Hall of Fame
Colonel Anthony Hall O.B.E.
Inducted: 2010
Colonel Anthony (Tony) Hall O.B.E. has devoted himself to croquet for more than twenty years, both as a player and an administrator. He "retired" to the position of Treasurer of the Australian Croquet Association (ACA) in 2004 after five years from 1998 to 2003 as President of the World Croquet Federation, preceded by terms as President of his club, his State and as Senior Vice-President of ACA.
He spent 40 years in the Australian Army, serving overseas in the Antarctic, Malaya, England, Thailand, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea, retiring as Colonel and as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. His experience was gained from that service and from playing and administering many sports. He was influential in starting a hockey club, was secretary of the Canberra Veterans Hockey Association for three years, representing his State for ten years, and was treasurer of a squash club for 14 years. During ten years administering swimming, he became a senior swimming referee and was made a life member of his club after it became the top club in Australia. He learnt high level sports politics and management from experience with the New South Wales and Australian Swimming Associations.
He became Secretary of Canberra Croquet Club within months of joining and then Treasurer after two years. As President of Croquet NSW from 1993 to 1996 he visited all NSW clubs, increasing membership from 48 to 62 clubs in three years. During his term as President of the WCF he visited all 24 countries who were members and ten other potential members.
In 1998 he became chairman of the WCF working party to re-write the rules of Golf Croquet, relinquishing that position in 2004, but remaining as Australia's representative. The new rules have lead to a world-wide resurgence of Golf Croquet.
When becoming WCF President, Tony had several ambitions for the WCF. He wanted it to become the genuine international body, taking full responsibility for the rules of the game, for organisation of international competitions and for standardising handicapping and everything that happens on the court. He also wanted to expand the number of office bearers and officers so that the duties of the Secretary-General were delegated among a larger number of administrators. He performed the duties of the Secretary-General as well as those of President for one year in the middle of his term before finding a replacement for the inaugural incumbent and a number of other officers. Except for the Laws of Association Croquet and management of the MacRobertson Shield, his ambitions have been realised, and those two omissions appear to be in train.
Since 1990 Tony Hall has travelled around the world every year to play and administer croquet, attending every World Championship and MacRobertson Shield competition. He played in the Australian Association Croquet Championships every year and has been ranked in the top hundred in the world. He has played in the British, New Zealand, Irish, Canadian, German and United States Association Croquet National Championships and in all other WCF countries with courts, winning the German Open in 2001. He also won the Open Doubles Golf Croquet Championship of England and won his Australian tracksuit in 1998 to play for Australia in the World Golf Croquet Championships. Since then he has since played in five more World Golf Croquet Championships, with a best placing of twentieth. From 2001 to 2006 he represented NSW in the Australian Interstate Association Croquet competition and has represented that State in 2007 and 2008 in the first two Australian Interstate Golf Croquet competitions. He won the 2002 and 2005 National Golf Croquet Handicaps, the 2004 Australian Golf Croquet Open Singles Championship and in 2005 won the NSW and Queensland Open Singles Association Croquet championships. He also played hockey with his veterans’ team for twenty years, touring England, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Australia and South America.
For five years he was Tournament Referee of the Sonoma-Cutrer World Championships in California which raised over $US 1 million for the Make-a-Wish charity foundation in each of the last three years.
He was the Tournament Referee for the 3rd WCF World Golf Croquet Championships at Leamington Spa in 1997 and has refereed in almost all the world level events since then, both in Association Croquet and Golf Croquet. He was Tournament Referee of the Canberra Open tournament for the last twenty years and refereed the final of the most recent World Association Croquet Championship.
Tony is a widower with three children and seven grandchildren.