Ben Silburn has been volunteering at Wester-Amstel for over three years, swapping his day job for some time in the park. Over the years, he’s taken on the role of “lawn man” and now has dreams of turning Wester-Amstel’s bumpy lawn into the perfect croquet court. But Ben’s vision for croquet goes beyond just whacking balls around—he sees it as a game full of layers, where British politeness meets devious strategy.
Could an annual Wester-Amstel Croquet Tournament be on the cards? Keep reading to find out.
Taylor Blades: Hi Ben! Please introduce yourself.
Ben Silburn: Yes, certainly. My name is Ben Silburn, I’m English. I've been living around these parts for about 20 years now - so a long time! I've done a lot of different things, but nowadays, I work in IT for a fairly large global corporation here in Amsterdam.
Taylor: Have you lived in Amsterdam for most of that time?
Ben: Yes, so I moved here in the early 2000s. It was during the ".com" boom. Back then it was quite easy to find a job. There was a lot of work building websites and the like, which is what brought me over here. At one point, I moved into a place on the Singel. I was very happy there. It was a beautiful apartment. Since then, I haven’t moved too far from there—just a bit north, a little west, a little east—but I’ve mostly stayed in central Amsterdam.
Taylor: Where are you originally from?
Ben: I'm from a town called Nottingham in the UK, which is not to be confused with Notting Hill, the far more famous movie. Notting Hill and Nottingham are very, very different.
Taylor: How did you find Wester-Amstel?
Ben: I was looking to do some volunteering, and somehow I came across it three years ago. I Googled 'volunteer work Amsterdam' and Wester-Amstel popped up. I sent a message to Søren, had a short interview, was invited here for a little trial... and here we are!
I work in IT, so most of my work is done in my head. I spend most of my days thinking, and that takes a lot of energy. It's quite nice to do something a bit more physical, a bit more outside, to get my hands dirty. It feels good to be a bit more in touch with nature, rather than only doing very abstract, analytical work. That is what really drew me to this place.
Taylor: That seems to be a common thread among many of the volunteers here. People with desk jobs or apartments without big gardens or balconies just want to escape into nature, breathe, and focus on a more physical task.
Ben: Yes, it's a form of meditation. Like most Amsterdammers I don't have a garden, so coming to Wester-Amstel provides that. You just get in there and you do some gentle, small tasks.You stop thinking about things. My thoughts can still be very busy in my head while I'm here, but it's a chance to kind of dial that down a little bit.
That’s one thing I miss while living in Amsterdam—being in a city, most people live in an apartment block, so they don't have that much green space around. Sure, we have a few parks, but I really hanker for some trees, birds, grass, and that kind of stuff. I think that’s why coming out here on the weekend is such a nice break.
Taylor: Do you have a favourite task when you're here? What do you like to do
Ben: I’m not quite sure how it happened, but I seem to have become the lawn guy. We have this nice yew field out back, and whenever it needs some TLC, it’s like, "Okay Ben! You got your job to do." I like that though. I like the fact that I have ownership over that job. We’ve got this long-term plan to give it love and attention—get it really nice and flat, get all the moss out of it, repair the lawn, and get it back to its former state of a beautiful English-style country lawn. It's a nice little project to be busy with.
Taylor: Speaking of nice lawns, I've been told that there are plans in the works for a croquet court and tournament? Tell me more!
Ben: That’s the idea! Myself and the other Park Group volunteers were discussing how we could flatten the yew field, how we could repair it... And I casually said, "It would make a great place to play croquet." They leapt on the idea. So now, the plan is that when the lawn is fully done, we’ll play croquet on it.
Taylor: And what’s the roadmap for this? When do you think the lawn will be ready?
Ben: We've set ourselves the challenge of getting it ready for next summer. It's not too close, but not too far away either. It gives us somewhere between 8 to 10 months to get everything ready. The lawn was attacked by moles a few years ago. They wreaked havoc on it, so it’s very uneven. The biggest job will be to flatten it out.
Taylor: How much croquet have you played? Are you an avid player?
Ben: I have to say I've played quite a lot. In my teens, we had friends who happened to have a garden that was big enough to play croquet on. So whenever we went there, we would play.
Taylor: Do you feel like there's a lot of technique involved?
Ben: I do, yes. It's not just a simple case of whacking balls around a lawn. No, there's a lot more to it. It's one of those games where it may seem, on the face of it, that you're just whacking these balls and you've got to hit them through these hoops. But that is just far too simplistic of a view.
I think actually, that the reason why it's so popular is that it's a brilliant combination of layers. You’ve got this posh-looking sport played on a nice lawn in Britain, everyone dressed up, sipping summer cocktails, and you're playing this whimsical game. But at the same time, you can be very devious when you play. It’s a very good sport for British people, because we can pretend, on the surface, to be very polite and sweet, while at the same time being really mean to our fellow players.
Taylor: Do you think it will be adopted by your fellow volunteers and the Friends of Wester-Amstel?
Ben: Well, let's see! The Dutch have a very different culture, so maybe they won't be able to fully embrace the devious side of the game.
Taylor: They are quite honest.
Ben: That's right, they'll be too straightforward about it all. So, who knows if they'll take to it, but we'll give it a go. We'll certainly make a day of it.
Taylor: Perhaps it’ll become a summer tradition!
Ben: The Wester-Amstel Croquet Tournament. Why not? I mean, I'll certainly give it my best shot and see if I can spread that beautiful combination of polite thuggery!
Taylor: This feels like something that would require Pimm’s cocktails, but what else will be there? What are typical elements of a good afternoon of croquet?
Ben: Pimm’s, absolutely! That would definitely be at the top of my list. You could probably go full cliché and serve the little cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off, too.
Taylor: I’m sold already! But what about a dress code? Will there be one?
Ben: A dress code will naturally be obligatory! Summer frocks for the ladies. For the gents: smart trousers, straw boater hats, crisp white shirts...
Taylor: Yes, having an excellent hat will certainly have to be a key part of the dress code. From the most recent Wester-Amstel event, we’ve learned that the hat game is very strong amongst the volunteers. And if you don’t have a hat… Well, with nine months to prepare, I’m sure there’s plenty of time for you to track one down!
Ben: I will certainly be wearing a hat.
Taylor: You must! At this point, you’re basically the figurehead for this event.
Ben: It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. I haven't played croquet for at least 10 years, so it's a chance for me to dust my skills off.
Did you know that we're doing this interview the day after a famous YouTuber fought the legendary boxer Mike Tyson? I’m bringing this up, because while we were talking... I suddenly had an image of a fading, but still legendary boxer coming back for one more fight.
Taylor: So the key message, besides the announcement of the tournament, is really: Ben Silburn is coming out of retirement and will be hitting the croquet court in the summer of 2025 (hopefully)!
By: Taylor Blades