Author: Debbie Lines

2025 AC World Championship – Qualifier details

2025 AC World Championship Qualifier
This will take place between 14-16 October at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, FL
How to enter:
Entry is direct via the USCA: USCA Entry site: WCF AC World Qualifier
Size of Event:
Entry limit 24 players
Entry Fee:
The entry fee is US $75
This event determines the Qualifier Places (4 or more) for the 2025 AC World Championship. Entrants must intend to play in the main Championship if they qualify. (Players who have already been offered a place in the main Championship are not eligible to play in the Qualifier.)
The Qualifier will be played as a strict Swiss in 8 or 9 rounds. (The format is subject to change if there is a large number of vacancies.)
The Qualifier Allocation Date is 14 July. If the event is oversubscribed on that date, the list will be sorted by DGrade* and the top 24 players will be offered places. The remaining players will be placed on a waiting list. If a vacancy arises, the waiting list will be newly sorted by DGrade and the highest-ranked player will be offered the place.
If the tournament is undersubscribed on the Qualifier Allocation Date, all the entrants will be offered places, and additional places will be offered in order of receipt of entry until the event is full.
The Qualifier Closing Date is 29 September; no entries will be accepted after that date.

* Unlike the ranking list used for allocating Ranking Places in the main Championship, the ranking list for this tournament is based on a player's most recent official DGrade, whether or not the player has played any games in the prior 12 months.

A beverage station will be provided.  Daily Lunches are not provided but will be available.  Players will be charged $16 plus tax and gratuity.

Location
National Croquet Center, 700 Florida Mango Rd, West Palm Beach, FL  33406, USA

Key Contacts
Tournament Director: Jeff Soo

Recruitment of new Secretary-General

Debbie Lines has advised that she does not intend to do a second term as Secretary-General and that she will therefore retire on 31st December 2025.

The Management Committee would like to recruit a replacement to start 1st September 2025, so that there is a four-month hand-over period.

New Secretary-General advertisement May25

For info: the WCF is currently going through the process of becoming a limited company. We do not expect this to impact the recruitment process or materially effect the job specification.

Applications and enquiries should be sent to this email address by 15th July 2025.

We strongly encourage candidates to talk to those familiar with the WCF and how it operates, before applying for the role. Both Debbie Lines and the current members of the Management Committee are all more than happy to respond to queries.

 

Congratulations Euan Burridge – 2025 European GC Singles Champion

Congratulations to Euan Burridge, the 2025 European GC Singles Champion. 

Euan Burridge – Champion, presented with the Salver and medal by Alan Looney and Begoña Elzaburu representing the WCF European Committee.

Euan beat previous champion Aston Wade 7:5, 7:3 in the final. Congratulations also to bronze medallists Stephen Mulliner and Jack Good.

The Shield was won by Richard Bilton, the Bowl by Otakar Stankus and the Plate by Juan Ojeda.

Well done to everyone.

The ERC would like to thank Budleigh Salterton Croquet Club and all the many volunteers who helped to organise and run this championship. Your work is really appreciated.

2025 AC World Championship – Player Information

The following information is required from all the above competing players by 28th May 2024 (or sooner please if possible).

    • A recent well-lit, clear and good quality photograph (ideally headshot)
    • 150-250 words of biographical details
    • Contact email and mobile phone numbers for during the event (for use by the Tournament Manager)

Please send this information online via Google Forms. Please click on this link: 2025 AC World Championship Player Information

Please note, the photo and bio may be published on the event website and on the WCF website. Players should expect some live streaming and the press may be present taking photographs. Players should note that their results will be published on Croquet Scores. The contact details will be held by the WCF S-G and Tournament Manager for use during the event.

You will also be sent an email with a link to join a WhatsApp group (to be set up during early June) set up for players and officials to chat together about the event, accommodation, transport, meals etc.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why is this requested via a Google Form?
The organisers for this event will pick up all the bios directly from the Google Form. This reduces the workload. If everyone sends the bio into the WCF separately, maybe by email, word document, pdf, whatsapp etc., then it would then have to be cut and pasted into some central repository. Much simpler if everyone feeds it into one place in one format in the first place.

Why can’t you re-use the information you sent last time?
Regarding your contact details: due to data protection rules, we ask that personal data is not kept by the organisers after the event, so emails and telephone numbers need to be captured each time. And of course, these could easily change year on year.
Due to privacy laws in the UK we also need you to consent to the use of your data each time.

