HALL FAME

On February 17, 2023, the Croquet Foundation of America (CFA), in conjunction with the United States Croquet Association (USCA), inducted Harold (Hal) Denton, Rory J. Kelley and Robert L. (Bob) Alman (posthumously) into the 45th United States Croquet Hall of Fame.

The Induction Ceremony, followed by the “Let the Good Times Roll” themed dinner party, was scheduled to take place during the week of the Steuber Classic Tournament at the Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Fla. The directors of the CFA and USCA encourage their friends, guests and all croquet enthusiasts to join them in paying tribute to esteemed members of our croquet family, Denton, Kelley and Alman, as we acknowledge their accomplishments in traditional style and with high enthusiasm. Biographies of the Inductees follow.

Bob Alman’s contributions, accomplishments and dedication to the sport of croquet are immeasurable. From his early days as a player to his club building in San Francisco and Oakland, at the Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center and, finally, to his creation and stewardship of the Croquet World online magazine, Bob blazed a trail like no other in our game. Early on, the backyard nine-wicket game was Bob’s métier. He played it in New York’s Central Park and all over the parks of San Francisco and elsewhere. He didn’t just play. In true Bob fashion, he organized it with white-hot enthusiasm, presaging the role he would play in the world of the modern, six-wicket versions of the game in the decades to come. Once he joined the San Francisco Club, he discovered and played six-wicket croquet with great skill and joy, competing in tournaments all over the country and winning a Western Regional doubles championship. Bob did not stop there. He not only organized clubs such as the San Francisco Croquet Club and the Oakland Croquet Club, but also wrote the definitive manual about club organization for the USCA.

With Hall-of-Famer Michael Orgill, Bob created the San Francisco Open, the most competitive American Rules tournament in the United States for a time. That tournament attracted top players from all over the world. Bob’s impact on the SF Bay Area was immense. In the words of Orgill, “When Bob left for the East, he left a hole in the Bay area that has never been filled.”

Soon after Bob arrived on the East Coast, he infused all his roles — writer, editor, organizer, manager and promoter — with significant accomplishment. Bob discovered an editorial voice with his founding of the online CroquetWorld.com (CWO). Many consider this Bob’s primary achievement and perhaps the most influential journal in the history of croquet. He wrote most of it, edited all of it and promoted it with unflagging energy. Hall-of-Famer Rhys Thomas declares, “There was no limit to his passion and perseverance. He played. He managed. He taught. He promoted. He recruited. He marketed. He wrote and he wrote. Oh, did he write!” He used it himself and encouraged others to join in as a forum for editorials, letters, comments, opinions, tournament results and just plain good stories about everything croquet (and sometimes outside croquet).

In 1996, when Bob founded CroquetWorld.com, he filled it with excellent writing, most of it his … and it ruffled some feathers as great journalism sometimes does. He connected “world croquet” to American croquet in a way that had never been seen before. As a result, CWO now provides an invaluable archive of croquet history. Bob continued to work on the website until shortly before his passing on March 17, 2022. The true extent of his legacy can be found in his four-part memoir published on CWO. In that memoir, he describes, in detail, his remarkable journey in the world of croquet. He was inducted into the World Croquet Federation Hall of Fame in 2020.

About 20 years ago, Bob also became the first manager of the Charles P. Steuber National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., then in its infancy. He played a seminal role in getting the center up and running and continued to lead many croquet activities there for a long time, enthusiastically. Although he declined to be so honored while living, it is a fitting and worthy tribute that Robert L. “Bob” Alman be elected posthumously to the United States Croquet Hall of Fame.

Hal’s croquet career began with playing with the West River Wickets Croquet Club in Maryland in 2009. To build the club and attract new members, he built a full-size, artificial court that could be used all year long. He then began hosting an open house every Saturday to attract more players. He was soon elected to its board. He remains active in supporting the West River Wickets Croquet Club today. Through Hal’s efforts, it has now grown to 50 members.

