Events
Croquet 2012: 30 Years of a Wicket Tradition
Johnnies are gearing up for the 30th annual St. John’s-U.S. Naval Academy Croquet Match. The fact that this year’s Imperial Wicket, John “Johnnie” Fleming, a senior from Gaithersburg, Md., comes from a family of Johnnies— including a brother who was on the team—might add to the pressure to win this year’s Annapolis Cup. This Imperial Wicket takes it all in stride and keeps it fun.
Q: Are you the first in your family to lead the croquet team?
IW: It’s pretty cool to break ground as the first Imperial Wicket in the family. My parents are both St. John’s alumni, and I’ve had four siblings—one brother and three sisters—come through the Program as well. My brother, Charles Fleming (A08), was on the croquet team when he was here. He graduated a year before I came, but he had a lot of friends who were still on team, and they encouraged me to come out. He wasn’t an Imperial Wicket, but his roommate was.
Q: Which Program authors would be a great fit on the St. John’s croquet team?
IW: Mark Twain comes to mind because he was a Southern gentleman and had the right attitude. He was funny and didn't take things too seriously. And I’ve heard that Hume was a fun guy who enjoyed taking breaks from philosophy to play games with his friends.
Q: What do Johnnies discuss during a match?
IW: There are only about 45 seconds between shots, so conversation is sometimes pretty random. And there’s also a fair amount of heckling that goes on.
Q: How are Johnnies engaged in the wider croquet world?
IW: The Croquet Nationals is our only big event outside of the match with Navy. We used to play against a local croquet team, the West River Wickets, at the Patuxent Club. We also play the Ginger Cove retirement community, usually once a semester.
Q: What do most people probably not know about croquet?
IW: A sticky wicket—it’s a wicket that’s tighter than usual, where you feel that you’ve hit the ball perfectly, but it bounces and doesn’t go through. It’s a particularly tough wicket to go through. Johnnies also have some of our own lingo for croquet. For example, we use the term “split shot” to broadly refer to anytime a player hits two balls at the same time instead of taking off to go to the next wicket. Technically, it’s supposed to describe when you hit a half-roll, a three-quarter roll, a full roll, etc. Another thing is the three-ball break or run. Once you’ve learned that, you know how to play a nine-wicket match.
Q: How will the team prepare for this year’s match?
IW: Since Navy has 12 players and St. John’s only has nine on the team, we plan to bring up the new players to make sure that they’ll be ready. We also have game day traditions. At seven a.m. the whole team mows the front campus lawn with push mowers and rakes up the grass clippings. Last year we started a new tradition that we’ll try to keep this year, which is to have a team breakfast. Then, about a half-hour before the match, we’ll sneak off to change into our uniforms.
Q: Does croquet foster a bond between Mids and Johnnies?
IW: It definitely fosters a bond. Before the match, the two teams meet on the front lawn of campus for Media Day. That’s when reporters from the local newspapers come out, and it’s the first time our teams meet as a whole. Also, the day before the match the Johnnies are invited to eat lunch at the Academy with the Navy team and their company. It’s a great experience.
Q: How would you describe the Johnnie’s playing style?
IW: We get encouragement from an alumnus who is now a big deal in the croquet world. He told us that we should hit our shots like we do on the front campus, which is usually aggressive. We’re a confident team, but nobody takes it too seriously. It’s important to keep it fun.
The 30th annual St. John’s-U.S. Naval Academy Croquet Match will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 28. Rain date: Sunday, April 29. Please note that there are new policies for tents and alcoholic beverages. For more information: www.stjohnscollege.edu/events.