Regarding your bio: firstly, there is no way for the WCF to know who wants to keep an old bio and who wants to update it, so we ask for new each time. Plus, most players prefer to update the words for each event. Especially those of you that play both codes, who may want to say different things depending whether it is a GC or AC event. You might have major wins in one code and not in the other for instance.

Who might read my bio?
It could be used in various ways to advertise and promote the event.  Variously, it could be included in Sponsor Packs, the Event Website, the Programme, or perhaps sent to the Press.
Our sport needs sponsorship to help make these events financially viable. We need to look professional to attract sponsors. It is therefore important that your bios are sensible, well-written and give a good impression to the World.

Why is this information requested so early?
Work to prepare for a World Championship starts very early. The website and programmes are put together by volunteers, many of whom have other commitments. We need to give them as much time as possible to do this, to ensure that they not only do a good job, but that no undue stress is put on them.  The army of volunteers works hard to make these world championships run smoothly and to ensure that you, as a player, have a fantastic event. As players you are not asked to do a lot to help, providing this information is something you can do.

Do I have to provide this information?
Yes.
Per WCF Sports Regulations, Appendix 2 Singles Events, Clause 6.3, all players are required as part of their participation in the event to send this information through on request, in the format and manner requested by the Secretary-General and the hosts.

6.3 …. all player information requested must be received by the date specified in the Invitation. This might include a photograph, email address, contact phone number during the event (if available) and up-to-date biographical details. These should be sent to the Secretary-General in the format requested.

Do I have to join the WhatsApp group?
No, this is optional.

2025 AC World Championship – How to pay your entry fees

The 2025 AC World Championship will take place at the National Croquet Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA, between 18 and 26 October 2025.

Entry Fees are due by 30th May at the latest.
The Entry fee for this event is £189 per player for Full and Associate Members.
[This is based on a rate of £21 per player per day for 9 days].

Please do not pay until you have been notified that you have been awarded a place in the event.
Those on the Replacement List, do NOT yet have a place.
Lists of those with awarded places can be found on event webpage.

The ERC would prefer that you pay by Bank Transfer. All details on how to do this will be in the email sent to each Member by the Secretary-General. We ask that our Members please forward this information onto their players. Paying in this way incurs lower fees for the ERC and will be very much appreciated.

If you do need to pay by PayPal, please click on the button below:

May 2025 Newsletter

Download as a pdf: Newsletter May 2025

Congratulations to the new World Team Champions – USCA

The USA team played superbly throughout and had a well deserved win in the recent World Team Championships. Their squad of five players included the last 3 Singles GC World Championships, Ben Rothman (captain), Matthew Essick and Blake Fields, AC semi-finalist Tom Balding and  rising star Stephen Morgan.

For full details, visit: 2025 GC PFC Mallets World Team Championship Report

Our Under 21 rising stars competed this April in Florida

Congratulations to new Under 21 World Champion, Levi Franks from New Zealand.

Levi's play improved day on day and the final, against Fawzy Helmy from Egypt, showcased some excellent croquet.

Well done to all the young players, the stars of the future.

For full details, visit: 2025 GC Under 21 Championship Report

 

The WCF intends to become an Incorporated organisation

Ever since it started in the late 1980’s the WCF has been run as an unincorporated organisation.

It has no separate legal personality of its own.  The WCF Statutes control how we are organised and managed on a day-to-day basis. The Management Committee (MC) in accordance with the Statutes and the various other WCF Regulations and Policies, run the WCF and ask the WCF Council, made up of individuals from each Member Country, to vote on any topics that involve change or spend which is not budgeted.

Incorporation was included as a key objective in the WCF 2024-2027 WCF Business Plan.

Why does the WCF need to Incorporate?

The main advantage of incorporation is that the incorporated entity has its own separate legal personality and acts in its own name. An incorporated entity will benefit from limited liability for its members, perpetual succession, the ability to enter into contractual obligations, and enter into and execute documents in the name of the incorporated entity.

An incorporated structure typically benefits from stronger global recognition, making it more visible and credible to external stakeholders than an unincorporated model.

Specifically, there are various reasons why the MC are proposing incorporation:

      • To facilitate easier banking
      • To provide easier access to funding, such as sponsorship deals and potential grants
      • To facilitate getting insurance cover
      • To remove personal liability from the MC

We will become a Company Limited by Guarantee
After reviewing the options, the Management Committee have recommended to the WCF Council that we become a Company Limited by Guarantee.