Hal joined the United States Croquet Association, Inc. (USCA) in December 2011 and the National Croquet Club in 2012. Hal has played a total of 82 tournaments in both American Rules and Golf Croquet, winning trophies in 48 of those, including 19 firstplace finishes, seven of which were in singles. Last year he won First Flight Singles in the Masters and Championship Doubles in the Seniors Masters. In Golf Croquet, he won the Club Championship Doubles and Florida Regional Doubles.

Hal played in the Egyptian International GC Championship in 2017 and 2018 and was selected to play in the World Croquet Federation’s (WCF) Over-50 GC World Championship in Cairo in 2018. In 2019, Hal qualified and played in the Spanish GC Open Championship.

In 2020, Hal was elected to a four-year term on the Management Committee of the WCF, which is the international organizing body for the sport of croquet, and was nominated for the WCF Hall of Fame in 2022. He is also a member of the Surbiton Croquet Club in England. Hal received numerous USCA awards over the years for both program and project support. In 2017, Hal joined the USCA’s Golf Croquet Committee, and in 2018, he joined the Lee Olsen Committee.

A few years after joining the National Croquet Club, Hal learned of the CFA’s struggle to get night lighting on a couple of the south courts with the modest funds collected to that point. Several ideas had been tried but failed. Hal quietly stepped in and volunteered to take over the project, including providing most of the cost, developing the plan, selecting the lights and contractor and supervising installation. The result was outstanding! They are now used several times a week for club and outside events and are a significant selling point for club memberships.

Based on Hal’s demonstrated competence in project management, he was asked to join the CFA Board and focus on operations — especially on getting the courts up to par. Given the CFA’s insufficient operating funds, much of the lawn and office equipment was in rough shape or non-existent. Working with Omero, the head of the Grounds Crew, Hal identified their needs and proceeded to buy quality equipment and maintenance tools and hired professional consultants for the lawns. He also supervised a much-needed cleanup and organization of the equipment shed.

For the office, Hal provided all new servers, desktop computers and software to make the CFA technically current. For the Pro Shop, Hal saw that we used manual systems to price, label, inventory and record sales, so he invested in the latest point-ofsales systems. In short, wherever Hal saw a real need, if the CFA couldn’t afford it, he simply found, paid for and implemented a quality solution.

Based on Hal’s outstanding performance in that regard and in many other ways, the CFA Board changed the management structure, making David McCoy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, involved primarily in policy, fundraising and financial matters, and promoting Hal to President and Chief Operating Officer, in charge of NCC operations. Hal continues to play an invaluable role in that regard.

To meet the NCC’s growing demand, Hal’s most recent project is developing, overseeing and providing significant financial support to eliminate the dry retention area and to add six new championship-level courts at ground level (a 50 percent increase).

These courts will be invaluable in supporting the rapid growth of the National Croquet Club, hosting significant tournaments like the Worlds, and allowing it to offer croquet as part of large outside events. In addition, he is working on plans to integrate the recent purchase of 2.3 acres of adjoining property and investigating the feasibility of a plan to light all existing courts. Hal graduated from the University of Michigan in 1966. Following sea duty as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Hal started his career on Wall Street, followed by 15 years in the executive recruiting industry. His firm had a strong practice in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. To reduce his travel commitment, he purchased a title insurance company in New Jersey, which he grew to be the largest in the state.

He lives with his wife, Wendy, on a beautiful historic horse farm near Annapolis, Md. The two enjoy a second home in Wellington, Fla. They have two sons and three grandchildren. In addition to his croquet commitments, Hal serves on the Board of The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. As of February 25, Hal will be the Chair of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

Hal is a modest, reserved and extraordinarily generous man who is a leader in a quiet yet persuasive and unassuming way. Reflecting on what he has accomplished in the last 15 years, one might call him croquet’s “knight in shining armor!” every day.

Hal far exceeds the requirements necessary to be honored by induction into the Croquet Hall of Fame. He’s a true ambassador for the sport; he has had an excellent croquet career in both Golf Croquet and American Six Wicket that is still in its ascendancy; he has had a long and significant impact on the growth of the sport, both through direct club building and providing financial resources and management skills. Those contributions have led to extraordinary advances at the NCC. Those advances, in turn, have led to historic membership growth for the club and unprecedented demand for events at the NCC.

