THE LITTLE WINS By Chris Alvey, dbmallets@gmail.com, Sponsors of the Townsend Club Award
Croquet may be made up of various codes, formats and types of game, but ultimately it is a sport — despite the opinion of several of my friends to the contrary! As with most sports, success is generally measured in fairly straightforward ways: where your team finishes in the league; how far you progress in a competition; and, ideally, how much silverware you can squeeze into the trophy cabinet. As a team, Bury Caesars started the 2026 season somewhat badly. We lost our first few matches by the narrowest of margins — often just a single game — before eventually finding our feet. As a club, we started strongly in the Longman Cup, only to be knocked out in the quarter-finals. It would be easy, therefore, to look at the wins, losses, points and tournament progression and declare that these are the things that define our season. But as the 2026 season draws to a close, I think it is worth looking beyond these and recognising the little wins too: the things that improved our club, our teams, our individual games and, ultimately, our sport. For Anne and I, we both achieved handicap reductions — definitely a win. Unfortunately, I then proceeded to completely lose my groove and dropped a few games. Anne, on the other hand, adapts far better than I do and simply carried on winning… Not jealous at all. One of the frustrating things about being a coach is that I am pretty good at helping other people improve their swings, shots and technique, while apparently being rather less talented when it comes to applying the same principles to myself. My breakthrough came when I asked Mark to watch my swing during a friendly game. Two minutes of advice resulted in a small change to my hand position and swing — and suddenly I was hitting the ball well again. More importantly, I was much more relaxed. Admittedly, practising more may also have contributed somewhat. I suppose I should give that some credit too. As a club, signing up new members is always a win. Hosting A, B and C-level GC tournaments at the club was a win. Seeing people attend coaching sessions and improve their GC and AC games is another. I have also been asked to visit one of the clubs where I previously demonstrated mallets and provide some coaching, as they currently don’t have a coach. That is a win on several levels: I get to help other players improve, share some knowledge and, most importantly, spend more time enjoying the sport. And then there are all the really small wins. The little changes. The quick piece of advice to one of our club players.
The suggestion to a customer on the phone or at a mallet demonstration. The moment when someone comes back and says, “That actually worked!” Those moments might never appear in a league table or tournament report, but they matter. They are progress. I could, of course, get frustrated — and occasionally quite angry — at not making as much progress as I would like as a player. Anne will happily confirm that this does happen! But the reality is that I have two jobs, a business and less time to play croquet than I would like. So perhaps the lesson for me, and hopefully for all of us, is that we shouldn’t measure a season solely by the big wins. Yes, leagues, trophies, handicap reductions and tournament results matter. Of course they do. But so do the new members, the improved swings, the better shots, the useful conversations, the coaching sessions and those small moments when something suddenly clicks. Every one of those is a win for the individual, a win for the club and, ultimately, a win for croquet. As we exit the 2026 season, I hope we can all take those little wins with us. Build on them, share them and look for more of them. Because if we do, then perhaps the biggest win of all will be seeing more people enjoying the game, improving their play and helping the sport continue to grow. And, of course, there is always the small matter of the silverware…
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 32
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator