Hall of Fame

Chris Clarke

Inducted: 2010

Chris has won every major event in the sport. However, this is only a small part of his contribution to the game, having served in many coaching and administrative positions over the past 25 years. I have split his croquet career into two sections, non- playing and playing and itemized his achievements and contributions below.

Non-Playing

1. Served on CA Council during the early to mid nineties.
2. Served on Colchester Croquet Club Committee for several years where he was also a trustee.
3. Coached the GB U-21 Squad for 2 seasons. Players included the likes of James Death, Jamie Burch and Kristian Chambers.
4. Gave several Gold plus level coaching courses between 2000 and 2005 in the UK. These were generally acknowledged to be the most detailed and best presented coaching courses many of the players had ever attended.
5. Has served on the Canterbury Croquet Association for almost 5 years, initially as Tournament Convenor and currently as President.
6. Chaired the Organising Committee for the 2008 WCF World Champs. Not only succeeded in running a highly successful event from a playing perspective but also generated a profit of around $25000 which was put directly back into Canterbury clubs.
7. Has run coaching courses for the NZ Development Squad in the North Island.
8. Has been Coach of the NZ U-21 Squad for the past 4 years.
9. Organised a trip for NZ Juniors to Europe and managed the players whilst in Egypt where Duncan Dixon won the World Champs.
10. Widely recognized for his willingness to champion player’s rights above personal gain.
11. Many and varied coaching courses for all levels of players both AC and GC in Canterbury and Timaru.
12. Served on CNZ GC Handicap Review Committee.
13. Integral part of United’s bid for their new clubhouse and 7th lawn.
14. Has just taken on the responsibility for mowing all 7 lawns at United, giving his time free of charge.
15. Secretary-General of the WCF during 2010.

Playing career

1. Has won every major singles title in the sport.
2. The only player in the history of the game to have won all the following major singles titles;  World Champs, British Open, NZ Open, Aus Open, Sonoma Cutrer, Presidents Cup, British Mens, NZ Silver Tray.
3. The only player (with Robert Fulford) to have won British, NZ and Australian Doubles Titles (holding all 3 simultaneously).
4. A record 12 British Open doubles titles plus 1 shared.
5. The most number of consecutive MacRobertson Shield Doubles matches unbeaten (23).
6. The most number of MacRobertson Shield Doubles matches won with a single partner (42)
7. The most number of MacRobertson Shield series with an unbeaten doubles record (3)
8. The first ever sextuple peel in a WCF World Championship (1991)
9. The first ever delayed sextuple peel in a WCF World championship (1995)
10. The only person to have won British and NZ Open doubles titles with two different partners (Fulford & Maugham/ Fulford & Williams).
11. The most number of consecutive triple peels or better (20) in 2007.
12. Youngest ever winner of the Presidents Cup.
13. Youngest ever Captain of GB (aged 24 in 1996)
14. 5 winning MacRobertson Shield appearances as of May 2010
15. Various NZ National Golf croquet titles.
16. Member of Rest of World GC team that beat Egypt in 2008.
17. Currently ranked world number 2 at GC.
18. AC World number 1 for last 30 months.

To summarise, Chris is a player who has the combination of

1. Fantastic playing career
2. Outstanding administrative contribution and
3. Outstanding coaching

He is currently retired from competitive singles play due to health issues.

Updated September 20, 2011