Hal’s direct financial support and a significant gift in his estate plans ensure that the National Croquet Center will grow in international prominence and financial security. For all these reasons, the CFA is inducting Harold (Hal) Denton into the 2022 United States Croquet Hall of Fame.

Rory Kelley’s accomplishments on the croquet court are numerous, but his off-court contributions to croquet are what truly set him apart from the crowd. He has greatly enhanced the sport through his hard work as a club builder, years of tournament management, support of beginning and advanced players and ongoing work at some of the best tournaments in the Western region. His performance and leadership as part of several American teams competing internationally have helped set the tone for future American acceptance and prestige in the croquet world. He has served the sport since 1994, and is the current USCA Western Regional Vice President.

Born September 22, 1943, in Santa Monica, Calif., Rory moved the following year to Phoenix, Ariz., where he spent his entire youth and was educated in the Phoenix school system. He earned a BS degree in Advertising from Arizona State University in 1969 and served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1961-1969. He and Cynthia C. Kelley married in 1977. They have two daughters, Simone and Lindsay, five grandsons, one great-granddaughter and one great-grandson.

Rory’s non-croquet community involvement has been extensive, including membership in the Phoenix Boys and Girls Club since 1975, Arizona Outdoor Advertising Association Board member and state treasurer 1985-1994. Rory was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fiesta Bowl 1995-1996.

Rory has played in major tournaments throughout the United States since 1985 — more than 38 years of top-level competition! He has been involved in all aspects of croquet and has served as Captain of the Solomon Trophy and Carter Cup teams.

His years as the driving force behind the Arizona Croquet Club are notable for the legendary amount of work he has done in support of all club activities. While managing his first tournament at the club in 1988, he coined the still-famous phrase “Toast and Tally” for croquet. One enthusiastic supporter opined, “Whether he’s in a tux hosting a croquet event or spreading fertilizer on a court in hot July (because no one else was available to do it), he does it all!”

The Arizona Croquet Club was the seedbed for Association Laws Croquet in the U.S. and Rory has been at the center of all that positive momentum since 1988. Additionally, the Arizona Club nurtured and then blossomed USCA rules croquet under his direction and leadership of the Arizona Open, the leading American Rules tournament in the years in which it was held.

The US Open, created by Hall-of-Famer Stan Patmor and Kelley, has been sustained by Rory’s unfailing energy as assistant Tournament Director since 2010. This tournament is now one of the most prestigious in the world and has been the instrument for the development of American international competition. Conceivably, without the Open, the United States might not have become a participant in the MacRobertson Shield. His dedication to the sport has continued unabated through the years, most recently demonstrated at the U.S. Open as it celebrated its 31st anniversary, with Rory having been involved in the management of each one.

Rory has been actively involved in the management and operation of the USCA for many years. Since 1999, he has been a member of the USCA International Committee and served as chairman from 2001-2005. He was also a member of the 1988 Nominating Committee, the Management Committee from 1990-94 and the Bisque Committee from 1995-97.

His success on the court has been steady, highlighted by his victory in the 2011 USCA National Doubles Championship with partner Britt Ruby. Other notable achievements include titles in the Arizona Open Championship, San Francisco Open, USCA Western Regionals, Texas Croquet Classic and the Meadowood Classic. He remains an active contestant at major tournaments and is certified as a USCA Class I referee.

Along with Hall-of-Famers Jerry Stark and Rhys Thomas, Rory was instrumental in developing the USCA’s Selection Eights Tournament to develop and assess players to represent the U.S. in International Association croquet tournaments.

Those who have played in dozens of tournaments with and against Rory can attest to his sportsmanship and professionalism. Whether as an early assistant tournament director at the U.S. Open or as a tournament worker at many Arizona tournaments, Rory has set the standard for balancing fair play and fun. He is a joy to work with and a great friend to all … an excellent tournament director, host, teacher and long-standing ambassador for croquet.

Croquet Hall of Fame members represent the best of the founding players, organizers, contributors and officials of our great game. The CFA now officially inducts Rory J. Kelley (elected in 2020), as an excellent addition to its roster of Hall of Fame Croquet greats.