BROADWAS Croquet Club’s Golf Croquet team is set to represent England in the European GC League tournament this weekend.
The prestigious event will be held in the town of Telč, Czech Republic.
Hailing from a tiny village club, the team members are from Worcester, Malvern, Pershore, and surrounding areas.
After months of rigorous preparation, the team, comprising captain Stuart Smith, Ian Dampney, Billy Nicholson, and Jon Carrington, is ready to take on competitors from Spain, Germany, and the host nation.
The winners of this heat will advance to the Grand Final in Madrid, scheduled to take place in October.
In a show of solidarity and support, club members raised a glass to the team during their final practice session before the tournament.
Ian Dampney said the team have a good chance to win and thee will be 20 peple practising on two lawns.
Billy Nicholson said: “Just the whole business of being in a European championship. It really is a bit of prestige.”
Jon Carrington, with his trademark brevity, stated his main focus: ‘Winning it.’
He acknowledged that the Czech team might have a slight edge in dynamic grades but remained optimistic
“Everyone can have an off day. The more competitions you play, the more you learn. On your day, you can beat anyone.”
Carrington, drawing from his successes in national ‘B’ and ‘C’ Level competitions, believes his experience will be beneficial.
Team captain Stuart Smith is equally optimistic about their chances.
He said: “On the rankings, we are about par with Telč. We’re ahead of the Spanish and the Germans,”
“If it was here, we’d really favour our chances. At Telč the lawns are good and flat, but there are only two of them, so we’ll be double-banking the entire time.”
