Josh Winter, twins Myles and James Duggan (all 21), and Levi Franks, 20, started playing croquet in late 2017 and then began competing in 2018 while at Cashmere High School.
They have had big success since then - with a high point of representing New Zealand at the U21 golf croquet world championships last year and winning numerous national titles.
They will all compete at the open national championships in Nelson which starts on Monday.
It was Winter who started things off.
“I didn’t know what it was, and I really didn’t want to go, but I went down,” said Winter who was 14 at the time.
“I was into pool at the time so she thought I would like croquet.”
He went with a friend, Matthew Sherman, who no longer plays, and shortly afterwards got his other mates involved.
“Myles had a sleepover at my house and we were bored in the morning, so we decided to play croquet a bit.
“We started playing, then James and Levi turned up about a half a month later.”
They were all sporty kids - Winter played football with James and Myles Duggan.
He isn’t sure exactly what kept them coming back but said they were having a lot of fun.
“I don’t think we would have kept playing if we didn’t enjoy it!”
The first to get a ball through seven hoops is the winner.
It’s similar, but not identical, to association croquet - the more traditional version of the sport where players can take more than one shot in sequence as a reward for getting a ball through a hoop or hitting another ball.
The first to get through each of the six hoops twice and then hit the centre pole is the winner.
Last month, the foursome competed at the U21 nationals in Palmerston North, where Franks took out the singles competition, beating James Duggan in the semi-finals while Winter was another semi-finalist.
Myles Duggan lost to his brother in the quarter-finals and the twins also made the final of the doubles competition, losing to another sibling duo, Wellington’s Jessica and Nathan Bullen.
Franks is also among the top players in the country for all ages, having won the national championship singles once and doubles three times – twice with Winter and once with James Duggan.
“My goal is to win a world championship,” Franks said.
"The biggest thing with the open worlds is I’ve got my whole life to try and win it."
They will not be the only Cantabrians at the nationals – defending champion Logan McCorkindale, 24, is from Ashburton originally but now lives in Christchurch and will be competing alongside his brother Reece.
Paul Kaiser, 20, lives and studies in Christchurch after moving from Palmerston North and will team up with James Duggan for the doubles competition.
Jason Hodgett, who competed at the U21 world championship in 2019, will also be taking part.
Former world No 1 Chris Clarke and his wife Jenny, a reserve for the Openshaw Shield team, will compete only in the doubles.
James Duggan looked back fondly on the foursome’s journey so far.
“Croquet has brought us really close together, and it’s just a whole lot of great memories over the six years,” he said.
“I look back and it’s one of the best times of my life.”
- Interested in playing croquet? Call Gay Jones at the Canterbury Croquet Association on 021 977 714 or visit croquetcanterbury.com to find out more.