The MC are in the process of asking Members to approve a spend of approximately £8,000 for the appointment of legal consultants to help us with the required company set-up.

We need help to write the Articles of Association and the Memorandum of Association for the new company. The aim is that these will reflect as closely as is possible the existing WCF Statutes and Administration Regulations, so that the WCF may continue to operate, on a day-to-day basis, as it does today.

Can you help with the legal work required?

Do you have the expertise to be our Legal Consultant for the new company set-up? If you are willing to help us pro-bono we would very much like to hear from you. The WCF is not a wealthy organisation, and the spend required to make this change, will eat into our reserves. These reserves can be better spent on developing our sport.

Please get in touch by Sunday 11th May at the latest if you can help. After that date if the spend is approved we will go ahead and engage consultants.

Spotlight on ....  Action for AC

The recent growth in Golf Croquet has not always been reflected with matching growth in Association Croquet. We know that many clubs around the world are increasingly introducing new players only to GC. Over the past 5 years, the number of AC players in the rankings has declined by 11%. This decline amongst top players is likely to be reflected in an even larger drop at grassroots level amongst beginners and high handicaps. There is a risk that some clubs may soon not have enough players and coaches able to pass on their AC skills.

Do you have best practice to share?
Has your club found a way to retain or introduce both codes effectively?

If you have success stories to share, please email us with your stories. Using the WCF Facebook page, we'll share your thoughts with others, who can hopefully make use of your great work in their own clubs.

Send your stories to the WCF at: secretary@worldcroquet.org

WCF Appointments for 2026

Something to start thinking about….
Would you like to help run the WCF from January 2026 onward?

The Management Committee serve 4-year terms ending on 31st December. At the end of this year 5 of the committee reach the end of their terms. Some may choose to stand again, but even if they do, there will be elections to select from those who wish to stand.

Debbie Lines, the current Secretary-General, also reaches the end of her term at the end of this year. Debbie has indicated she will not be available to serve a second term, so we will need a new S-G.

The MC will be formally requesting nominations in due course, but for now, if you’d like to know more about what is involved, please ask.

Upcoming Events

European Championship 2025 GC Championship 15-18 May Budleigh, England
World Championship 2025 GC World Team Championships – Tiers 2 & 3 5 to 10 August Sussex, England
European Championship 2025 U21 Championship 17-20 August Telč, Czech Republic
World
Championship		 2025 AC World Championship 18 to 26 October National Croquet Centre, Florida, USA

There will be a qualifier starting on 14 October.

AC Country Rankings as at 31st March 2025

The latest AC Team Rankings (as at 31 March 2025) are:

Position

Country

Average Grade

Players

1

England

2,572

6

2

Australia

2,557

6

3

New Zealand

2,497

6

4

USA

2,463

6

5

Scotland

2,238

6

6

Ireland

2,135

6

7

Wales

2,088

6

8

South Africa

1,900

6

9

Canada

1,879

6

10

Austria

1,656

6

11

Sweden

1,573

6

12

Germany

1,458

6

13

Czech Republic

1,633

4

14

Switzerland

1,532

2

15

Norway

1,278

2

16

Spain

2,505

1

17

Iran

2,223

1

18

Jersey

2,042

1

19

Latvia

1,331

1

20

Portugal

1,186

1

GC Country Rankings as at 31st March 2025

The GC Team Rankings (as at 31 March 2025) change again this quarter.

In the last quarter of 2024 USA moved up from fourth place into third. This quarter they've overtaken England to take second place.

Given their recent successes in both the 2024 GC World Championship and more recently their historic win in the Openshaw Shield, this is an expected move up the country listings.

Position

Country

Average

Players

1

Egypt

2,582

6

2

USA

2,529

6

3

England

2,496

6

4

New Zealand

2,476

6

5

Australia

2,476

6

6

Spain

2,387

6

7

South Africa

2,208

6

8

Wales

2,162

6

9

Canada

2,145

6

10

Ireland

2,134

6

11

Sweden

2,097

6

12

Germany

2,069

6

13

Czech Republic

2,022

6

14

Latvia

2,000

6

15

Austria

1,971

6

16

Switzerland

1,968

6

17

Scotland

1,963

6

18

Norway

1,928

6

19

Mexico

1,872

6

20

Portugal

1,827

6

21

Finland

1,809

5

22

Belgium

1,936

2