Croquet champs prove sport not just for 'toffs'

Members of a Sheffield croquet team will represent Yorkshire against the best players in the rest of the country after winning their league.

The Sheffield Croquet Club, which in recent years has overcome an arson attack and a sloping pitch, finished top of the 2023-24 Yorkshire Croquet Federation league.

Formed in 2013 and playing at Hillsborough Park Bowling Club, the club has now qualified for a national cup competition.

Captain Ki Hulme said the league title and the opportunity to play around the country had made him very "proud".

"We will now be representing Yorkshire around the nation, which we’re so happy about," he added.

The success comes despite a difficult few years for the club.

Its members were forced to find a new court after an arson attack destroyed the pavilion at their previous home at Bolehills Pavilion in Crookes in 2017.

Since moving to Hillsborough, the club had struggled to increase its membership and Mr Hulme admitted its facilities were not as fancy as other teams.

However, he said: "There’s definitely a home advantage here. We do get a few grumbles from visiting teams about the slopes on our lawn.

"There’s a few posh clubs down south and in North Yorkshire. We’re definitely no-frills here."

Jayne Spaven, a member of the club for just over a year, said the perception of croquet as elitist was something that had initially bothered her.

“I thought it was a toffs game, but I soon realised it’s for everyone, young and old," she said.

There are two forms of the sport: golf croquet and association croquet.

In golf croquet, each player plays one stroke per turn in colour sequence - blue, red, black, yellow.

The first player to score a given hoop earns the point, then all balls challenge for the next hoop in turn.

Meanwhile, in association croquet, the objective is to make all hoops twice - once in each direction - per ball, then hit the centre peg.

The side completing this with both their balls first is the winner.

Sheffield Croquet Club players said they were now actively looking for new members, with no experience necessary.

Kay Bott, one of the club's most recent joiners, said she was surprised how "competitive" the game was.

“It’s all about skill, strategy and viciousness," she said.

"You have to try and smack your opponents out the way and make yourself number one."

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