Author: Debbie Lines

2023 GC Women’s World Championship – Entry Fees

Players who have been notified that they have received a place in the upcoming World Championship need to pay their entry fees of £136 by 16th April 2023 at the latest.

Per WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 2, clause 6, players who fail to pay by the due date will lose their place. The relevant sections of the regulation are below for your information:

6.1 Subject to paragraph 6.2, failure to pay the entry fee by the due date will lead to automatic disqualification and the place will be filled in accordance with paragraph 7.

6.2 Before disqualifying a player for failing to pay their entry fee on time, at least two reminders must have been sent to the Member which nominated the player and all reasonable efforts must have been made to contact the player directly.

Successful players from the Qualifier, must pay as soon as possible after qualifying.

All players who can pay by Bank to Bank transfer are encouraged to do so. Instructions are included in each players announcement notification email. This avoids the WCF incurring costly PayPal fees.

If absolutely necessary, please pay by PayPal using the button below:

 

 

ERC Update – 10

The ERC has had a few busy weeks.

- the European team championship fixed for August has had 11 countries wishing to participate. Further details to follow soon.

- the European club league, which already saw one play off in Portugal last year, now has another 3 play offs due to take place from May onwards, with the opportunity for more clubs to register an interest.  See previous post: European Club League: how to enter

- the entries for the European GC championship were finalised,  based on 17 Membership places and 15 Ranking places (based on D Grade). See previous post: 2023 GC European Open - Ranking Places

- only 19 nominations have been received by the original deadline for the Under-21 championship. More entries are invited.

- Kerstin Loretz (Switzerland) has agreed to act as the European co-ordinator of coaching and of referee courses.

Allocation of Ranking Places – 2025 European GC Open Championship

Please see the below notice for Allocation information for this event including the list of players in receipt of Ranking Places, and the current Replacement Ranking List as at 13th December 2024.

ERC 2025 GC Singles Budleigh - Player Allocation 01122024

March 2023 Newsletter

 
 
 

Congratulations to our latest Champions

3 World Championships have been completed since our last Newsletter. Well done to our new Champions:

2022 AC World Team Championship Tier 1: the MacRobertson Shield: Champions England, comprising Captain Samir Patel and his team mates Christian Carter, Harry Fisher, James Death, Jamie Burch and Mark Avery.

2023 AC Women’s World Championship: Champion Debbie Lines, England

2023 Under 21 GC World Championship: Champion Aston Wade, England

The WCF would like to thank the ACA and CNZ for hosting these events for us. Particular thanks go to the army of volunteers who prepared the lawns, set the hoops, fed the players, organised the admin, billeted players and of course the many club players who gave up their lawns.

Thanks also to the live-stream and social media teams, which were superb at all three events. To watch the livestreaming, follow these links:

MacRobertson Shield – provided by 'MySportLive' all days were streamed, with commentary provided from both local players but also remotely from players around the World.

AC Women’s Championship – provided by Maori Active, under the leadership of Greg Bryant. All four days of the knock-out were streamed. These have been collected on the WCF YouTube AC Women’s Playlist Women's AC World Championships Playlist

Under 21 Championship – also provided by Maori Active by Greg and his team, these can also be viewed via the WCF YouTube channel:  Under 21 World Championships Playlist

Coming up soon!

The 2023 AC World Championship will take place in London, England between 15-23 July.

The 2023 GC Women’s World Championship will take place in Sussex, England between 7 -14 August.

Qualifiers for both of these events can now be entered via the English CA Fixtures List, which is found on the Compete page of the CA Website. To enter you must first register for (or renew) a Reciprocal Rights Account. If you have any problems, you can contact the CA Office (email: caoffice@croquet.org.uk) for assistance. Once submitted, the office should take approximately one working day to provide the necessary access so that you may enter online.

The GC Over 50’s World Championship will take place in Bunbury, Western Australia, between 14-21 October. This will be the last Over 50’s event following a recent decision that in future the minimum age will change to 60.

Hosts wanted for future events
The forward calendar for the next 12 years can be viewed on the Upcoming Events page of this website. Clubs interested in hosting any of our events should make their interest known via their Governing Body.

Membership News

Hong Kong joins the WCF as an RCO
In December we announced that a Croquet Association has now been formed in Hong Kong. They have two clubs, the Hong Kong Cricket Club with 27 members and the Hong Kong Club with 15 playing members. In 2022 the HKCC hosted 4 tournaments and ran a league from Sept to April. These tournaments were singles and doubles Association and singles and doubles Golf. They have plans to hold National Championships next April.

Please offer them a warm welcome, and if you are in Hong Kong, why not get in touch and pay them a visit.

Croquet is doing well in Mexico
Mexico request upgrade to Associate Membership. It’s still going through a Council Vote, due to finish on 9th March, but it seems likely that our Mexico RCO, who have expanded to two clubs and are growing their Membership, will soon be upgrading to Associate Membership. They have recently built a fantastic new club house at their base in Valle de Guadalupe, which is in the heart of Mexico Wine Country on the Baja California.

