliance as the players were in the top 200.
I managed to get knocked out of the draw and process in two games against Ian Vincent and Robin Brown, but I rallied and managed to beat Jack "Wicksy" Wicks with two 6th turn triple peels on the way to winning the Plate (consolation) event. In the main event, David Maugham went undefeated and advanced to both finals against Marcus Evans and Robin Brown. David won both games and the tournament with a ridiculous 9-0 record with 8 triple peels! This was my introduction to Mr. Maugham whom I would be playing the next week in Manchester. Can you say intimidation?
One of the great traditions of English croquet encouraged the victor to buy a round of drinks after each game. The club had an ale on tap and several bottles of beer and cider, and even those in the running for the championship partook quite often. A few strategic players brought their own cases of beer or quarts of cider in preparation for the long days of drinking. Each night after play, Dr. Vincent and I went out to a nice pub with good vegetarian food (a pleasant surprise) and shared croquet stories with Martin French and a few other seasoned veterans.
While two of my compatriots, Jim Bast and Jim Butts, were at this tournament, neither were going to the part of Manchester that I was, so I got a ride with David Maugham who was heading home on Sunday. I had arranged to stay with Ron Lloyd and David Bent while in Manchester, and I called them to find out where they were while I was traversing the English countryside. Ron answered quickly and told me that they were flying in Monday, whoops. I now rode into Manchester realizing I had nowhere to stay and no way to meet up with my team...

Video of Me Running a 3rd Turn Break

Thank you to Bob Kroeger for his handiwork in making this video. This was my second game against Leo McBride on Saturday of the Selection Eights at the National Croquet Center. I started the game, obviously, and put out the supershot (a ball 3-5 yards S or SW of the Peg and Leo shot just south of the 2nd corner (the idea being that if I miss in the second corner, he gets a double target, and if I hit I have a big roll shot to start the break) I hit the 13 yarder, and managed to get the break going with a ball swap. This is the perfect beginning of a game, despite the fact that I did not finish the game as well. I ran the break in the video to 4 back and set a conservative diagonal spread leave instead of the more aggressive 3 ducks leave. I failed to get the second break around, but I ended up winning the game 26-9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEawcH3zpzI

2008 Season: Pre-England

Because I had neglected to play much in 2007, I did not make the Solomon Team. I was in the top eight players who made themselves available, but I did not get onto the group of six that actually compete in the event. I was our first alternate. Not to be discouraged, I justified the idea of traveling to England to play in several other tournaments to boost my resume with some high level international competition abroad. I found the East Midlands Championships (essentially a regional tournament) in Nottingham the week before the Solomon Trophy was to be played in Manchester. I decided to finish my trip by trying to enter the most competitive tournament in the world, arguably; the British Open in Cheltenham.

In the coming months I committed myself to a few tournaments while building the idea of England in my head. I had not booked flights or committed myself to the idea, but I was about 80% emotionally invested. It was not until late February when Doug Grimsley, former national champion and long time juggernaut in American croquet, told me that he would be unable to travel to England. Doug cited his new career choice and a busy summer schedule as well as the fact that he had played in England many times before as his deciding factors for turning down the Solomon Trophy spot. I could barely contain my excitement. I told myself that this was not yet final, Doug had not yet informed the selectors or the team members of this decision, but I could not help but begin to plan my first international excursion. I re-committed myself to all things croquet setting up a season unrivaled in it's variety and sheer frequency of play. I managed five Association Laws tournaments (North Carolina Open, Internationals, North American Open, the inaugural Rocky Mountain Invitational, and the Aboyne Open) as well as five American rules contests (Palm Beach Invitational, Arizona Open, Mission Hills Invitational, Peachwood Classic, Berkshires Invitational) before setting off for England.

My final preparation was three weeks of instruction and practice in Maine, where I first learned to play croquet. The wonderful new court at the Woodlawn museum became my full size practice stage while my uncle Larry Stettner's half court was my strategic sketch pad as I tried sextuple peels and triples and straight double peels to refine my old ways and learn new tactics. Before I knew it, June was a memory and I was headed across the pond and into the lion's den.

A Whole New World

My involvement in International or Association Laws croquet begins with Mike Orgill, Reuben Edwards, Karen Collingwood, and Martyn Selman. These steadfast rocks of west coast croquet managed to intrigue me with their preferred version of the game that did not involve those silly deadness boards. Having played a version of 9-wicket without carry-over deadness, I thought the strategy for this new game would come naturally.
Boy was I wrong.

Having a bit of break theory under my belt allowed me to play the Association game with an aggressive fervor I had only experienced in the last two minutes in the other flavors of croquet. I instantly enjoyed the freedom that comes with playing either ball and the clean slate philosophy that accompanies such a broad spectrum of possibilities. I learned to truly shake off the poor execution and bad planning from the last turns and focus on the situation at hand. It took all of my concentration to see even the simplest possibilities and to wrap my head around out of sequence play. Those first few years I would only play the North American Open tournament, which had a limited amount of entries. It took me a few years to truly understand the basic points about setting leaves and traps that stifle the opponent. In those fledgeling days, I barely managed the ten games annually which were the minimum necessary for a current world ranking.

