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British Aikido Board Controversy
The Aikido Controversy
The Aikido Controversy is now a part of British Aikido History. It was a long and difficult fight to protect the true history of British Aikido from the false claims of Mr Jack Poole and The British Aikido Board....
The Aikido Biography of Sensei Henry Ellis
The Biography of Sensei Henry Ellis
5th dan
Henry Ellis and Derek Eastman - 2000
Henry Ellis was born May 3rd 1936 in a tough coal mining town in the County of Yorkshire, North of England. This was pre-war Britain, and growing up as...
The Secrets Of Martial Arts Exposed
The secrets of Martial Arts exposed
This is a controversial topic. So in order not to offend anyone let me say this. Everything in the Martial Arts realm is good in its own context, but when people preach that Judo is a realistic form of self...
The Sport Of Goalball
How would you like to have a three-pound ball the size of a basketball fired at you at 50, 60 miles an hour, and you have to hurl your body in a diving attempt to stop it while blindfolded? This isn't some fraternity initiation prank. It's a...
TOP TEN Myths Surrounding the Montreal Expos
10 - That the Expos lost its fan base after all the English left in the early 80’s.
The Olympic Stadium continued to average over 18 thousand visitors per game until 1997. While they were not leaders in attendance by any stretch, it was still a...
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Croquet - A Recreational Sport
Is croquet a sport, or more of just a recreational activity for people to play in their backyards, or both it be both a competitive sport and recreation. Croquet was actually once played as a competitive sport in the Olympics. It began to get popular in the late eighteen hundreds, sharing fields or courses with tennis. Tennis eventually beat out croquet as the more popular sport, and croquet was dropped from the Olympic Games. Currently tennis is a very popular competitive sport, while many do not know what croquet is. Croquet is making a comeback, however, growing once again into a national and international competitive sport.
Croquet was spread around the globe in the late 1800's by the British Empire. It was a new recreational and somewhat competitive sport quickly gaining popularity. At the turn of the century it was added as a sport in the Olympic Games, only to be taken back out again by the subsequent Olympic Games. Croquet was removed from the Olympic Games because countries could not agree on the rules. American croquet associations played by different rules than the European associations played. This created some conflicts on how rules would be dealt with at the international level. Croquet left the high level sports arena and was cast back down to be carried on only by small clubs and groups of croquet followers. It was also played for recreation in backyards and parks.
In the 1960's and 70' croquet began to gain back its lost ground. Large croquet clubs on the east coast of the US decided to compete with each other and agreed on some official rules. With official rules established and the establishment of the croquet association to govern those rules, croquet was played as a competitive sport once again. Since 1980, croquet has grown from a sport played by a few professionals to several thousand professional croquet players in North America today. Local, national, and international croquet tournaments are being held often.
Nevertheless,
croquet is still little known to many people especially as a competitive sport. Many Americans play croquet for recreation in their backyards or in parks, oblivious to the fact that it is a sport played professionally; that there is a World Governing body for croquet - the World Croquet Federation; there is the USCA - the United States Croquet Association; along with national croquet associations in many countries throughout the world.
Different rules have developed over time for croquet. The type of croquet that many Americans play in their backyards requires different rules than that played professionally in clubs and tournaments. The lawns are also trimmed like a golf course four tournament and club play, while backyard players will play on whatever grass is in the backyard. Different types of croquet set are used for different styles of croquet as well. A backyard croquet set can just be a simple inexpensive croquet set. Usually backyard and recreational croquet sets are nine wicket sets ranging from four to eight players. Some professional croquet sets are six wicket sets with fancy mallets and balls designed for professional play on well kept fields.
Croquet is both a recreational activity that anyone can play in their backyard, and a competitive sport gaining more popularity even as you read this article. Soon some of those backyard croquet players, currently oblivious to the fact, will become the Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods of croquet, making millions of dollars winning tournaments and getting sports and athletic sponsors. Thousands will flock to their tournaments and millions will watch them on television.
About the Author
Peter Jay is a Vice President with Yard Game Central and a manager and web administrator with PlayCroquet.com. For more information about croquet visit www.PlayCroquet.com/
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