Croquet Association Salutes Broadwas Croquet Club’s John Steel

Club President John Steel

The Croquet Association has awarded Club President John Steel a Diploma For Services To Croquet.

Presenting John with the award, former Club Chairman Stuart Smith said “John Steel is the sort of person that any croquet club would be very keen to have as a member!”

Stuart told club members “Broadwas has been fortunate to have had him for over 20 years. His contribution over that time has been immense. When he joined in the early days of the club, we only had one lawn cut into the outfield of the village cricket ground. Now, there are five lawns all with their individual eccentricities and 80 playing members.”

Stuart added “Throughout that time John has been a keen member always promoting the club and coming up with innovative ideas to improve the playing facilities and encourage social activities. With a keen interest in horticulture, John took on responsibility for lawn care and mowing and continually improved the playing surface as well as overseeing improvements to the pavilion.”

“Diligently searching out local and national grant funding he overcame a major rabbit problem that developed in our rural location by installing rabbit-proof fencing around the entire ground and pushed for a fourth and then a fifth lawn to accommodate the growing member base. Sometimes, as Chairman, I found it difficult to keep up with John’s enthusiastic ideas!”

John has been Club President for many years and was delighted to win the inaugural Veterans GC trophy in 2019.

Stuart ended his address, saying “It’s impossible to list all the initiatives that John has taken on, but the thriving nature of our club bears witness to his dedicated service.”

Former Club Chairman Stuart Smith begins his address
A sizeable crowd looked on as former Chairman Stuart Smith gave his tribute to John Steel
John receives applause from the rollup crowd
John and Stuart
John pictured with fellow members after the presentation of his diploma