The Croquet Academy Team
Jonathan Isaacs - Academy Director
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Jonathan started playing Association Croquet in 1986. In 2000 he was appointed Chairman of the CA Marketing Committee and has subsequently been Chairman of the CA’s Management & Development Committees & Chairman of Council.
He was also a member of the CA Coaching Committee and identified the need to create centres for Coaching excellence. He launched the Croquet Academy at Southwick in 2007. He is currently a Vice President of the CA as well as a member of the South East Croquet Federation Management Committee and President of Sussex County Croquet Club. Grade 1 Association Coach |
Richard Carline - Coaching Director
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Richard discovered croquet in 2013 and is a product of the Croquet Academy. He became a GC Referee in 2016 and a grade 1 GC Coach the following year. 2018/19 was a busy time as part of the team preparing for the World GC Championships, Richard passed another test to become a GC Championship Referee and was privileged to have refereed the final. His past handling of thoroughbreds in Newmarket and Lambourn is, in his opinion closely related to coaching and bringing on croquet players. Grade 1 Golf Coach |
Daphne Gaitley
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Daphne started playing croquet in 1992. She ran the Summer School at SCCC at Southwick together with her husband for 10 years. She has served on both the SECF Coaching and CA Coaching committees. Daphne was part of the forming team of the Croquet Academy &, since its launch in 2007, has coached on numerous courses for the Academy, many as Lead Coach.
Daphne was awarded CA Coach of the Year in 2003 & received the prestigious CA Lifetime Coaching award in 2013. Grade 1 Association Coach |
Alan Cottle
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I took up playing croquet 2002 when I joined Sussex County Croquet Club, becoming a club coach in 2004. I was one of the original team of the Croquet Academy in 2007. I have played in the AC, GC and the American 6 Wicket circuits for a number of years, having won many trophies here and in Florida where I also coached American 6 Wicket and encouraged AC, gaining many enthusiasts. Grade 2 Association Coach |
Gabrielle Higgins
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Gabrielle has been playing croquet since childhood, first in the garden, then at clubs, and progressed to tournament play more than quarter of a century ago. She has been a silver medallist in two Association Croquet Women's World Championships, was a semi-finalist in the 2024 Croquet England Association Croquet Open Championship, and reached the last sixteen in both the Association Croquet World Championship and the Golf Croquet Women's World Championship in 2023. She is Secretary of Croquet England, and President of Hampstead Heath Croquet Club and of the joint Sussex County Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club. Grade 1 Association Coach |
Alan Cottle
Frances Low
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Frances started playing croquet at Rottingdean in 1992 and then only learned association croquet. Frances & her husband John both loved the game and decided to join Southwick the following year to improve their play and to gain more competition. They played on the AC circuit for a number of years and Frances won a number of prestigious cups including Singles Trophies at the Seniors, Challenge and Gilbey and the Peels. Frances was a Maths teacher for 36 years so had a good background for coaching!
She was an inaugural member of the Croquet Academy team and has led many courses for the Academy. In 2012 she received the CA Coach of the Year award. She has now added Golf Croquet to her repertoire and has been enjoying the new challenge. Grade 2 Association Coach |
Clive Hayton
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Clive Hayton started playing croquet at Southwick in 2010 having dabbled in garden croquet for some years. When the opportunity arose in 2012 to spend a lot more time on the lawns, Clive volunteered to help out at the club and was appointed club secretary that year, becoming chairman in 2015. Family commitments restrict his tournament entries but he has managed to bring his GC handicap down to 0 and AC to 2.5.
Clive greatly enjoys introducing new players to the game and has led the club’s very successful “Four Free Lessons” initiative to bring in new members. Clive showed a natural talent for coaching, took his first coaching qualifications in 2014 and has coached and led on Academy AC courses on a regular basis. Grade 1 Association Coach |
Chrissie Merrington
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Chrissie started playing croquet at her local club Littlehampton in the winter of 2010. She joinied Sussex Countycroquet club for more competitive play in 2011, and soon became a club coach in 2013 and handicapper for Littlehampton. In 2014 Chrissie became a CA coach supporting the Academy coaching at Sussex County and other local clubs, and in 2016 she qualified as a GC Ref. Now in 2019 has a new interest in playing AC alongside GC. Grade 1 Association Coach |
Morgan Case
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Morgan has been playing croquet since 2014 when he joined Preston Park croquet club in Brighton. With the capable guidance of more experienced players, he progressed to a GC handicap of 4 and AC handicap of 14 within 2 years. He moved to Sussex County Croquet Club in 2017 seeking more competitive play. He attended many Croquet Academy courses, which helped him to reach the final of the GC B series of tournaments in Bath in 2018 and achieve his first A level GC open tournament win in 2019. Morgan is a member of the 2020 GC International Performance Development Squad. Croquet dominates Morgan's free time, but he tries to squeeze in some photography and writing now and then and spending time with his two cats. Grade 1 Association Coach |
David King
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David discovered croquet in 2011, & joining Sussex County Croquet Club was soon into playing GC competitively. He has regularly played in various Club teams, and individual tournaments and competitions. Before qualifying as a coach, he had always enjoyed assisting new players at Club sessions, and supporting Academy coaches at courses for other clubs. David had previously been a football referee, and for many years was involved in the training and development of referees, assessors and referee tutors/coaches. He is also on the committee of the South East Croquet Federation GC Grade 1 Coach |
Brian Aikens
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Brian switched from playing tennis to playing croquet in 2016 when he joined Rottingdean Croquet Club. After three years of playing in GC matches at this relatively small club and while maintaining his membership there, he also joined Sussex County Croquet Club in order to involve himself in a wider pool of players. The standard of his play gradually improved as he involved himself in regular play in GC Tournaments and Inter Club matches. Coming from a teaching background, he soon became interested in becoming a coach and now involves himself in coaching both at Rottingdean and The Academy at Sussex County. Grade 1 Golf Coach |