Author: Debbie Lines

2024 – European Events open to overseas players

Do you want to play in Europe but not sure what events are open to overseas players?

Below are some of the key 'Open' events. This list is not meant to be complete. There will be other events that can be entered too, however, this list may provide some of the more obvious options. Note: to protect from spam, all email addresses have replaced the @ with a #.

Dates

Country

Event Name

Contact

18th - 19th May

Czechia

Czech AC Open

vasek.doskocil#seznam.cz

18th - 19th May

Germany

Helenen Cup GC Doubles Advantage, Hamburg

jjencquel#gmail.com

20th May

Germany

Hanseatic Cup GC, Hamburg

jjencquel#gmail.com

31st May - 3rd June

Ireland

Championships of County Dublin AC, Carrickmines

fiachracarroll#gmail.com

8th June

Portugal

Portuguese Open GC, Algarve

algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com

21st - 23rd June

Latvia

Midsummer GC Mixed Doubles, Ikskile

roberts.stafeckis#gmail.com

12th - 14th July

Switzerland

Swiss GC Open, Geneva

peter#paynes.ch

2nd - 4th August

Switzerland

Swiss AC Open, Geneva

peter#paynes.ch

3rd - 10th August

Ireland

Championships of Ireland AC, Carrickmines

fiachracarroll#gmail.com

23rd - 25th August

Czechia

Czech GC Open, Telc

vasek.doskocil#seznam.cz

30th August - 1st September

Latvia

Baltic Open GC, Ikskile

roberts.stafeckis#gmail.com

13th -15th September

Ireland

GC Championships of Ireland, Carrickmines

fiachracarroll#gmail.com

14th - 15th September

Portugal

Chairman's Shield GC, Algarve

algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com

10th - 11th October

Portugal

Benamor Open Doubles & Singles GC, Algarve

algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com

UK events
Almost all events published in the CroquetEngland Online Fixtures List are open for overseas entries, unless it specifies to the contrary in the conditions.
Croquet England Online Fixtures Calendar

To enter events published on this calendar you must first register for (or renew) a Reciprocal Rights Account. If you have any problems, you can contact the CA Office (caoffice.org.uk) for assistance. Once submitted, the office should take approximately one working day to provide the necessary access so that you may then enter your chosen event online.

This information, along with all the details about this years ERC Championships and the Club League, can be found on the ERC Events page

 

2024 European AC Championship – Ranking Places announced

The 2024 European Association Croquet Championship will be held between 15-18 August 2024 at the Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland. 

There are 20 places in this event. Per ERC regulations, each country is therefore limited to a maximum of 3 places. 17 membership places were requested which leaves us with 3 ranking places. The three ranking places go to Jose Riva from Spain, James Death from England and Andrew Johnstone from Ireland.

Ranking and RRL places as at 16.3.24

The Membership Places requested are:

      • Full Members, receiving two places: England, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Wales
      • Associate members, receiving one place: Latvia, Switzerland
      • RCO, receiving one place: Portugal

Members: if you have not already specified who is to receive the above Membership places, you must do so before the Closing date of April 16th.  If we do not receive specific named individuals by 16th April, our regulations require us to give the places to the highest ranked players you have previously nominated, or if you haven’t nominated enough people, then the place is forfeit and will revert to the Replacement Ranking List.

Please send your nominations to Alan Looney, Event Lead, and cc Debbie Lines, Secretary-General and Roberts Stafeckis, Chair of the ERC.

 

All countries: it’s not too late for more players to be added to the Replacement Ranking list (criteria apply). Should withdrawals occur, they might still get in. If you have anybody who wishes to play, please let us know via email.

WCF launch GC Referee WhatsApp Group

The WCF are pleased to announce the launch of a WhatsApp group called ‘WCF Global GC Referee Queries’.

The purpose of this WhatsApp Group is to provide a platform for addressing queries relating to unusual refereeing incidents or unclear interpretations of the GC Rules in order to establish a unified global approach.

Queries will be raised by national moderators, who have been nominated by their local governing body.  Answers will be provided by the Chair of the WCF GC Rules Committee – currently Stephen Mulliner.

Referees with queries should address them in the first instance to their local moderator, contact details for this person can be obtained from your national governing body.

At the moment this group is for GC Refereeing queries only. We are keen to see whether the use of WhatsApp for this purpose is successful before setting up an AC group as well.

2024 European GC Women’s Championship – Ranking Places announced (RRL Updated 12.3)

The 2024 GC European Women's Championship will be held between 1-4 August 2024 at the Compton Croquet Club, Compton, Eastbourne, England with 32 players. 

There will be 16 Ranking places awarded and 16 membership places.

The document below shows the Ranking places awarded as well as the Replacements Ranking lists.

Ranking and RRL lists - updated 12th March
Note: RRL has changed 2 or 3 times since first published. 