Spain goes from strength to strength
Congratulations to Spain which continues to grow. Player numbers have increased again year on year and with their 2023 Subscription they have upgraded to the maximum 8 vote Membership.

The below article describes their amazing growth.

2023 WCF Hall of Fame Inductees
In 2023 we welcomed three new inductees to the WCF Hall of Fame: Geoff Young (New Zealand), Joe Hogan (New Zealand) and Khaled Younis (Egypt). Two of them were presented with their certificates during the recent World Championships in New Zealand.

Debbie Lines presents Geoff Young with his WCF Hall of Fame certificate

 

Chris Clarke presents Joe Hogan with his Hall of Fame certificate

Khaled Younis - 2023 WCF Hall of Fame Inductee

Dawson Balls update
The original Dawson ball recipe went out of production following changes to Australian product regulations which banned one of the substances used. Testing continues to recreate a recipe that meets the specification. The WCF have been advised that there has been some success. Final testing is underway so we hope production might start again soon. 

Completed WCF Business

Topic 116 – Ranking Changes Proposal: amends to the algorithm to reduce under-ranking in developing countries was passed on 4th November and implemented on 18th December

Topic 117 – For singles events, we consulted on members preferences for Single or Multi-venue events. Feedback was inconclusive but leant towards a preference for single venues but maintaining the larger entry of 80 players. The MC will bear the feedback in mind, but basically no change to the policy.

Topic 118 – Forward Calendar: Croquet England proposed moving the MacRobertson Shield to 2026. Members voted and approved the change.

Topic 119 – Equipment Regulations consultation. Thank you for your feedback, this is being reviewed and new Regulations will be put to a member vote shortly.

Topic 120 - Brian Havill was re-elected as the WCF Independent Examiner

Topic 121 – 2023 Budget: Members approved the budget. This included increasing player entrance fees to £17 per player per day. This allowed us to increase payments to our Hosts to ensure events are viable. The host now gets £15 of this for Teams event and £10 for Singles events. The WCF retains the remainder to cover our costs.

Czech Moravian Croquet Association – expansion of the facility at Telc
Topic 122, was a request for a grant for €15,000 to increase the two lawn club in Telc to four lawns.  This will greatly improve their ability to host tournaments and to grow their membership. Work to lay the new lawns started a few weeks ago.

 

European Golf Croquet Club League – 2023 How to Enter

An exciting new event designed to give club players throughout Europe the opportunity to play abroad and also to find the Champion club team in Europe.

The winners of 6 Qualifying Stages will compete in the Grand Final to be held at the prestigious Roehampton Club, London (England) 13-15th October 2023.

Each qualifying stage will consist of 4 teams of 4 players, who will all play each other over the course of a single weekend. The first Qualifying Stage was held at the Algarve Club (Portugal) in November 2022 when the Roehampton Club were victorious https://croquetscores.com/2022/gc/european-club-league-algarve-1

 

THE HOST CLUBS

Dulwich Croquet Club (England)

    • A 3 lawn club, based in South London (aprox 4 miles from centre of London)
    • Accessible from any of London’s airports, and with numerous transport links to the club
    • Part of a wider sports club, with tennis, squash and cricket on site
    • Well known for its sociability, hospitality and general desire to enjoy all things croquet
    • https://dulwichcroquet.com/

The CERN Croquet Club (Switzerland) is located within the grounds of the European Centre for Fundamental Physics Research, on the outskirts of Geneva. CERN, itself straddles the Swiss / French border, and the Club’s two full sized lawns are situated within that part of CERN which is in France.

CERN is a 20 minutes Tram ride from the City Centre and 10 minutes by bus from Geneva International

Airport. There are a host of hotels on both sides of the border, offering a wide range of facilities and

prices. Assistance with transportation from hotels to the Club can be arranged if required.

Should anyone be interested in a tour of CERN, or indeed any other attractions in Geneva, this can be

arranged in advance if requested early enough.

Further information can be found at:

https://cerncroquetclubgeneva.com/

https://home.web.cern.ch/

Roehampton Croquet Club (England) is situated within the private members Roehampton Club. It has four immaculate lawns, one in a walled garden. It is situated in South West London, approximately 30 mins from Heathrow and a short walk from Barnes railway station. Further details about the club can be found on its website, https://www.roehamptonclub.co.uk/

Ikskile Croquet Club (Riga, Latvia) is in a small suburb town of Ikskile in beautiful surroundings, 30 km from downtown Riga, or 45 min drive from Riga International Airport. The three full size club lawns have been built in 2021 with a help of WCF development grant. Clubhouse has all modern facilities, and there are good accommodation and catering facilities nearby. In 2022, the club hosted the European Women’s GC Championship with 28 players.

