Croquet Association

Sport	Croquet
Jurisdiction	England
Abbreviation	CA
Founded	1897
Affiliation	World Croquet Federation
Affiliation date	1989
Headquarters	Cheltenham
Location	Old Bath Road
President	Patricia Duke-Cox
Chairman	Samir Patel
Secretary	John Reddish
Official website
www.croquet.org.uk

51°53′08″N 2°04′07″W / 51.88542°N 2.068622°W / 51.88542; -2.068622 The Croquet Association, which was formed as the United All England Croquet Association in 1897,^[1] is the national governing body for the sport of croquet in England. Until 1974 the association was responsible for croquet in the whole of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Croquet Association, formed in 1974, now has responsibility for croquet in Scotland. At the 2013 AGM the association formally relinquished control of the game in the other parts of the United Kingdom.^[2]

Presidents of the association have included Sir Compton Mackenzie, who was President from 1953 to 1966. The association controls the rules of the game, in conjunction with the croquet associations of Australia, New Zealand and the United States. It also controls the regulations of tournaments for its member clubs. The Open Championship (association) of croquet originally dates back to 1867, but after a hiatus during the years 1883-1896 was reintroduced by the Croquet Association.^[3] This and the Golf Croquet Open Championship are the premier events in the UK of each code.

Competitions

Association Croquet competitions

The President's Cup was introduced in 1901, though at the time it was known as the Beddow Cup, named after A.E.Beddow, the trophy's donor.^[4] The President's Cup was an invitational rather than an open competition, and was contested between the top ten (now eight) croquet players chosen by the Croquet Association.^[4] The original cup became the property of Miss Dorothy Dyne Steel in 1933 after she won the competition for a record fourth time.^[4] A new cup was required for the 1934 competition and one was presented by then president, Trevor Williams, the competition being known as the President's Cup from that date.^[4]

In 2001, the Open Championship was combined with the World Championship.

Singles competitions