Stephens links Olympic history with a busy winter at the club

Did you know that Croquet was once an Olympic sport? In the context of Croquet and women’s participation in sport, I thought this might be of interest to readers. Excerpts from ABC News SPORT 25 July 2024 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-25/paris-olympics- rst-50-50-male-female-athletes- alicemilliat103908400utmcampaign=abcnewsweb&utmcontent=link&utmmedium=co ntentshared&utmsource=abcnews_web The Paris Olympics are the first to have equal split of male and female athletes, and Alice Milliat is the reason why:- "Even though the IOC was for a long time reluctant to admit sportswomen, it has to be said that, today, it is succeeding where other cultural areas such as the media, cinema or music have still not really found solutions to combat sexism," Dr Carpentier wrote in a piece entitled Women at the Olympic Games. For the first time ever at a Games, there are an equal number of events for men and women. fi

There is a degree of symmetry in this , albeit a slightly disingenuous one , because women first appeared in competition at the first Olympics Paris hosted in 1900. Despite the opposition, this Olympics did, retrospectively in any case, feature the first female competitors at a Games , 22 of them, out of a total of 997 athletes, in fact, competing in five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrian and golf.

Mdm Filleul-Brohy and Marie Ohnier hold the honour of being the first competitors, competing in the sadly departed mixed-gender Croquet competition.Alice Milliat was a ground-breaking advocate for women's sport.

Born in Nantes in 1884, Milliat moved to London in 1904 to become a tutor for a family, who introduced her to a world of sport, giving her a grounding in football, hockey, athletics and rowing. In 1917, Milliat told the French government: "Women's sport has its place in social life in the same way as men's sport. It should even come to the forefront of the government's concerns." Her initial attempts to propagate women's sport into the Olympics hit a brick wall in the form of Baron de Coubertin , so she organised her own. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee but was not a supporter of women's sport. By the time the Games next took place in Paris in 1924, women's only events still accounted for less than 10 per cent of the total.

Since the 1924 Paris Olympics - in both the foreground and background- women who have kept things moving at Stephens for the last century!

At our club, as well as well-attended social play, the usual rounds of Metropolitan Pennants and participation in Regional and State events have continued. To promote Association Croquet, the new CAQ Coordinator Development Events 1 and 2 were held at Stephens at the end of June. Some more experienced Div 2 and Div 3 players joined the ‘learners’ from Merthyr and Twin Rivers as they continue to spread their wings. Party bookings continue to contribute to club funds and on a beautiful July afternoon, there was, once again, a very successful concert by Mango Jam Big Band joined by singer, Hilz. The band rehearses in our clubhouse each week.

Stephens is always pleased to see friends from other clubs - Association Croquet (Wednesday & Saturday) and Golf Croquet (Friday and Sunday). Under lights - both Association Croquet and Golf Croquet on Tuesday evenings. Heather Knight

By Heather Knight, Stephens. From the Croquet Newsletter, July/August 2024, pages 41-43.