Author: Debbie Lines

WCF Vacancy: ERC Event Co-ordinator

Would you like to help administer the European Championships? Want to contribute to the sport you love? If so, then this role is for you.

The European Regional Committee (ERC) are recruiting for someone to administer the European Championships. The role will involve managing all the admin that is done by the WCF. Key tasks include liaising with the host organisers and managing the entry process. Typically, the ERC schedule two to three events each year. The European Club League may be added to this role for the 2026 season onward. Full training provided.

Please see the WCF news post to find out more about the role and how to apply: ERC Event Co-ordinator

Applications close 31st July 2024.

Croquet Expands again…

Members voted to upgrade Portugal from an RCO to an Associate Member in June. The growth of the sport in Portugal is good to see, and we hope some of you may choose to go and play over there.

A bit about croquet in Portugal. They have 5 clubs, mainly in southern Portugal although they are trying to set up a club in the Lisbon area. They hold the Benamor Open each year, which is open to non-Portuguese players and ranked on Croquet Scores. GC is the main variant played, although there are some AC players.

To find out more, take a look at their website: portuguesecroquetassociation.pt.

Refereeing Corner

Referee Training – Latvia GC Course

Ian Shore, from the Chiltern Croquet Academy, ably assisted by Ron Carter, enjoyed a few days in Riga, Latvia in early May, running a GC Referee’s course. There were 8 trainees of whom 7 decided to sit the exam, and they all passed.

The course was hosted by Viktors and Sandra Harlinskis at their Sigulda clubhouse, which had all the facilities needed. The course was blessed with blue skies and some even took their written exams outside.

5 candidates from Latvia, one from Finland and one from Estonia passed both the on-court test and the written exam. Ian Shore, used the standard Croquet England test and exam paper.

One of the candidates had this to say about the excellent course “Every detail has been thought of, wonderful handouts, presented perfectly on time, precise answers to any questions. It by far exceeded my expectations. I will definitely recommend the course to anybody who wants to improve their GC refereeing skills”.

Online Rules Training

If you are interested in learning more about the Rules, the WCF launched the Online GC Rules Training Pack  in December. The course uses easy to follow modules and includes the option to take a simple on-line test at the end.

Sharing best practice….

Another new feature of our Newsletter is to share useful documents and best practice created by our wonderful Members. This month, I’m pleased to highlight the Croquet Scores handy guide prepared by Croquet New Zealand. Although some of this is specific to New Zealand, most of it will easily transfer across to other Members.

The guide can be downloaded from CNZ’s website on page “Tournament Documents” - CNZ Key Documents

If you have some best practice you wish to share, please get in touch, and it can feature in our next newsletter.

Spotlight on….    Croquet Art

For those of you who like croquet art and history, the Spanish Federation have a superb collection of paintings to view on their website: fecroquet.com/galeria/croquet-arte

EUROPE NEWS

The 2024 European GC Championship

Congratulations to our newest European Champion, José Álvarez-Sala from Spain, who beat Richard Bilton from England in the final in 3 games, 6-7, 7-3, 7-5.

Upcoming European events: there are still two more European events still to come this year:

• • The GC Women's Championship, being held at Eastbourne, England.
  • The AC Championship, re-started after a gap of several years.

European Club League – the heats

The results from all the heats are now available:  ECL Heat Results

Well done to all the teams which made it through to the Grand Final, which this year will be held at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid between October 11 to 13th.

Regulatory Updates

Since our last Newsletter, the following regulatory updates have been approved by WCF Council:

Topic 132 - Ranking Amendments re Returners and Fast Improvers.
Members voted to approve the amendments on 7^th June.

Topic 134 - Privacy Policy
The WCF is domiciled in the UK and is therefore required to comply with UK data protection and privacy laws. Members approved the policy on 9th May.

Topic 136 - Portual upgrade to Associate Member.
Members approved their upgrade on 6th June.

The following consultations or votes are in-progress as at the publication of this newsletter:

Topic 130 - Code of Conduct consultation
The second consultation completed and constructive feedback  was received  from Members. We expect to send a final version to vote within the next few weeks.