School croquet is fun at...

Sydney Girls High School

Out of the blue they came. A delightful group of year 7 students who had on their own initiative and the blessing of their Principal Mrs M. Varady investigated the wonders of the magical game of croquet.

Click to enlargeOn a piece of ground in the Rose Garden of the school these students had for some time been playing a local form of garden croquet while using an American set of croquet equipment. The area would have been better used for tag football but this did not stop the girls from enjoying themselves. Not being satisfied with this garden form of rules contact was made with Croquet NSW with the expressed intent of upgrading their playing skills and knowledge of the rules.

Click to enlargeThe enquiry came at just the right time and Jacky McDonald on behalf of Croquet NSW was in the progress of organising a Schools Championship this year. So yours truly, Jacky and Alix Verge along with an assortment of equipment visited the school for a coaching morning. We expected about ten students but had a class of thirty for a period of an hour and half. There was also the schools general handyman Philip who was there to gain information on the way to make some mallets, hoops and any other items of equipment that he could make.

Click to enlargeJacky started off the day with a general introduction to golf croquet and then the fun began. There were looks of deep concentration and determination on the girls faces when they found out it wasn’t as easy at looked. The Maths Master at one stage was called in to have a look and his opinion asked as to what angle a b all had to be hit to go through a particular hoop. A few other teachers came for a look and the school photographer took a large number of photos. It was all good stuff and like all good things the time to finish came to quickly.

Everyone agreed it was a great day. Alix is going to continue to attend the school to give further instruction and Mrs Varady has assured us that at least eight of the girls will enter into the school competition.

Geof McDonald