Roque
Encyclopedia
Roque is an American
variant of croquet
played on a hard, smooth surface. Popular in the first quarter of the 20th century and billed "the Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, it was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games
, replacing croquet from the previous games
.
bevel
led at the ends to form an octagon. Players use this wall to balls similarly to how billiard balls are played off the cushions of a billiard table.
The wicket
s, called arches, are permanently anchored in the court. The arches are narrow as in professional six-wicket croquet. The court has ten arches in seven points configured in a double diamond (or figure-8). The two farthest end points and the central point of the figure-8 are double arches (one after the other) while the four side (or corner) points have single arches. Each arch of the double arches at either end of the court each count as a separate arch, but the double arches in the center (which are closer together) are scored as a single arch. While in nine-wicket croquet the single central wicket opens up to the length of the court facing the stakes, in roque the double center arches face the sides of the court. Roque uses two stakes: at the head of the court is the "head stake," the other stake at the far end of the court is the "turning stake."
The mallet
s with which the balls are struck have a shorter handle (approx. 24 inch
es) than croquet mallets. One end of the mallet is surfaced with rubber, the other with wood, plastic, or aluminum.
in 1899
, who came to it by removing the initial "c" and final "t" from "croquet." The National Croquet Association, formed in 1882, thereafter changed its name to the National Roque Association in 1899. "Roque" is not to be confused with "roquet" r, the term used in both roque and croquet for the bonus shot a player earns after striking another ball (on which he is not "dead") with his own.
The American Roque League was founded in 1916 and, after mergers with various other roque entities, became the centralized roque league on August 20, 1920
. It last published its rules in the 1950s; the National Two Ball Roque Association last published its revised rules in 1961.
Roque is still played by a small number of people in the United States. A roque tournament is held annually in Angelica
, New York, USA
. While there are reports that the American Roque League still operates, and that roque is played in Chautauqua
, Illinois
, USA, there is no independent evidence of this. Considering that roque was hailed as the "Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, and was an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics
held in St. Louis, Missouri
, the demise of the sport was meteoric. This is despite the survival of croquet, the creation of new variants of croquet, the smaller court, the relative ease of maintaining the court, and the indoor playing possibilities of roque.
's novel The Shining
. Where in the film adaptation Jack Torrance wields an axe, his weapon in the book was a roque mallet. The character Ullman tells Torrance that roque is the older, original form of the game and croquet is a "bastardized" American version. In fact, croquet is the original European game and roque is a later American variation.
A chapter in John Steinbeck
's novel Sweet Thursday
also describes a rivalry that arose among the town's residents over the game.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
variant of croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
played on a hard, smooth surface. Popular in the first quarter of the 20th century and billed "the Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, it was an Olympic sport in the 1904 Summer Games
Roque at the 1904 Summer Olympics
At the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, a roque tournament was contested. The United States was the only nation to have athletes participate...
, replacing croquet from the previous games
Croquet at the 1900 Summer Olympics
At the 1900 Summer Olympics, three croquet events were contested. Seven men and three women participated.The doubles competition was scheduled first, though it's unclear whether the French pair which won actually had any competition....
.
Roque court and equipment
Roque is played on a hard sand or clay 30 by 60 foot (approximately 9 by 19 m) court bordered by a boundary wall, a curbCurb
Curb may refer to:* Curb , or kerb, the edge where a raised pavement/sidewalk/footpath, road median, or road shoulder meets an unraised street or other roadway.* Curb Records, a record label started by Mike Curb in 1973....
bevel
Bevel
A beveled edge refers to an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage they are often interchanged, while in technical usage they may sometimes be differentiated as shown in the image at right.-Cutting...
led at the ends to form an octagon. Players use this wall to balls similarly to how billiard balls are played off the cushions of a billiard table.
The wicket
Wicket
In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...
s, called arches, are permanently anchored in the court. The arches are narrow as in professional six-wicket croquet. The court has ten arches in seven points configured in a double diamond (or figure-8). The two farthest end points and the central point of the figure-8 are double arches (one after the other) while the four side (or corner) points have single arches. Each arch of the double arches at either end of the court each count as a separate arch, but the double arches in the center (which are closer together) are scored as a single arch. While in nine-wicket croquet the single central wicket opens up to the length of the court facing the stakes, in roque the double center arches face the sides of the court. Roque uses two stakes: at the head of the court is the "head stake," the other stake at the far end of the court is the "turning stake."
