Saying that a person, place or thing is “a best kept secret” has become something of a cliché but that’s what you have to call the Arkadelphia Croquet Club. It’s been around since the 1980s, says Jeff Caldwell, one of top players in the club. But this last weekend was the first time Vera and I have dropped by to actually watch the players decked out in their white uniforms quietly compete.
Asked how the Arkadelphia Club got started, Caldwell said it began on a small court at Bob Sanders’ home. After discovering there was such a thing as the United States Croquet Association, —check out its cool Web site: www.croquetamerica.com— “We found out about tournaments in Memphis in 1995. That’s when we started entering tournaments and we’ve been playing all over the United States since then.”
What’s there about the Croquet Club that could make anyone want to become a member?
“The competition and strategy and the friendship.” Caldwell said. “There are more nice people playing croquet than in any other sport.” That’s a response I heard repeatedly as I talked with the other players.
This year’s three-day meet that ended Sunday was played on two perfectly manicured courts, one just south of Jack and Mary King’s home at 906 N. Eighth and the other next to the home of Jeff and Anna Caldwell’s home at 4055 Pine Street. The 16 participants came from Arkansas Illinois, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi.
At least one local tournament is held each year, sometimes two, said Glen Taylor of Arkadelphia. Sitting at the scorer’s table, Glen was wearing his spiffy white cap emblazoned with “Knights of Croquet,” the name of the Arkadelphia Croquet Club, which has five members: Jeff Caldwell, Glen Taylor, Bob Sanders, Joe Franz and Ralph Bozeman.
Although no membership fee is charged, Taylor said, “we usually pay enough to keep the courts maintained. The club plays every Monday night if weather permits, and we have lights on the court. Everybody who wants to come is welcome and mallets are provided.”
out-of-staters I spoke with were all high in their praise of Arkadelphia hospitality and expressed their love of the game. Dr. Scott Kennedy, dean of admissions at the LSU Medical School in Shreveport, La., said, “I love to come up here to Jeff Caldwell’s and play croquet.
People came here from all over the country this weekend. What’s the draw? “Just a lot of fun and good exercise outdoors and good people—that’s the best part.” Another player said he likes the local croquet program and the Arkadelphia area so much that he plans to retire here. Chalk that up as another reason why Arkadelphia is a great place to call home.
As relaxed and affable as all the players seemed to be to casual observers, it turns out that the game is a lot more competitive than we would have guessed.
Says Joe Franz of Arkadelphia: “Croquet is a highly competitive sport, Some of the players we have this weekend rank very high in the nation. It’s a sport that any age from from 8 to 85 can play. Male, female, boys or girls can all play croquet and do it well.”
It’s also a lot more complicated and requires more strategic thinking than it was when I was a kid shooting croquet balls through bent clothes hangers.
“It’s not physically demanding,” Franz said, “but if you know how to play pool and maybe chess, and know how to plan several moves ahead, then this is an easy sport to pick up. For everybody who plays, it is a lot of fun. They come because they want to win, of course, but the main thing is they want to play and have a good time.” And there it was again: “People who play croquet are invariably some of the nicest people you will ever find.,” he added.
Jack Scott, 83, of Coldwater, Miss (His longtime friend Jeff Caldwell felt compelled to tell me that this was the only town in the nation where a person can take a hot bath in Coldwater. Get it?). Scott, a World War II veteran who spent some time as a prisoner of war in Germany after his plane was shot down during a bombing run, said he got started in the game while he and some kinfolks were playing croquet in his backyard.
“My wife came out and said she had seen in the newspaper where they were going to have a Tennessee State Croquet Tournament in Memphis, which was just 25 miles away. So we went out and watched it. It’s just a wonderful game and the quality people you meet is just unbelievable. I would recommend it to any person.” He and Jeff played in the national croquet meet in Southampton, NY in 1999, where they won the national championship.
Will he give the nationals another try this year? “No, sir,” he replied quietly. “Maybe it’s because of my age but my game has just gone to pieces. This will probably be the last year that I will play.
The only reason I came here this year was not so much to play croquet but to see all the people that I have been friends with for years.
The most colorful response came from Missie Ramey of St. Louis. “When I’m at home, I play croquet, I garden and I ‘grandma’ very ferociously with four beautiful grandbabies and take care of a very sweet husband.”
But what draws her to croquet are the “really nice people,” she said. Besides that, “It’s outside, you’re in the sunshine, and you get to be vicious in a very civilized manner. People don’t have the opportunity to be vicious constructively, i.e, hunting or defending their space or whatever, and that’s a real primordial thing that people want. You get to do this and nobody dies, no blood is shed. It’s just as lot of fun.”
She also noted how competitive the game is: “There are some people who play croquet like some people play bridge for the social aspects and enjoy it for that reason. You get both here. But in tournament play, generally speaking, people want to win. That’s what athletes want to do—they want to compete.”
There’s also the strategy aspect, which she considers to be “a real important thing. If you can just keep your head about you. Some people are better at seeing the big picture than others. I’m reasonably good at strategy but every once in a while I go absolutely brain dead.”
For more information on the Arkadelphia Croquet Club call Jeff Caldwell (246-2241, or e-mail him at mykwikway@yahoo.com) or contact any other member.
