Commentary
by Danny Huneycutt

American 6-Wicket croquet is a great game here in the USA, a game that truly allows competitors to match wits and skills to the fullest, a game that many of us love to play, a game with a great history that I plan to play for many years. But we must tip our hats to the USCA, International Committee, National Croquet Center and the individuals responsible for the recent steps that have been taken to advance the USA toward a higher level of play in International events.

During the last twelve months we have all witnessed the fruits of effort as Association Croquet in the USA has grabbed its share of headlines, as it should. For the USA to continue improving its competitive presence in the top events in the world of croquet we must advance our ability to play Association Croquet. Since earning the privilege to host the MacRobertson Shield competition more Association Croquet tournaments have been available than ever before, including last weeks inaugural invitation only NCC Selection 8s and the NCC Association Open where nearly 50 players participated for four days at the National Croquet Center.

In the Selection 8s each of the 24 players played from sun-up to sun-down for three days and most of the fourth day while playing 14 no-time-limit matches. Even though you could hear most of the players making comments about how they should have made such-and-such shot or I can’t believe I missed that hit-in or did you see the wind take my ball out-of-bounds, the Selection 8s was and will be in the future, a fabulous idea and a great gathering for most the best players in North America to show their knowledge and skills. Some of the more impressive side items were the camaraderie within each of the three groups of players and how players from each group would support the other groups by watching their matches and discuss their strategy. It was obvious that building the strongest USA team possible was the focal point of the event.

In closing I would like to encourage all the United States organizations that support croquet to develop methods to financially support the USA team. Without this support we will never be able to field the best team possible. Many of the top players are just not able to participate during the year in some of the top events due to finances.

Again, thank you to all who were involved in making the Selection 8s a success.

Preview
by Bob Alman

In late October 2004, barely a month after the passage of the last big storm in Florida's "year of the hurricanes", the National Croquet Center takes a big step towards realizing its promise as the sport's new mecca.

International competition has spurred growing interest in International Rules ("Association Laws") croquet - especially the MacRobertson Shield team competitions held approximately every three years, in which the United States, as the newest member of the four "MacRobertson nations", managed to place third in the last two MacRobertson events.

Of the four MacRobertson nations, England and New Zealand have a strong advantage over Australia and the US: all the players live in close proximity to one another, and thus can train against each other frequently, without the expense and dislocation involved in long-distance travel.

Despite the distance and expense, the new management of the National Croquet Center has managed to capture a large majority of the top players in the country for the first "Selection Eights" events in America, as chosen by the USCA's Selection Committee, headed by Rhys Thomas of California. Eight of the highest ranking players in the country are among the 24 entrants. As a measure of the high level of interest in "Association" play among the nation's strongest players, it's interesting to observe that only three of these eight competed in the American Rules National Championship at the Center earlier in the month. (The number would have been nine, but former National Champion Jeff Soo had to cancel at the last minute because of illness.) According to Mike Jenner, the Center's CEO, "That's an indication of how important this event is considered by players, who are coming here from all parts of the country and Canada."

The Selection Eights event will be only one factor in the selection of the next international team, but a good showing in this strongest-ever Association Laws event for American players will make a strong argument.

The competition is played Thursday through Sunday at the National Croquet Center as a double round robin. The most unusual feature is the absense of a "finals" and selection of a "winner" in the traditional manner of most croquet tournaments. Instead, there is a ranking based on game wins and net points, but no crowning of winners and placers.

Almost equally impressive as the line-up of the Selection Eights is a parallel tournament for players at all levels - the National Croquet Center Association Open - for twenty-four players in four blocks of six, also played as a double round-robin.

Preceeding the tournament, the Center produced an Association School, with some of the students staying on to compete in their first Association Laws event. Other events in the coming season also feature Association play, including in February third editions of both "Croquet the English Way" and a Festival mixing many types of games and formats.