Come & Try: how it works, from sign-up to session

This guide is for club volunteers and committees taking part in Come and Try, from the newcomer's sign-up to the session on the lawn.

How clubs do it

1. A newcomer goes to comeandtrycroquet.com, enters their postcode, picks a session at a nearby club and gives their name, email, mobile and postcode. They can bring a friend.
2. They get a booking text straight away, with the club, day, time, address and a reminder to wear flat shoes.
3. About two days before, they are asked to reply YES or NO. Anyone who books less than 48 hours ahead gets this straight away.
4. At the cut-off (6 pm the evening before a morning session, 9 am on the day for an afternoon one), places with no reply are cancelled and reopened.
5. The club contact gets a text listing who confirmed: how many and their first names, including friends.
6. Those who confirmed get a reminder the day before. On the day, the club greets them, runs the session, invites them back and talks about joining.

Who does what

The system handles sign-up, booking, texts, confirming, cancelling and the contact's list. The club provides session times, a membership fee, a contact person and a warm welcome.

Each session has four places unless the club has set its own number; friends count within those. If nearby clubs have no free times, the page still takes the person's details and says the local club will be in touch. If no one confirms, the contact's text says so, and there is no need to set up.

Ads run near the club and pause when sessions are nearly full. To change visitor numbers, email hello@croquetqld.org.

Recording visitors

Croquet Australia's Temporary Member Policy says Come n Try visitors and beginners are to be "registered at the start of their first lesson/session either via the QR code or manual recording by the club/host". It says "Insurance will cover only those that are recorded as attending and 'signed in' prior to commencement of the session", allows up to 6 visits in a calendar year, and says people not recorded have "Public Liability cover only, if the club is found at fault".

The CAQ Club Administration Handbook 2026, s.12, "encourages" clubs to follow the policy. The V-Insurance FAQ says Come & Try people are covered "so long as the club fulfills the requirements set out by their state association". More on visitors: Do members need to sign in?

Check your club's times

Newcomers are offered the times the club has recorded, so a wrong time sends someone to the lawn at the wrong hour. Times and fee are on the myCroquet Your times page, where a club can also set session days and turn "Offering sessions" on or off. The Come & Try part of the Club Profile holds the same times, so a change in one changes both. Other details are in Club Profile.

To register interest, check details, or get the host sign-up form, email hello@croquetqld.org.

The East Brisbane pilot

East Brisbane Croquet Club piloted the programme in early 2026. Sixteen people came through in six weeks, six of them from flyers, and the committee acknowledged the highest membership growth the club had seen in memory. A Facebook ad test from 2 to 8 March 2026 cost $91.43 for 14 sign-ups ($6.53 each), against a forecast of $17 to $33. That is a March 2026 result, not a promise. Because 73% of sign-ups came from outside the target postcodes, Come and Try now runs with several clubs in a region at once.

Where this comes from

1. Croquet Australia, Temporary Member Policy (modified 5 May 2025)
2. CAQ Club Administration Handbook 2026, s.12
3. V-Insurance, Frequently Asked Questions: Come & Try cover
4. comeandtrycroquet.com: the sign-up page
5. myCroquet, Your times
6. The Club Profile module (Club Hub guide)
7. Do members need to sign in? (Club Hub guide)