2021 Hall of Fame Inductees

On November 12, 2021, the Croquet Foundation of America (CFA), in association with the United States Croquet Association (USCA), will induct 2021 honorees Jim Bast and Dr. Mohammad Kamal into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame. Their biographies and photos are to follow. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Induction ceremony was postponed until November 12, 2021, so 2020 Honorees Rory J. Kelley and Sherif Abdelwahab will also be inducted on November 12. Please visit https://bit.ly/CFAHOF2020 to see the Croquet News article with their biographies and photos. This year’s Induction Ceremony will be preceded by a cocktail reception followed by a candlelight dinner. They will take place during the week of the Seniors Masters Nationals at the beautiful Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The CFA Officers and the Directors of the CFA and USCA encourage their friends, guests and all croquet enthusiasts to join them in paying tribute to these esteemed members of our croquet family as we enthusiastically acknowledge their accomplishments in great style. All government health guidelines will be followed at this event to ensure a safe gathering. Invitations to the dinner will be mailed to all USCA members in early fall. Proceeds from the Gala help support the Croquet Foundation of America’s National Croquet Center and its croquet-related charitable programs. Tickets are $235 per person but are discounted to $160 for croquet players in the concurrent Senior Masters Tournament. For information or to make reservations, call Marie Sweetser at (561) 478-2300, Ext. 3.

With competitive fire, Jim Bast set lofty goals for United States Croquet and his skills helped achieve them. He was a leader during a critical time in the history of our sport when the USA was first seeking and obtaining international recognition. Decades later, he is still setting the bar high and making history, both at home and abroad. Notably, he was part of the first USA Team to win the prestigious international Association-Rules Solomon Trophy. An avid 9-wicket player in the Kansas City area throughout the 1970’s, Bast was introduced to the American 6-wicket game in Phoenix in 1981 when he joined the US Croquet Association (USCA) and the Arizona Croquet Club. His talent was promptly apparent as he was named the USCA’s Rookie of the Year in 1982. Then in 1984, he won both the Singles and Doubles in the American-Rules National Championship in NYC’s Central Park, landing a front-page picture in the New York Times. He was the first USCA National Champion not from the Eastern Seaboard, reflecting the growth of croquet “Out West” during that decade. As an early member of the Arizona Croquet Club, Bast was a leader of the vanguard of players that helped reshape and define the way that American-Rules croquet was played. Bast then turned his attention to helping USCA founder Jack Osborn to achieve his goal of establishing international recognition for American Croquet and having the USA accepted as the fourth member country for the MacRobertson Shield competition, the pinnacle of international competition. Bast was part of the original Team USA selected to compete in the International Challenge Cup in 1982 and 1983. This event promoted both American Six Wicket and Association Croquet Laws, giving the USA opportunities to play against countries like South Africa, Scotland and Ireland here on American soil. In 1985, he joined Team USA to compete in the USCA National Team Great Britain Tour, the first test match. Before triple peels were commonplace, it is significant that Bast was the first American to record a triple in tournament competition and in an international competition during the inaugural USA versus Great Britain Test Match in 1985. After 10 years of the USA’s striving to improve its game and stature, the USA was admitted as the fourth country for the MacRobertson Shield. Bast humbly admits that he was the first and only American to defeat the legendary John Solomon in tournament competition. He was also the first American to reach the finals of the Sonoma-Cutrer World Croquet Championship, narrowly losing to David Maugham in 1991. Striving to promote the game in these early years, he introduced innumerable high-achieving players to the game. He mentored them through pro-am competitions and instructing at the Arizona Croquet Club. His students included Hall-of-Famer Jerry Stark and National and World Champion Jacques Fournier. Bast also served as an instructor in USCA instructional schools and helped publicize the game when he was featured in domestic and international media coverage. When Bast moved to Austin, Texas, in 1995, a city without a croquet court or club, he essentially retired from competitive croquet to raise a family with his wife Cynthia. In 2003, inspired by visiting his croquet friends who were playing in the MacRobertson Shield in Florida, Bast knew he wanted to play competitively again. He then set his sights high, intending to qualify once again to play on USA international teams. This goal was realized with his selection as an alternate for the Solomon Trophy team in 2008, and ultimately as a member of the 2009 team, the first USA victory. Subsequently he was chosen for the 2010 MacRobertson Shield team. His comeback was all the more remarkable since his nearest practice facility was more than three hours from home. Since his return to competition, Bast has once again been a stout competitor in domestic and international events, as shown by the various championships listed below. In addition, Jim has contributed to the USCA by serving on the International Committee and writing columns for USCA publications. He currently serves on the USCA Nominating Committee under Rich Curtis.

