Three US Players Participate in the WCF U21 Championship

The 2023 WCF Under 21 Golf Croquet World Championship took place February 8-12, 2023, in New Zealand, with Blake Fields, Stanley Fischer and Alix Worley all representing the U.S. in the event. USCA Vice President Michael Albert made the trip to New Zealand and participated in the following Q&A on the experience.

What was your role in traveling to the event and how did you get involved?

My wife Karen and I both traveled to Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand, this past February to accompany Blake Fields (16) who had earned the number three ranking spot in the tournament. We have known Fields and played with him since he was 10. As the First Vice President of the USCA, I was also representing the U.S. organization during the event.

Can you tell us a bit about how the players were selected and/or recruited?

Players are selected first by their WCF ranking. A certain number of players earn a place on the team this way. The balance of the tournament roster is completed through selections of promising players from member countries. Each of these countries has one or two picks based on several criteria. The USCA has two.

Two years ago the USCA, in conjunction with Jeff Soo, decided to initiate a High Performance and Talent Development program to find and develop players showing promising levels of skill and a desire to improve. I reached out to members of the croquet

community and raised enough through voluntary contributions to fund this new coaching platform. We staged six training events ranging from two to four days last year across the country. Players selected to participate had their expenses and housing covered by the new fund and the coaches donated their time.

One of the early participants was the collegiate team from Oklahoma Wesleyan University. Several of their players exhibited a strong desire to improve and compete at a higher level. After working with them a couple of times, two of their players, Alix Worley and Stanley Fisher, were selected to fill our two member spots.

We are continuing with our mission of developing programs at the collegiate level. The USCA has dedicated specific funds in 2023 to further the growth of the sport at participating colleges and universities. Part of the funds are allocated for equipment and the rest are for coaching.

Did the USCA cover any expenses for the three players?

The USCA was able to cover the entry fees and some of the expenses for the trip. The airfare for all three of the players was paid from the USCA’s Lee Olsen Fund as well as most of the accommodation rental. The LOF exists to offset travel expenses and uniforms for the players representing the USCA in international team events. It also provides uniforms for players traveling abroad to play internationally and when there are funds available it is used to provide funding for international youth events.

How was the event overall and can you comment on the performance of the three players?

Overall the event was run very professionally by members of Croquet New Zealand with a lot of experience organizing and producing world events. There were 32 players from six countries, New Zealand, Australia, England, Spain, USA and Egypt.

Fields went into the tournament ranked number three. This can be a bit misleading as the New Zealand players use a local handicapping system for most of their tournaments and only play a couple of WCF-ranking events a year. This system allows them to have very low handicaps that don’t match up with their WCF d-grades. I found their play to be much better than their WCF rankings would have you believe. The way the draw worked out, Fields ended up matched against the #2 ranked player (Egypt) in the quarterfinal round.

He lost that match and went into the Shield to play off for fourth and fifth place.

Fisher and Worley are relatively new players and did not have a lot of tournament experience. They went into the event in New Zealand in the two bottom spaces. They did, however, play exceptionally well and won several games. They were able to take a number of their competitors to a tiebreaker before losing. Every day I saw their confidence and skills improve and they made friends from around the globe who I expect will be part of their lives for many years going forward.

Thanks to one of the best live streams to date, fans across the world were well aware of the incoming “cyclone.” Can you tell us about how that impacted the event for you and the U.S. players and I suppose overall as well? Did it cause any travel issues?

Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle was threatening on Friday so, after consulting with numerous people present, the officials decided to move the semifinals forward from Saturday morning to Friday afternoon. The matches were moving along quite well at that point and we managed to get through the extra round and still finish basically on time Friday. Saturday morning, as the outer bands of the storm were moving onshore, the winds were gusting to 25 and 30 mph with temperatures in the low 60s and intermittent rain. The Shield and the finals began in these conditions. Fields played against Levi Franks in the shield and Franks prevailed placing fourth in the tournament. The best-of-five Finals match continued as the weather deteriorated further. Rain squalls came through with increasing regularity and intensity. The conditions were some of the most challenging I have witnessed but the two contenders gamely played on in spite of it being the first time the Egyptian player had experienced playing in rain or cold like this. Each of the games was competitive and exciting with stunning cross-court shots in spite of the conditions. Aston Wade (England) finally won the match in the fourth game.

Quite a few of the players already eliminated from the tournament elected to head to the airport in the hope of getting out before the storm hit. This affected the final awards banquet attendance with nearly half of the field leaving early. We elected to stay and head out to Auckland on Sunday morning even though our flight to Dallas had already been canceled. We had been rebooked for a flight Monday afternoon which we thought was optimistic but off we went to a hotel at the airport in Auckland. Surprisingly, the Monday flight was indeed there and waiting to take off and we left only 24 hours later than planned. Many of the other teams were delayed for several more days before finally getting away to their respective homes.

Can you give us your final takeaway from the event?

Karen and I were absolutely delighted and honored to be able to attend this event. The young players we met from around the world impressed me more than I might have imagined with their on-court skills and their off-court poise. I know I did not have the same level of self-confidence these players demonstrated each and every day. I am proud to be associated with a sport that produces people of this caliber and look forward to following their careers in the future.