CROQUET NEWS:  Pep Boys Grab World Croquet Title

18 August 2006
Parksville Community Park, Parksville, British Columbia, Canada
story by James Clarke in Parksville Qualicum News, Parksville, BC, Canada
photo by James Clarke

Graeme Dowell, above blasting an opponent’s ball into another time zone Sunday, and the Autobots captured first place in the B Division.

The 31st annual nine-wicket World Croquet Championships unfolded down at Parksville Community Park over the weekend under warm sunny conditions, and organizer Paul Hall was one happy camper.

Eleven teams — only two of those based out of Parksville — turned out this year, proving once again the event brings people here.

“It does draw people here. The calibre of play is increasing — it’s getting better and better, tougher and tougher. It’s not an easy game to play down there because the lawn is long — it’s not as short as a traditional croquet field — but we’re all playing on the same grass, so no one had an advantage.”

The Pep Boys grabbed themselves another tournament title.

The team, making the trip over from Vancouver for the WCC’s for 15 years, pegged out in the final to beat out The In Laws from Victoria after just under three hours of play

The youngest player out there was 13-year-old, Devon Harvey from Comox on the Thunderballs, which also included Gisele Wareham from England who turns 71 next month, and Helen Tulip from Comox.

A round robin knockout format; the Autobots, three young lads from Victoria that take the game seriously and could easily be poster boys for the sport, won the B Division. Hall and his team the Heavy Hitters – Ron Schuster and rookie Dan Hutchinson -- were the top local team, taking first in the C Division.

“We’ve been coming up here for this ever since I can remember,” says Autobot Graeme Dowell, who was competing with brother Brock and pal Killian Miller.

“We used to come to watch our dad play and now we’re competing in it. It can be pretty painful to watch, but it’s great to play -- it’s really enjoyable. It’s super-competitive, but it’s fun.”

“It’s like a chess game,” pipes up Miller. “You get everything set up, get it perfect, and then the other team destroys it all.”

Defending ‘World’ division champs, Team Havoc from Mill Bay, finished third. The Back Doors -- Nicole Hall, Terry Denouden and Margaret Schuster – won the Island Division.

Tennis it turns out, came out of croquet, hence the world-renowned All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, home to Wimbleton. A full-sized croquet court is the size of two tennis courts.

Hall was I was down in Puget Sound last week as one of four players representing BC. His first time competing in the [Greater] North West [Team] Championships, which feature teams of four from Washington, Oregon and B.C.

“That was six wicket croquet …you go down there as a team, but you play individual games,” he explains. Oregon finished first in total points this year, with B.C. second and Washington third.

Hall and a number of other locals will be in Mill Bay in two weeks for the 9 Wicket Singles tournament , then travel to Duncan Sept. 16 for a doubles tourney.

Asked how Parksville’s event went, Hall’s answer came quickly.

“Brilliant weekend. We had 33 players, which is a big turnout for any croquet tournament, including a team from the US here as well as some people from Atlanta and Seattle. We had a banquet at the Quality Inn on Saturday, McDonald’s donated the coffee for us, and we had $750 in prize money.”

For more information on the Mid-Island Croquet League, which gets together at Hall’s home in Errintgon every Tuesday, call Paul at 248-5870. Beginners are always welcomed.