Victorian Croquet

The American version of the National Croquet Association was founded in 1879. It held its first national tournament in 1882. While English lawn croquet was played at scattered locations, an American form of croquet had also evolved into a very different game from the sedate English version. A professional American version of croquet, dubbed Roque, was played on a court of hard-packed dirt, with very narrow wickets and short mallets. A wooden barricade, to keep the lively balls on the field of play, enclosed the court. Roque was a fast paced cutthroat game that horrified the English. In an effort to standardize the traditional game of croquet, the NCA held a convention in 1882 and adopted a standard set of rules for the nine-wicket game.

 

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