Bob Kroeger, Class of 1970

The Norwich High School (NHS) Hall of Distinction Committee has selected six NHS alumni to be included in the Hall of Distinction. Individuals selected have made outstanding contributions to their chosen fields, including community services, the arts, medical professions, military service, and more, with their contributions having a distinctive impact on a local to global level.

Bob Kroeger: US National croquet player and jazz musician, Class of 1970

By Harry Graves

When fellow committee member John Antonowicz suggested Bob Kroeger be added to the NHS Hall of Distinction, I just about fell off my chair. I was also elated.

Most of the nominations were for graduates who were military heroes, prominent in their industry, or held government leadership positions. For months I had been debating whether a nomination for someone who was outstanding in a lawn sport would be considered too trivial.

I had known Bob since he was in elementary school. Like most kids who grew up in the country, neighbors became our closest friends. Bob was the youngest of four Kroeger children; oldest brother Dick and I spent countless hours hunting on the farms between our homes.

The Kroeger house was literally my second home during my teen years. I clearly remember several things about elementary school “Bobby,” particularly on car trips. Coming from the back seat was a constant stream of facts about his beloved New York Yankees. He almost challenged you to prove him wrong. He could also identify any approaching car by the shape of its headlights, especially at night.

His young life had also been shortchanged by Mother Nature. As a toddler, he had been stricken with crippling polio. By the time he started elementary school in South New Berlin, he was able to walk without his leg brace, but was to have a noticeable limp for the rest of his life.

But that limp did not dampen his love of sports. He played junior high baseball and basketball at South New Berlin, and he fondly recalls his first paying job as a swim instructor with the school’s lesson program held every summer at Chenango Lake.

As happens to most of us, high school graduation came. Both Dick and I headed off to different colleges and my association with the Kroeger family went into hiatus for a few years.

When I returned to Norwich to take a teaching position, little Bobby Kroeger was no longer little. He had transferred to Norwich High School for grades 10 through 12 and had matured into a fine young gentleman who would soon be heading out into the world himself.

Bob had developed new interests, too. Unlike his older brothers who played Purple Tornado football - and perhaps because of the infantile paralysis - Bob became Mr. Music. His best friends were in the garage bands that were so popular in Chenango County at the time.

Bob’s sport of choice has changed, too. His father, Norwich insurance agent Charles “Bud” Kroeger, had developed an interest in the game of croquet, which was popular among the British leisure class and was played on groomed courses across the British Empire.

One of Mr. Kroeger’s Norwich friends, George Baker, also loved the sport and actually made handcrafted mallets. The Bakers had also laid out a regulation course. The Kroegers and the Bakers spent many afternoons refining their skills, and about-to-graduate Bob was not to be left out of the action.

Now, please understand that international croquet is not the mass-produced, discount store variety with flimsy wire wickets and short mallets. Wickets for competitions are sturdy metal objects that are pounded into the ground and meant to be unmovable. The large mallets are three feet tall, weighing over 3 pounds, and could cost hundreds of dollars each. The solid balls were made of compressed plastic and are about the size of a softball, 3 5/8 inches in diameter to be exact.

Hitting the ball through the wicket is not an easy task. The wicket is only 1/16th of an inch wider than a regulation ball, a challenge that requires concentration, nerves of steel, and hours of practice.

By the time I finished college and returned to Norwich to start my teaching career, the Kroegers had laid out their own course in their backyard. Their equipment met professional standards, but the course definitely did not. Since Bud and Dixie’s rural property was on a hillside and their 9-wicket croquet course also had slopes that would horrify (at worst), or humor (at best), any serious UK player. Further, the yard had lights to enable play after sundown.

Since all the older Kroeger siblings had now moved out of the house, I was recruited to be the fourth needed to form two teams. Bob and I spent many evenings taking on the Kroeger parents in spirited games, some extending well past one’s normal bedtime. But those games were to last only a single year; Bob graduated and ventured out into the world beyond Chenango County.

After graduating from NHS in 1970, Bob moved to the Boston area with the rock group “Street Music.” After a two-year stint, the group broke up. He applied to and was accepted at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, starting in fall 1973. There he majored in instrumental performance playing oboe, English horn, flute, and alto flute.

After graduating in 1977, he played in small jazz groups around the Boston area, ultimately becoming a member of the Latin-Jazz group “Ananda.” In addition to playing extensively around New England, the group recorded a CD, which had reasonable success.

Interestingly, Boston also offered many croquet opportunities.

Bob rose to national croquet prominence in 1987 by winning his first National Championship. That propelled him to the US National Croquet Team from 1988 to 1993. The team travelled to the UK twice and also to Australia for the prestigious MacRobertson Shield (the croquet equivalent to the World Cup).

In 1999, he was inducted into the United States Croquet Hall of Fame in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Today, Kroeger makes his living from croquet as an instructor, tournament organizer, and rules interpreter with the United States Croquet Association.

He has authored several books on croquet and is featured in many croquet instructional videos. You can follow his many services on his website: bobcroquet.com

Now in semi-retirement and living with his wife Deborah on Cape Cod, he has turned his attention to wildlife photography, specializing in taking pictures of birds. He chuckles when he calls photography his “therapy.”

As far as his selection to the Norwich High School Hall of Distinction, Bob’s career can serve as an inspiration to future graduates in several categories: overcoming a disability, or doing what you love, or NHS graduates have diverse talents. Take your pick. Bob Kroeger, NHS Class of 1970, fills them all.

When I showed him an early draft of this article, he pointed out another, even rarer, category. He may be one of the few people you’ll ever meet who is a fan of both the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox!

Bob will be inducted into the Norwich High School Hall of Distinction on October 24, at 1 p.m. in the Norwich High School Library. The event is open to the public.

The NHS Hall of Distinction Committee aims to recognize and commemorate alumni of Norwich high schools who have made outstanding contributions in the areas of, but not limited to, profession, community service, commerce, religion, and art. Established in 2024, this Hall of Distinction is intended to serve as a vision and source of pride for our community and student body.

To nominate an NHS alum for the Hall of Distinction, complete the nomination form found at norwichcsd.org/documents/district/211781 and submit to NCSD Event Coordinator Rich Turnbull at rturnbull@norwichcsd.org, or drop it off at the District Office at 89 Midland Drive.