I have been honored to join in the Selection 8's tournament whenever they will have me. The Selection 8's tournament is a format we have borrowed from the Brits primarily for it's convenient structure and applicability to international competition. In test matches between countries, six players and two alternates will make up a team. It is essential for the selection committee to be well informed as to these eight players' relative skill against each other. The marvelous event is a showcase for North American croquet which allows for lots of high-level competition and serves as a proving ground for developing players. I have yet to win any eight, but I have come to appreciate defending my assignment in certain groups. If I can win half of my games, I feel I have earned my place in that select group. After managing to tie for second in the hotly contested second eight (spots 9-16) in October of 2007 I was honored to be considered for our Solomon team in 2008. However, I did not make the cut. More on that later...

Origins

As most of you know, I grew up in the East San Francisco Bay Area, where I still reside when I'm not away playing croquet. Sometime around 1994, my eccentric uncle started visiting each spring to play in the San Francisco Open tournament. He wore all white, and spent most of his time playing this odd game that I only knew from Alice and Wonderland. Thus was my introduction to croquet.

I started my career in croquet keeping the dead board for my Uncle Larry at those San Francisco Opens. In between games I would occasionally hit balls on the sidelines of the court, trying not to create too many divots. Eventually, I traveled with my family to visit my Uncle in Maine during the summer. He had built a nice little half-size court to play on and he started me out playing 9-wicket croquet, Claremont style. It was so painful to watch me play, that my uncle spent more than a few of my matches pacing the porch over-looking the court. Once, Larry even spent the majority of my match sitting in a tree, hiding behind the branches to cringe at my strategic choices.

After a few years of wide wickets and no carry over deadness, Larry introduced me to 6-wicket American Rules Croquet. My cousin and I entered the 1996 New England Regionals in sunny Newport, Rhode Island. In the sweltering heat, my cousin and I won our 3rd Flight doubles and took first and second in singles despite our many horrible choices and thanks to even more lucky shots. I met many wonderful players in our few years playing in Newport and as I encounter them these days I hear more and more embarrassing stories that I had repressed.

My first big success came in 1999. I had moved into the 2nd flight in the two American Rules tournaments that I played (the San Francisco Open and the New England Regionals) and I finally won our quaint 9-wicket tournament. The Claremont Croquet Classic, established in 1975, has been billed as the all Maine State 9-Wicket Championship, but is usually a mix of locals and long time visitors to Maine who play croquet once a year. The field for the tournament had weakened considerably since my Uncle stopped competing in the singles. Having won in 1996 and 1997 (nearly uncontested in the latter) and recognizing the relative lack of competition, he vowed to stay out of singles until the rest of us caught up. I had caught up.

The next 5 years resulted in a series of grudge matches between Larry and me in the Claremont finals. I managed to take the first contest, matching the best winning streak and vowing to break the record with three championships in a row. In 2001 Larry capitalized on one critical mistake and took control late in the game. I never had another chance to hit a ball. In the following years, I played more on the west coast and learned the Association Laws game and began to dominate the amateur field for the classic. Larry continued to play strong but I edged him out in 2002 and 2003, becoming the first person to have two separate back-to-back wins.

During this time Michael Quarters, Larry’s grandson, and I took hold of the doubles competition and won two championships in a row in 2001 and 2002. Sadly, Larry decided to end the dream team and break up our partnership, but Mike became a strong force in the singles half as well.

Then my chance arrived. Three years later, I had another chance at the unprecedented threepeat at the Claremont. Both Larry and I had to watch for Mike, waiting in the wings. Mike played an awesome tournament, but lost to Larry and fought to play me in the semi-final. Had it not been for Larry and I, he might have had 2 or 3 championships in a row himself. The final match came and I managed to prove that Larry was a great teacher as I won handily. I retired from singles with the threepeat and Larry decided to lay in wait once again, until the field caught up to his skill set.

My First Post

And now I'm a blogger...

Photo courtesy of Adrian Wadley (c) 2008

I thought I should take this opportunity to welcome you (whoever you are) to my thoughts and diatribes which will be mainly focused on croquet. I have a few goals for this platform (or soapbox) from which I type: I hope to provide a way for my curious friends and family to follow me in my travels and tournament experiences. I would love to promote tournament croquet to new players or people who play in the backyard. Lastly, I want this to be a useful resource to current players who want to fine tune their game or learn about new venues and tournaments.

I'm not sure how to effectively organize this site so bear with me when I decide to scrap it and rebuild. Please feel free to email me questions or concerns or post comments to the entries.