The WCF is keen to expand its membership and extend the joy of croquet in all its forms into new regions.
The barriers to setting up a croquet club and starting to play are small. All you need is a suitably sized flat patch of well mown grass and some basic equipment. Plus of course, lots of enthusiasm.
Whether you are already playing one of the WCF recognised games, or are playing using your own rules, in your garden or a club, please get in touch. We can then discuss how to develop croquet as a sport in your country.
We will try and help all people who contact us to develop the sport to the best of our ability. However, to actually join us we do have a few criteria that must be met.
To help you understand how close you are to meeting our requirements, we have developed the following guidance.
Once you have reviewed the information on this page, please complete our New Enquiries Application, and send it to the WCF Secretary-General. Please include a covering email and if possible one or two photos of croquet being played in your region.
Benefits of Joining the World Croquet Federation
As well as becoming part of a global sport, with opportunities to travel and meet other croquet enthusiasts, joining the WCF will specifically give you access to:
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- Coaching visits can be arranged or assistance given to attend courses near you
- Access to guidance on many subjects, including lawn care, equipment purchasing, refereeing and the laws, handicapping
- Tournaments you hold can be added to the World Ranking databases
- Potential financial assistance via the WCF Development Fund
- and of course, entry into our World Championships.
We hold championships in both the Golf Croquet and Association Croquet, which are the two principal variants recognised by the WCF. See the page on our website explaining the variants we recognise: types of croquet. We hold Open, Women's, Under 21 and Over 60 championships.
Guidance Table: how well established is croquet in your region?
The table below provides guidance in relation to how we will support you as your continue your journey to establish croquet.
CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION | HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP |
Established | Croquet is already established in the country and being played in one of our recognised variants, or close to it. Standard equipment is being used. There may or may not be something resembling a 'Governing Body' in existence, but it seems likely something could be put in place within a timeframe of 0-2 years. | If you are in this category, you should soon be able to join us as a Recognised Croquet Organisation. We will establish contact with you and maybe try to arrange a visit to you, perhaps to your National Championships when they are next held or to some other tournament you are holding. |
Fledgling | Croquet is being played, but not in a form we recognise. Equipment and/or the rules being played are not close to standard. | We will encourage you to start playing a recognised croquet variant and will engage with you regularly as you develop, providing guidance and support as best as we can. |
Aspirant | No evidence of any form of croquet being played. Request is asking for help or support to set something up. | The WCF will provide information via useful website links. |
Our Application Form and Checklist will help both you and us to understand which of the above categories fits you today, and then we can work together to help you progress.
Joining Criteria
The WCF criteria needed to join us as an RCO are:
Per our Statutes we only recognise certain variants of the game. When you start playing or set up clubs, please ensure that you are playing with rules that we recognise. These can all be found on https://worldcroquet.org/croquet-information/.
The two most widely played versions, the principal games, are:
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- Golf Croquet - this is the simplest, quickest and easiest to learn.
- Association Croquet - this longer version of the game is often considered more rewarding as it includes more shot types and more complex strategy and tactics.
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The other recognised games are Short Croquet, Two-ball Croquet (also known as One Ball Croquet), American Six-Wicket Croquet and American Nine-Wicket Croquet.
We recommend investing in some decent equipment. If you can afford it, get championship level hoops, mallets and balls. These are long lasting and will encourage a high standard of play. The lighter weight ‘garden’ equipment or home-made equipment is good to start with, but you may find it harder to later progress to a level where you can compete internationally.
The WCF need to form a relationship with the Governing Body for your country or region i.e. you need to be able to speak on behalf of all those playing croquet in your region. Once you have croquet being played, we recommend that you set up such an organisation and get your clubs and/or players to become affiliated to this governing body.
Useful Information and Links
General information about croquet and the variants we recognise can be found on our website: Croquet Information
Our YouTube channel has a lot of footage of both GC and AC including some basic coaching videos, but also lots of Championship play. WCF YouTube Channel and see our Playlists
Golf Croquet:
How to Play Golf Croquet
Association Croquet:
How to Play Association Croquet
https://www.youtube.com/AssociationCroquetIntro
Another useful site is Oxford Croquet: Oxford Croquet Main Page
This site includes pages on how to play, equipment suppliers and advice, lawn care and much much more.
All our Members have their own websites, and we recommend you also look at their websites which can be accessed via our Members Page.
New Enquiries Application Form
You can download an Application form here: New Enquiries Application