The mallet
Mallet
A mallet is a kind of hammer, usually of rubber,or sometimes wood smaller than a maul or beetle and usually with a relatively large head.-Tools:Tool mallets come in different types, the most common of which are:...
s with which the balls are struck have a shorter handle (approx. 24 inch
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es) than croquet mallets. One end of the mallet is surfaced with rubber, the other with wood, plastic, or aluminum.
Historical roque
The name "roque" was suggested by Mr. Samuel Crosby of New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1899
1899 in sports
-American football:College championship* College football national championship – Harvard Crimson and Princeton Tigers Events* The 1899 Sewanee Tigers football team goes undefeated, 12–0, including five road wins in six days over top teams....
, who came to it by removing the initial "c" and final "t" from "croquet." The National Croquet Association, formed in 1882, thereafter changed its name to the National Roque Association in 1899. "Roque" is not to be confused with "roquet" r, the term used in both roque and croquet for the bonus shot a player earns after striking another ball (on which he is not "dead") with his own.
The American Roque League was founded in 1916 and, after mergers with various other roque entities, became the centralized roque league on August 20, 1920
1920 in sports
-American football:NFL championship* 17 September — the National Football League is founded as the American Professional Football Association at Canton, Ohio; it is a coalition of teams primarily from the Ohio League, New York Pro Football League, the Chicago football circuit, and other teams in...
. It last published its rules in the 1950s; the National Two Ball Roque Association last published its revised rules in 1961.
Contemporary roque
In 2004, the American Roque and Croquet Association suspended tournaments because the number of participants at the Nationals had shrunk to single figures.Roque is still played by a small number of people in the United States. A roque tournament is held annually in Angelica
Angelica (village), New York
Angelica is a village in Allegany County, New York, USA. The population was 903 at the 2000 census. The village and the town are named after Angelica Church, a daughter of General Philip Schuyler and wife of John Barker Church....
, New York, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. While there are reports that the American Roque League still operates, and that roque is played in Chautauqua
Chautauqua, Illinois
Chautauqua, Illinois is a private gated summer resort that started as a 19th century tent settlement. The name Piasa is taken from a nearby Native American painting of a mythical bird, called the Piasa Bird, which was painted on the bluffs high above the Mississippi River...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, USA, there is no independent evidence of this. Considering that roque was hailed as the "Game of the Century" by its enthusiasts, and was an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics
1904 Summer Olympics
The 1904 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the III Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States from 1 July 1904, to November 23, 1904, at what is now known as Francis Field on the campus of Washington University...
held in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, the demise of the sport was meteoric. This is despite the survival of croquet, the creation of new variants of croquet, the smaller court, the relative ease of maintaining the court, and the indoor playing possibilities of roque.
In popular culture
Roque features heavily in Stephen KingStephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel The Shining
The Shining (novel)
The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…". It was King's third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King...
. Where in the film adaptation Jack Torrance wields an axe, his weapon in the book was a roque mallet. The character Ullman tells Torrance that roque is the older, original form of the game and croquet is a "bastardized" American version. In fact, croquet is the original European game and roque is a later American variation.
A chapter in John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's novel Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday
Sweet Thursday is a 1954 novel by John Steinbeck. It is a sequel to Cannery Row and set in the years after the end of World War II. According to the author, "Sweet Thursday" is the day after Lousy Wednesday and the day before Waiting Friday....
also describes a rivalry that arose among the town's residents over the game.
External links
- Description of roque with diagrams
- Roque rules with brief history
- Diagrams for various courts including roque
- Roque at the 1904 Summer OlympicsRoque at the 1904 Summer OlympicsAt the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, a roque tournament was contested. The United States was the only nation to have athletes participate...
- The February 1937-March 1945 installments of "Roque Chatter", a columnColumn (newspaper)A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Columns are written by columnists.What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:...
in the St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
(FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
) TimesSt. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
by Walton B. Wilson, are available for free.