Lithgow is forging ahead hosting a statewide competition of Gateball, a relatively new sport that is very big in Japan and fast gaining popularity in Australia.
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This weekend, Saturday February 24 and Sunday February 25, more than twenty players from around NSW and their families will descend on Lithgow to compete in what has been dubbed the ‘T20 of croquet’.
Gateball is a fast version of croquet played in teams of five, each match only lasts 30 minutes.
Lithgow has held an annual Gateball competition for the past two years, and this year will see two teams from Sydney, one from Newcastle and one from Canberra travelling to the town’s croquet club to compete.
“It’s a great experience for us all and gives us the fun of competing and learning,” Lithgow Croquet Club’s president Cass Hawkins said.
“It’s quite a practical game, so you can learn from other teams. If you’re watching you can go, ‘oh they did this, why don’t we try that sometime’.”
Lithgow will be entering three teams into the competition.
“Last year we only had two teams so if we can grow a team a year that’s pretty good,” Ms Hawkins said.
“With the three teams we hope we might get one team as the winners. There are a few new people in each of the team’s so none of us will be super duper.”
She said the Lithgow competition is attractive for Gateball players because it gives teams the opportunity to test their skills before formal competitions like the annual national championships.
Lithgow went to its first Gateball nationals last year.
“We didn’t fare too well, but we didn’t shame ourselves. We learnt an awful lot in tactics.”
Ms Hawkins encouraged anyone interested in Gateball to come down to Lithgow’s croquet club on James Street anytime between 9-5pm on Saturday and 9-3pm on Sunday to watch a game.
“Croquet has the the reputation for old people, but Gateball is certainly not. Because of our enthusiasm we would really love to attract some young people.”
About Gateball:
- Gateball is played on a rectangular court 20-25 metres long and 15-20 metres wide.
- Courts are generally grass, but can also be clay, gravel or concrete. Each court has three gates and a goal pole. The game is played by two teams (red and white) of five players.
- Each player has a numbered ball corresponding to their playing order. The odd-numbered balls are red and the even-numbered balls are white.
- Teams score one point for each ball hit through a gate and two points for hitting the goal pole.
- A game of gateball lasts for 30 minutes. The winner is the team that has the most points at the end of the game.
