ACTING mayor Bill Moar joined the Swan Hill Croquet Club players for their first hit of the new season on Wednesday at Swan Hill Tennis Club.
“Today is the opening of the new season,” club volunteer Julie Barber said.
“We actually play all year round and used to call it end-start of season, but now we call it a new season where we play golf croquet, association croquet and a format called Aussie croquet, but once daylight saving begins, we stop playing Aussie.”
The club held its presentation lunch before heading out for the hit.
“We had a presentation to finish off last season’s play, and we had several winners and runner-ups of awards being the same person, so we just put a bit extra money towards their prize to make it more worthwhile,” Mrs Barber said.
Mrs Barber is hoping to change the perception of croquet among the community as participation continues to fall for the club.
“Our numbers are dwindling, unfortunately, due to age and COVID,” she said.
“Everyone has this concept that they think the game is for little old ladies, but it’s not – there were more men at our last Murray Valley tournament that featured on the podium than women.”