Members are reminded that if you have not already specified who is to receive your Member places, you must do so before the Closing date of April 11th. 

Please note: some of you will need to nominate new people, as all your current nominees received Ranking Places, leaving you nobody left to receive your Membership Place(s). If we do not receive specific named individuals by the 11th April, our regulations require us to give the places to the highest ranked players you have previously nominated, or if you haven’t nominated enough people, then the place is forfeit and will revert to the Replacement Ranking List.

All countries: it’s not too late for more players to be added to the Replacement Ranking list (criteria apply). Should withdrawals occur, they might still get in. If you have anybody who wishes to play, please let us know via email.

2022 Champion - Begoña Elzaburu

ERC Update – February 2024

Minutes of ERC Meeting Date: 16.02.2024

Participants: Roberts Stafeckis, Andrés Alvarez-Sala, Michael Böer, José Alvarez-Sala,  Debbie Lines, Begoña Elzaburu
Apologies: Alan Looney, Duncan Caterall

1. GC EC - Event Lead - Andres
Allocation of Ranking Places:  EC will have 32 places. As there are assumed 20 membership places to be awarded there will be 12 ranking places available. Entry is high, so it was agreed to explore options to increase the field size.  [March update - Following discussions with the Tournament Director and the host club it was agreed to keep the entry size to 32]

2. GC WEC - Event Lead - Begona
General discussions re entry numbers. 38 entries for field of either 32 or 28 - to be discussed further.  Debbie to work with Begona to train her on the responsibilities of Event Lead.

3. AC EC - Event Lead - Alan
Very few entries so far 19 applicants will fill the membership places. Alan was excused from attending the meeting.

4. European Club League
There were more entries than places. All participating teams have been informed about their heat to play. In case a club is participating in ECL with two teams it was clarified that the entry fee of 60 € is due for each team and not per club.

5. GC U21 EC 2025
Confirmation of Czechia as Preferred Bidder. It was decided that GC U21 EC 2025 shall be awarded to Telc, Czech Republic. They have 2 lawns now but another two lawns will be ready until next year. Event Lead will be Michael.

6. GC EC 2025
Event bid from Budleigh Salterton bid from Budleigh Salterton received.

Next meeting will be held on 13th March.

Michael 22.02.2024

Corfu joins WCF as RCO

The Management Committee (MC) are very pleased to announce that Corfu, one of the Greek islands, has requested to join the WCF. The MC have reviewed their request and can confirm that the Corfu Club meets the requirements to join the WCF as a Recognised Croquet Organisation (RCO).

The club, based near Gouvia on Corfu, has been established for many years. It has four lawns, and regularly hosts tournaments open to visitors, both in GC and AC. The thriving club has an active membership who play mainly GC and One Ball, with just a small amount of AC played. To find out more, including how to visit them, see their website: https://corfucroquet.club/

Richard and Karen Quilter (President and Secretary) will be our main contacts. Please offer them, and all the Corfu players, a warm welcome to the WCF.

2024 European GC Championship – Ranking Places announced

There are 32 places in the next GC European Croquet Championship scheduled from 16th to 19th May 2024 at Sussex County Croquet Club (England).

Members and RCOs have requested 20 places. This leaves us with 12 Ranking Places. Congratulations to the 12 players who will receive these Ranking Places. (based on Max. DGrade 14th February).

The file below shows the 12 people awarded Ranking Places and also shows the Replacement Ranking Lists.

2024 European GC Championship - Ranking and RRL Places as at 28th February

Members are reminded that they need to submit the names of the players who they wish to receive their Member places by the closing date 28th March 2024. If we do not receive specific named individuals by that date, our regulations require us to give the places to the highest ranked players you have previously nominated.

2023 Champion - Rachel Gee

2023 Champion Rachel Gee is presented with her trophy by Ian Burridge, WCF President

2024 ECL – The Heats have been drawn

The makeup of the seven heats for the 2024 European Club League has been confirmed.

28 teams from 10 countries will compete to determine the 7 qualifiers to join hosts Club de Campo Villa Madrid (Spain) in the Grand Final in October. Defending Champions Dulwich (England) will be hoping to qualify in Hamburg, in a strong heat that also contains Sherry (Spain), who were placed 4th in 2023. The El Tiro Club from Spain face the longest journey to their heat in Ikskile (Latvia).

Here is the full draw and schedule.

For more information about the event, please see the full webpage: 2024 European Club League

 

WCF Sports Regulations Updated

On 14th January 2024, Council voted to amend the method for seeding the GC Knock Out at our Singles Events. The result voted to move towards a new system of seeding: Block Separation by Grade.

The Sports Regulations have now been amended to reflect this vote and version 9.2 uploaded to the website: https://worldcroquet.org/wcf-business/statutes-regulations/

All future WCF and ERC GC events will use this method of seeding.

Other changes to the Sports Regulations are currently in progress following a recent consultation.