26052025
Range Croquet Maleny Report
Prepared by David Kerr

Our Hoops and High Tea event last Saturday was a sweet success thanks to people from groups including the showground dog walkers, Zonta, a local church, and family and friends. Few if any had tried croquet before and many later commented on how it is a joyful challenge. Some will be coming back to take advantage of the six free lessons that our club offers. That offer is always open to others should you like to give it a go. The day also featured a morning tea worthy of a royal visit. This was supplied by club members who also participated in setting up for the day on and off the courts. Thanks to those ladies!
Our club players are doing well in the Sunshine Coast regional Ricochet competition, where Maleny leads after five matches. Ricochet players are Dianne Horsman, Sarah Widin and Sam Oaten. In the Association Croquet, club champion Donna Manning recently competed in a Croquet Queensland event at Toombul, the “eights and the sixes”, coming a close third – well done Donna.
Our winter playing hours are as follows: coaching from 8:00am to 10:00am on Saturdays, Association on Thursdays and Sundays from 1:30pm to 4pm, Ricochet on Tuesdays (8am for an 8.30 start) and Golf Croquet 8am (as arranged). To find out more about learning croquet or how our club could provide a fun activity for your group or work team please contact President Sarah Widin on 0417640704.

Has anyone initiated contact with other sporting (non-croquet) clubs & organisations to suggest a fun day where they are introduced to our sport?

@MargoPorter Sounds like a very successful afternoon Margo. That's a lot of guests. So pleased that the weather fined up for you. Have you some photos to share?

ISIS CROQUET CLUB – CROQUET & HIGH TEA – SATURDAY, 22ND MARCH, 2025

Isis club held their ‘Croquet & High Tea’ on Saturday, 22nd March, 2025 between 2 & 4 pm.

Advertising was through Facebook, 2 newspapers, a Volunteer Day, posters in shop windows in Childers & Woodgate, and word of mouth.

We had 7 RSVPs and 6 attended. 5 were introduced to the game of Golf and Ricochet, (half an hour for each) while 1 was an elderly Life Member.

Everyone enjoyed their High Tea supplied by the Club members and also attended by 7 of our members. Although the number was small, it was more personal and everyone could join in the conversations.

At the end of the afternoon, one attendee indicated that they would be back the following week and two
more would return when the weather was a little cooler.

That one attendee has since been back and enjoying her free lessons and indicated that she will stay on.

All in all it was considered a great success. Thankyou CAQ for giving us this opportunity.

Many clubs have made some recommendations for how to do things better, or differently, next time we organise a state-wide "come'n'try" event.
Examples:

• be prepared for weather interrupting our plans

• most effective advertising (what worked for your club)

• organise follow-up activities before the day & get them happening when guests arrive

• make sure your members are well-informed about what is happening, and why these membership drives are important for their club

What would you recommend?

@MargoPorter Hi Margo, your message has arrived! But in the meantime we've taken care of business. Thanks for your patience. Penny

Eildon Croquet Club held its rescheduled event on Saturday 5 April. Despite predictions of showers, the afternoon was wonderful, if a tiny bit humid for the time of year. Thanks to our members for making guests feel so welcome, for showing them the basics of the game, and then for treating them to a sumptuous afternoon tea. Special mention goes to Louise, who made 80 cupcakes!

We are planning a low-key followup where we thank our guests for coming along, and invite them to get in touch if they would like to learn more.

We were also very pleased to welcome our State member, Kerri-Anne Dooley, MP for Redcliffe. Kerri-Anne spoke about the importance of celebrating women in sport, a special theme behind this Qld State Government grant-funded initiative.

@blanagan This absolutely fantastic. What a great result for your club.

Keep those photos coming!

What lovely photos from Laurel Bank. Your club is the the most beautiful setting

@Point-Lookout What a fabulous effort from your club. Well done to all your volunteers and supporters.

Please share your Croquet & High Tea experiences so we can all benefit from how you organised your event and what you thought went well, and what you might do differently next time.

Penelope Chesterfield advises that selecting a common date for a rescheduled Croquet and High Tea is likely to be too difficult at this late stage as clubs all have so many events on their calendars.

In which case, those clubs that need to postpone and reschedule should select a date that works for them.

Please thank all your volunteers, and let your guests know.

If you need new posters, let us know.

Clubs likely to be affected by severe weather this weekend are strongly advised to reschedule their Croquet & High Tea event. The forecast in S-E Qld is for very heavy rain on Saturday, following cyclonic conditions on Thursday/Friday.

Of course, we all hope for the best, but we must prepare for the worst.

Make an early decision to reschedule and you won't inconvenience your members and guests too much.

Remember that the primary objective of our activity is to introduce our female friends, family and guests to our wonderful sport, and not just give them a taste of how well we can organise a great high tea or BBQ.

Well it looks like our S-E Qld clubs are likely to be enjoying a little bit of wind and rain in the next few days. What bad timing.
Each club should manage their response to the weather as they see fit. I suggest, however, that if you decide to postpone, you make this decision relatively early (Friday?) and let all your members & guests know in good time.

A few clubs have asked if their members may prepared food for their high tea and have their expenses reimbursed.
Advice from the CAQ Treasurer is as follows:
If people want to make it, they would have Woollies receipts for the ingredients…..that would be OK

Probably worthwhile if your "chef" is making substantial quantities of something, eg a few dozen scones or fairy cakes. I suggest that you don't go overboard on exquisite and expensive cooking as these goodies are unlikely to be properly appreciated on the day!

@Alyson-Nolan Yes indeed - every time! Darling Downs clubs were perfect hosts. We love coming up.

Keep all your receipts so that your club can submit expense claims to CAQ that can be processed promptly using the following form. AWAG Claim form.pdf

@Alyson-Nolan Hi Alyson, great to hear from you. Here's your poster & banner graphic. Please let me know if any changes or corrections are required. Penny