02-06-2025
National Croquet Center adding six courts, will host world championship in West Palm Beach
The National Croquet Center will soon add another six courts to its complex off Florida Mango Road in suburban West Palm Beach. It expects to have the new courts built in time to host the Association Croquet World Championship in October.
'The addition of these courts is vital to compete on the world stage as one of the qualities is the number of courts available for a world championship event,' the center said in its filing submitted to Palm Beach County planners, which county commissioners recently approved.
The two-week tournament is expected to attract croquet players from all over the world, according to Marie Sweetser, general manager of The Croquet Foundation of America, which operates the croquet complex.
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The National Croquet Center at Florida Mango Road and Summit Boulevard is home to the world's largest dedicated croquet facility. It features 12 lush, full-sized, championship lawns spanning 4 acres, with a 19,000-square-foot clubhouse designed in the Florida Keys style. Constructed in 2002, the center is "the best-kept secret in West Palm Beach," according to its website.
Once the six new courts are built, the center will have 18 championship-style courts. In addition to allowing the local facility to attract top-caliber tournaments, Sweetser said more people will be able to play when the club isn't hosting tournaments.
'We need these courts to accommodate all the people looking to play croquet,' she said.
Croquet is a lawn game with roots in European aristocracy. It can be played by players of all ages, regardless of gender. It is particularly appealing to seniors as a low-impact sport, but it demands dexterity, focus and strategic thinking. Like polo, it is a sport that gained popularity in 19th-century Great Britain.
More than 10,000 people play croquet at the center every year. Since opening in 2002, it has already hosted several world championships for various styles of play.
Croquet began its revitalization as a competitive sport in the late 1970s and has continued to grow in popularity throughout the United States and Canada since then. According to the National Croquet Center, croquet is now played competitively in more than 20 countries.
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The growth of the sport can be largely attributed to the efforts of international and national croquet organizations such as Croquet Canada and the U.S. Croquet Association. Since the early 1980s, the number of competitive players in North America has risen from 50 to more than 8,000.
The new croquet courts near West Palm Beach are not expected to be visible from nearby homes. County planners have required a landscape buffer to minimize the impacts.
Mike Diamond is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He covers Palm Beach County government and issues concerning HOAs. You can reach him at mdiamond@ Help support local journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: National Croquet Center adding six courts, will host world championship