A link to google street view, unfortunately, off-season:

https://www.google.com/maps/@56.8162365,24.5197669,3a,75y,174.85h,84.96t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9zmiKYlvxY5bDDXj2IzxDA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Website of the club https://krokets.lv/ikk/

 

2023 Stages and HOW TO ENTER

2023 Stages and how to enter

Five further Qualifying Stages are planned throughout 2023. The first 3 are:

    • 29/30th April Dulwich, London (England)
    • 10/11th June CERN, Geneva (Switzerland)
    • 8/9th July Ikskile, Riga (Latvia)

Two additional Stages will be arranged during 2023, in the first instance open to those that have been unsuccessful in gaining places in the above heats. If you are interested in hosting one of these further Qualifying Stages please contact Ian Burridge burridge.ian@gmail.com

All clubs are encouraged to enter, the commitment for each team is to play in just one Qualifying Stage from those listed above and if victorious participation in the Grand Final, 13-15th October.

If interested to enter please return the completed form to burridge.ian@gmail.com

Entries must be received by Sunday March 5th 2023.

ENTRY FORM: GC European Club League Entry Form 2023

2023 RULES: GC European Cup League Rules for 2023 Season

 

AC Regeneration

The AC Regeneration Working Group was re-formed in March 2024. It aims to identify ways in which the WCF, as the Global Governing Body for croquet, can encourage and promote the regeneration of Association Croquet.

AC is in decline in all of our Member Countries. Clearly most of the effort to regenerate AC need to remain at grass-roots level, however, the Working Group will explore whether any initiatives at World level could help, for instance, changes to the rules, online resources, coaching material, or similar.

The Working Group was set up to include one person for each of the four major AC Member Countries. The current members of WG5 AC Regeneraton are:

Debbie Lines (Chair)
Jeff Soo (MC)
Graeme Roberts (MC)
Alan Sands (ACA)
Bonnie Johnstone (CNZ)
Stuart Lawrence (USCA)
Stephen Wright (England)

At the first meeting, the team drafted some Terms of Reference: AC Regeneration Terms of Reference 1.7.24

Progress Update - September 2024

The AC Regeneration Working Group has now met several times. The team initially spent some time discussing the issue, and have identified some key themes for further investigation. We intend to do some research to more fully develop these ideas.

Barriers to entry

The team are all agreed that the way AC is taught makes it seem complex and difficult to learn. The game is actually quite simple at its most basic level e.g. roquet, croquet, continuation, but teaching styles may need to change to encourage beginners. Further research is needed to understand best practice in terms of attracting players in the first place, and then keeping them.

Areas we think need emphasing to clubs, and where further research is needed, include:

    • Make it fun: don't bore the beginner with complex rules, get them playing straight away with lots of bisques.
    • Make it quick: 14pt games or even less to start them off.  Games for beginners should be 1.5 hours, no longer.
    • Make it easy:  use smaller, half size lawns and wide hoops. Use lots of bisques.

What is the AC product?

This was looked at from the perspective of understanding what attracts a person to AC. What are it's strengths and weaknesses. We've also compared these against GC to try to understand how and why the games may appeal to different types.

Clubs

We have no data (yet), but we believe that there are now very few AC only clubs, almost all now have both codes played, with GC growing.

We'd like to understand why some clubs are successful at offering their Members both codes to enjoy, whilst others have reducing numbers of AC players. Questions we'd like answered include:

    • What is best practice, and can it be shared and learnt by others?
    • Does the size and type of a club matter? For instance, what is the culture of the club, is it also a social club, with a bar and other activities.
    • Do different types of recruitment make a difference?
    • What coaching capabilities do clubs have?
    • What variants are being used e.g. one-ball, short croquet, 14 pt, Alternate Stroke Doubles

Players

We have little real solid information, other than anecdote and opinion, as to why people start playing our sport.

Is it for social reasons, to satisfy a competitive need, for health reasons, to support family etc. Are there segments of the population more likely to appreciate AC who should be targeted via club recruitment activities.

What is best practice in respect to recruitment?

When does GC to AC conversion work, and when not?

Recruitment and Coaching Materials

Do we have enough material available to clubs? e.g. beginners books, pamphlets etc

Do we have enough club volunteers who can coach AC? If not, how do we fill this gap?

Do we need better YouTube videos showing beginners how to play?

Do all of these, books, volunteers and videos focus on: 'making it fun' , 'make it quick', 'make it easy'

2023 Women’s GC World Championship – How to enter the Qualifier

A Qualifying Tournament will be held from 3rd August to 5th August 2023 at the Compton Croquet Club in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Currently there are 4 places available. This may increase if there are withdrawals from the main event after the cut-off date of 22nd June 2023.

The Qualifier is open to 20 players who have not been able to secure a place through their ranking, their national association or via a WCF wildcard. If the qualifying event is oversubscribed on the allocation date of 24 May 2023 places will be allocated via the WCF Qualifier Ranking list. In all other respects CA tournament conditions rather than WCF sports regulations will apply to this event.

How to enter:
The qualifier can be entered via the English CA's Online Tournament Entry System, which is found on the Compete page of the CA Website. To enter 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 enter online.

 

Details for the Compton Croquet Club can be found on their website