In a croquet career spanning 40 years, some of Bast’s accomplishments include: • USCA Southwestern Regional Champion (American Rules) 1996 • Member of 12 USCA National Teams ʺ International Challenge Cup 1982, 1983 ʺ National Team Great Britain Tour 1985 ʺ Solomon Trophy 1991, 2008 (reserve), 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016 (reserve) ʺ MacRobertson Shield 1993, 2010, 2014 • Canadian National Champion 2009, 2012 • USCA Eights Co-Champion 2010, 2013 • USCA Western Regional Champion (Association Croquet Laws) 2015 • Multiple Arizona Open titles, including the first Arizona Open Champion • USCA National Doubles Champion Association Croquet Laws 2016 • Bast has competed in eight Sonoma-Cutrer World Croquet Championships, including the first seven events, five WCF World Croquet championships and numerous Calzona competitions.

In summary, Jim Bast is a man who has successfully played croquet at the highest level, in both the Association Rules version and in American Six Wicket. He epitomizes enthusiasm, bonhomie and camaraderie. He has traveled widely in the pursuit of his sport and represented his country with distinction and honor. The pleasure he takes in warmly greeting fellow croquet players whenever the opportunity arises makes him a special ambassador for American croquet wherever he travels, abroad or in the US. Above all, he has been a huge credit to the game as a player and exemplar, a most welcome addition to the United States Croquet Hall of Fame.

Mohammad Kamal is known to many as the “Father of Golf Croquet” in the United States. Arguably the first great golf croquet (GC) player in this country, he was a pioneer of GC in the US before it became popular. Although many croquet players know him from his superior level of GC play, many more have come to know him through his countless contributions to GC in this country…as a club builder, promoter, teacher, ambassador and tireless advocate of this sport. In that sense, the current popularity of GC in the US can be traced back to his efforts. For more than 20 years, he has been a dominant GC player in the United States. He won the inaugural US National GC Singles championship in 1999, and later won two other National Singles titles in 2007 and 2009. He also represented the US with distinction in the World Croquet Federation (WCF) GC World Championships in 1997, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2011 and 2017. In 2012, he was one of only four Americans selected for the US team participating in the inaugural WCF GC World Team Championship, an event many consider comparable to the MacRobertson Shield in Association Rules.

Finally, from 2000 to 2010, a time when GC play in the US was embryonic, Kamal held the following world Golf Croquet rankings: 7th in 2000; 10th in 2002; 14th in 2006; 19th in 2007 and 2009; and 20th in 2010. Very few Americans have ever held a top-20 ranking, and only two other Americans have ever been ranked in the top seven of GC in the world (Ben Rothman and Sherif Abdelwahab). Perhaps more importantly, his countless contributions off the court have been crucial to the popularity of GC in the United States, which facilitated the growth of croquet in this country. For example, he was the president of the Beverly Hills Croquet Club (BHCC) from 1999-2000. In 2007, he and three others founded the Pasadena Croquet Club. He was a member of the WCF GC Rules Committee, which established the first codified set of GC Rules for worldwide use. When the USCA’s GC Committee was first established in approximately 2002, he served as a member for several years thereafter. Kamal has worked hard to publicize the sport and to promote it regionally and nationally. He starred in “Kamal v. Rothman: the Pasadena Play-Off,” an exhibition GC event between him and Rothman that was made into a DVD and has been sold by the USCA to the public since 2011. While participating in several WCF GC championships, he wrote articles about them for Croquet World Online Magazine. In 1999, he organized and ran the Beverly Hills International GC tournament, which was the first international GC event played in the North America. In 2000 and 2001, he coordinated top-ranked Egyptian players to play in major US events. In 2011, he ran the Palm Beach Polo Club GC event, which featured world-class GC players from throughout the world competing against top American croquet players. And in 2015, he put on a GC clinic in connection with an event in North Carolina, which focused on higher-level strategy for established players trying to make the US national team.

Kamal also promotes the game through a vast network of important social relationships. Examples are his long-standing friendships with Khalid Younis and Salah Hassan, both former GC world champions from Egypt, which inspired so many great Egyptian players to showcase their skills in this country. He also maintains close relationships with Stephen Mulliner, the current WCF Secretary-General, as well as former WCF Presidents Amir Ramsis Naguib, David Openshaw and Tony Hall. Now 55 years old and living in South Pasadena, Calif., Kamal is married and has three adult children. He is a boardcertified medical pathologist, licensed to practice in several states. He runs his own private pathology laboratory in Pasadena and serves as the medical director of several labs in California. He is widely known for his numerous efforts to serve his community. In response to the COVID-19 public health crisis, he developed with his team a coronavirus test and is currently offering it to the community. He was also a volunteer associate clinical professor of pathology at the University of California in Los Angeles. An active member of the USCA since 1991, he is also a member of the following croquet clubs: Pasadena Croquet Club; Mission Hills Croquet Club (Rancho Mirage); Gizera Club (Cairo, Egypt) and a country member of Dulwich Croquet Club (London, England). He is still an active croquet player and competitor in croquet tournaments. Kamal has at all times exhibited exemplary sportsmanship and has been a consummate gentleman on and off the courts. His manner has reflected positively on the US and demonstrates that he is an excellent ambassador for the United States Croquet Hall of Fame.

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