Staring at the brightly colored ball lying in his path, Brian Brigham pulls back his club and swings forward, hitting his ball, which slightly pushes the other out of the way. With a clear view, Brigham then taps his ball through the metal arch. Welcome to the competition with the Omaha Croquet Club.

Most people recall playing the game as children, but as adults? Croquet has become popular among adults, with up to 10,000 people playing American Croquet at about 600 venues across the country. Players even participate in international competitions, with the United Kingdom considered the top nation in the sport.

In Omaha, the local croquet club has about 40 members, with about a dozen hardcore players. While membership skews older, Brigham said he'd love to have younger players join, rediscovering a sport from their youth.

The Omaha group grew from Brigham's childhood experiences. One day, memories of playing croquet in the backyard flowed.

"I mowed these lawns all day long," he said. "The smell of freshly cut grass and the smooth surface started me reminiscing."

The memories refused to fade away, so he felt compelled to buy a book about croquet, "The Sport of Croquet."

After reading it, Brigham was ready to engage his inner child.

"I thought, 'This is a bigger boy game than what I played when I was a kid,'" he said.

The premise of American Croquet is simple: maneuver your ball through the course of six wickets, or small arch-shaped openings, and into a stake at the center of the course. Once a player completes the course, they must reverse their play to complete the round. The first team to successfully complete the course wins the game.

American Croquet is played on a field 105 feet long and 84 feet wide, between two teams - the blue and black balls versus the red and yellow balls. In singles action, each competitor plays two balls. Doubles action requires each player to use the same ball throughout the match.

"To me, it's a simple game to learn," Brigham said. "You have to run the course in the proper pattern, and you do have to go through the wickets in the proper direction."

During competition, players can have fun making the course more challenging for their opponents by knocking their ball off-target, he said.

"The Roque ball (opponent's ball) has to at least shake, because it doesn't have to go far, but then it becomes almost like a game of billiards," Brigham said. "A lot of times it's called lawn billiards. That's where strategy starts to factor. It doesn't necessarily matter how many strokes you take; you basically want to be the first ones done."

Playing a course may challenge a person's sense of direction, he said.

"If you were to map every stroke your ball takes, it would look like a pile of spaghetti just crumbled up and put on a plate," Brigham said. "That's what it would look like, because you'd just be all over the course, making things happen. There's no straight-on hitting."

Brigham forged his own mallets, which were cheaper than the ones he found online, with each going for at least $200. Adding wire wickets, the center stake, and, of course, the colored balls, he was ready to play again.

Initially playing croquet with family on camping trips, Brigham expanded games to the backyard. Then, he wondered if there were others like him, who missed playing the sport and would enjoy a round or two on a weekend morning.

Brigham started the Omaha Croquet Club about three years ago, unsure who might be interested. A few people responded, he said.

Then, in July 2024, Brigham's croquet club was asked to participate in a British-themed match as part of the Durham Museum’s "Downton Abbey" event, based on the British television series about an early 1900s upscale family.

Dressed in era-appropriate clothing, Omaha Croquet Club members played matches throughout the day. They were asked to return for another event.

"We got paid $50," Brigham said. "I could quit my day job."

Since then, Omaha Croquet Club members have participated in events at Lauritzen Gardens and Soaring Wings Winery, as well as in Kansas City, Missouri.

At least once a month between March and October, the Omaha Croquet Club meets on a Saturday morning, usually at Trendwood Park, near 132nd and Pacific Streets. The schedule can be found on the club’s website, croquetomaha.com.

Brigham can be found mowing the grass to regulation length, then laying out the course. He'll even have a tent and lawn chairs ready for players to relax in between rounds. Bring your own coffee, though.

Croquet matches take a couple of hours to play, but it's more about the camaraderie and community the club offers members.

"A player can seem like they're playing forever, because they keep hitting another ball, but they position and put balls in different places," Brigham said. "Here's the hardest part of the game, and I'm continually working on this, is that when you first roquet a ball, you acquire deadness on that ball, meaning you cannot play that ball again until you clear the wicket that you're going through."

The Omaha Croquet Club hosts a tournament each May. The first tournament attracted four teams, Brigham said.

Club members play because they enjoy the sport, as well as the nostalgia, he said. The organization plans to remain a local, amateur club, Brigham said.

Nationally, the United States Croquet Association consists of about 300 teams, with more than 3,000 members. It hosts tournaments, as well as manages a collegiate division with about a dozen teams. The USCA also oversees a youth program, focused on players from kindergarten through 12th grade.

While croquet may not challenge golf, bowling or recreational softball in participation, Brigham is OK with that.

"I have a T-shirt that says, 'It's OK if you don't like croquet. It's kind of a smart person's game,'" Brigham said, chuckling.

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.