Croquet: The game before The Game

"We expect to crush Harvard, in part because they have only one returning player, and in part because our team is so strong," captain Martha Bagnall, BR '99, said. In collegiate croquet, experience varies dramatically. According to Bagnall, "everyone enters college at the same skill level, that is to say, none." Having five returning players, then, is a major advantage.

That is not to say the players are taking a win over Harvard for granted. They have been practicing since the beginning of the semester, a dedicated effort which culminated in an intense, early-morning practice on Sat., Nov. 14.

While the Harvard game comes this weekend, most of Yale's games are in the spring. Last year, the squad placed third out of four teams at Nationals, which was held in Delaware in April. "Harvard didn't even show up to that one, which we thought was kind of pathetic," Bagnall said. While some teams missed Nationals because of the high cost of plane travel, Harvard cannot use that excuse. This year, Yale expects to do better at Nationals, and this time it hopes to have the chance to beat Harvard there--again.

--Carl Bialik

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