Janet Clyde and Louise Eggleston on what keeps bringing them back to the Eight-day games Kings and Queens of Sport

Her excuse for saying no?

"My response was always I'm not fit enough," she said.

In 2019, she finally caved, and hasn't looked back.

"I gave it a go and loved it, it's just one big family really, you're instantly welcomed and everyone makes you feel a part of the family," she said.

Unfortunately for Clyde, her eight-day games career has been heavily interrupted.

In 2020, the event was cancelled due to COVID, and last year plenty of events were substituted due to rain.

But in 2022, everything is back to normal and she's looking to get back to doing what she enjoys the most.

"I like kicking my friends arses and you get do sports you don't normally do, like clay targeting and go karting - it's just a week of fun," she said.

On Thursday afternoon (November 17), Clyde was perfecting her croquet skills at Jaegar Reserve with multiple competitors.

It's taken her time to get back in the swing of things.

"We got washed out with croquet last year, so I've forgotten how to do it," she laughed.

Her training partner, Louise Eggleston, has been competing in the games for six years, although she'd 'like to say six months'.

For her, the event has been about keeping active and rejuvenating her sporting skills.

"I used to be a sporting person when I was younger and I just thought this was something I could do, something that's very gentle on the body," she said.

While training for croquet, Eggleston explained there's more to the sport than meets the eye.

"It's a thinking game, they say it's like chess," she said.

"You're maneuvering the ball around and when you're playing other people there's three other balls there and you're trying to move your ball into the best spot to give you a point or your partner a point - it's a thinking person's game."

And while croquet requires plenty of brain-work, Eggleston admitted she doesn't think she'll perfect the sport.

"I don't think I'll ever figure it out," she laughed.

"It makes or breaks you."

With people like Craig Harvey and David Howe competing in the games for well over a decade, both Eggleston and Clyde are relatively new to the competition in comparison.

For them, the games presents major social benefits to go with the physical activity.

"Coming in I probably only knew one or two people, but we have a team of 30 women and 30 men so I'm basically meeting 60 new people," Clyde said.

"There's a range of ages in the club as well, one thing with games is you don't have to be an 18-year-old fit athlete, you have people just taking their time around (the course)."

The eight-day games will start November 19 at 8:50am for registration and bib collection at Integra Gym.

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