Our Mission
Play is our passion, croquet is our game. We are bringing croquet to schools and community-based programs and to other organizations that serve people living with intellectual and physical disabilities.
We create inclusion, joy and friendships through the game of croquet, for people of all ages and abilities. Jiminy Wicket® has played croquet with people from 131 countries, from 3yrs old to 103yrs old, some using walkers or wheelchairs. They all go home with a pocketful of smiles!
Since 2010, Jiminy Wicket® has run more than 500 weekly croquet sessions for the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and trained and equipped more than 2,500 school students to play croquet with the residents of senior communities in the US and the UK.
In 2023, Jiminy Wicket® branched out to train and equip high school and middle school students to play Special Olympics Unified Croquet with their peers who have intellectual disabilities. Our metric is s.p.h!®… smiles per hour! Over the next three years Jiminy Wicket® intends to bring croquet into more Unified Champion Schools® and community-based programs across the country.
Our Backstory
Jiminy Wicket® brings the transformative power of play to positively impact the lives of people living with physical and intellectual disabilities.
We believe in the power of play to create joy and friendship for people of all ages and abilities.
Ten years ago, when James Creasey’s father, Maxwell, exhibited signs of vascular dementia after suffering a mild stroke, he needed to find a new way to connect. The old ways were no longer possible.
Where there had been conversation and exchange of ideas, there was silence and confusion. For Maxwell, speaking in whole sentences had become too difficult. Golf had gone… too precise. Ping pong… too fast. Scrabble, chess and crosswords were all too complicated. But on a family trip to the Nare Hotel on the clifftops of Cornwall, James discovered renewed connection with his father during a game of croquet. It didn’t matter that he had dementia. He smiled… frequently. He chuckled… There was joy in his eyes. There was… connection. Returning home, James left behind a croquet set at his father’s house so the extended family could enjoy connecting with “Poppa”.
A year later, James created Jiminy Wicket®, a Colorado non-profit organization, to play croquet with people living with Alzheimer’s disease and to train others to do the same. Jiminy Wicket® has won awards for its innovative work on both sides of the Atlantic, and today is branching out to bring this powerful, inclusive and simple way to play into the world of Special Olympics Florida and beyond.
In 2022, Jiminy Wicket® began to offer 5-star luxury croquet tours in the UK and the US. Proceeds from these fabulous trips help to fund our next steps…
Play is our passion. Croquet is our game. Travelling with us supports our mission.
Our Plan
Step I: Demonstrated proof of concept over a 15-year period in the US and the UK. Result: Our programs have been enjoyed by thousands of people in the US and the UK, and garnered awards on both sides of the Atlantic.
Step II: Engaged Florida Special Olympics leadership and students at their Annual Youth Summit weekend May 2023. Result: President of SOFL asked us to bring croquet to 8 Florida high schools.
Step III: Fall 2023 installed our croquet program at 12 Unified Champion Schools® on grass and artificial turf in Florida and hosted the 1st Annual Special Olympics Florida Invitational at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach. Result: Inclusion, joy, and friendships!
Step IV: Spring 2024 presented croquet at the Special Olympics North America conference. Fall 2024 we will bring croquet to Special Olympics Florida’s community-based programs and host the 2nd Annual SOFL Invitational at the National Croquet Center.
Step V: Summer 2024 we will add 4 more Special Olympics state chapters and we are exploring the opportunity to bring croquet, as a demonstration, to the 2026 Special Olympics USA Summer Games in Minnesota.
Our mission is to create a million smiles!