Category: Miscellaneous

WCF Advice Sheet – Facility Guide

This guide from Croquet Victoria is intended to assist with the development of a croquet club and in particular the planning process. However it could also likely prove useful to those seeking to establish croquet at a venue alongside or as a successor to other sports. Croquet Victoria is happy for it to be adapted for use by others with an acknowledgement where this occurs.

Download here> Croquet Facility Guide

10 year Championship Schedule update

Re-scheduling of WCF Events from 2021 to 2023

Over the course of the coming months, the WCF MC will be seeking to agree new dates for each WCF Event due to be held from 2021 to 2023 with the respective Event Hosts and will announce these dates as and when agreed.

Women's Events in 10 Year Championship Schedule

In recent years, both the Women’s AC and GC World Championships have “slipped” by a year so that the Women's ACWC, which was last held in 2015, was due to be held next in 2020 which was also the same year as the ACWC.  Similarly, the Women's GCWC, which had previously been held in 2014, was most recently held in 2019 which was also the same year as the last GCWC.  This is not ideal because it makes it more difficult for the top women players to compete in both events in each code.  It also means that women players have experienced a five-year gap between their recent world championships in both codes instead of the four-year gap that was intended.

In order to counteract both aspects of this slippage, it has been agreed that the one-year postponement will not apply to the women’s events other than for the postponement of the 2020 Women’s ACWC to 2021.  The next Women’s GCWC will therefore be held in 2023 and the next but one Women’s ACWC will be held in 2024.  The WCF MC will now actively seek an Event Host and dates for the 2023 Women’s GCWC so that all WCF Events due to be held from now to the end of 2023 will be fully allocated.

2022 U21 GC World Championship (“U21 GCWC”)

The WCF MC has considered the impact of the postponement of the 2021 U21 GCWC to 2022 on the eligibility of players whose 21st birthdays fall in 2021.  Such players would have been eligible to play in the 2021 U21 GCWC but, applying the normal age limit, would not be eligible to play in a 2022 U21 GCWC.  In view of the exceptional circumstances that have led to the postponement, the WCF MC has decided to recommend to Council that WCF Sports Regulations paragraph 5.1.5 be temporarily amended so that players whose 21st birthdays fall in 2021 will still be eligible to play in a 2022 U21 GCWC.  Council has received the recommendation and its decision will be announced on 17 July 2020.

Allowing any player who would have been eligible for a 2021 U21 GCWC to remain eligible for the same event in 2022 is consistent with treating the 2021 GCWC as postponed rather cancelled.  The WCF MC feels that this inclusive approach is in the best interests of fostering the next generation of croquet players.

For the avoidance of doubt, this treatment will not apply if the U21 GCWC cannot be held in 2022 after all.  If that is the case, the 2021 U21 GCWC will be regarded as cancelled and the next holding of the U21 GCWC, perhaps in 2023, will be a new event and subject to the normal age limit.

2023 Over 50 GCWC

This event will continue to be open to players who reach the age of 50 by the first day of the event.

2024 and beyond

In January 2020, the WCF MC began consulting with Members with regard to the events that make up the 10 year Championship Schedule (“the Schedule”) with reference to their frequency and formats.  However, the coronavirus outbreak led to the urgent need to address the effect on the Schedule as far as 2023.  Now that the Schedule has been fixed until the end of 2023, we are now able to further consult Members about frequency and formats before finalising the Schedule for 2024 and beyond.  It is intended that the later part of the Schedule will include a Centenary MacRobertson Shield in 2025.  The WCF MC hopes to be able to publish a full Schedule for 2021 to 2030 by the end of this year.

 

WCF starts search for next Secretary-General

here

The WCF Management Committee has emailed all WCF Members and RCOs to inform them that it is seeking a successor to Stephen Mulliner who will retire as Secretary-General on 31 August 2021 on the completion of his second four-year term of office.

The successful candidate will be appointed Deputy Secretary-General from 1 September 2020 and will work alongside Stephen until 31 August 2021.  The intention is that they will then be appointed Acting Secretary-General until 31 December 2021 and then begin a four-year term on 1 January 2022.  They will be eligible to be apppointed for a second four-year term.

The advertisement and job specification may be found here.

The closing date for applications is 31 July 2020.

Revision of 10 year Championship Schedule

WCF 10 year Championship Schedule – coronavirus pandemic announcement

Following the postponement of the lower Tiers of the GC WTC, the WCF Management Committee has consulted with the Event Hosts for the WCF Events planned to be held in 2020 to 2023.  All parties unanimously agree that the most practical and appropriate response to the impact of the pandemic is to decide now to postpone all WCF Events by one year, starting with the Women’s Association World Championship due to be held in November 2020.  It is hoped this will provide sufficient time for the situation to stabilise.

However, it is also recognised that one or more further one year postponements may be necessary if the global situation does not improve sufficiently to make holding international events feasible.  The situation will be kept under review.

The initial amendment of the 10 year Championship Schedule is as follows.  Please note that the revised dates are approximate and subject to detailed agreement with the relevant Event Hosts who have all indicated their support.

 WCF Event Host Original Revised
    date date
2020 GC World Team Championship Tier 2 Spain May-20 May-21
2020 GC World Team Championship Tier 3 England Jul-20 Jul-21
2020 Women’s AC World Championship New Zealand Nov-20 Nov-21
2021 Under 21 GC World Championship New Zealand Jan-21 Jan-22
2021 GC World Championship New Zealand Feb-21 Feb-22
2021 AC World Team Championship Tiers 2/3 England Aug-21 Aug-22
2021 AC World Team Championship Tier 1 (MacRobertson Shield) Australia Nov-21 Nov-22
2022 AC World Championship England Jul-22 Jul-23
2022 Over 50 GC World Championship Australia Oct-22 Oct-23
2023 Under 21 GC World Championship USA Mar-23 Mar-24
2023 GC World Championship USA Mar-23 Mar-24

The MacRobertson Shield is due to be held in England in 2025 which will be the centenary of its founding.  It was also agreed that, if possible, this event should still be held in 2025 with the forward calendar being revised slightly to accommodate this.”

Stephen Mulliner

Secretary-General

Development Projects – Updates

Brian Lozano has been in touch to say that he had a catalogue or GC matches on Youtube already in place and has since already added an AC catalogue too, they can be found here San Diego Croquet Youtube Link Brian is happy to collaborate with anyone who thinks they can help build on this resource and help with the non-Youtube material.
 
Following a suggestion from Sally Harper (Australia) that an online croquet quiz might be a good idea we were inclined to agree, although we do not see it as a WCF Development Project. We have contacted Chris Clarke and he has agreed to host an on-line “World Croquet Quiz”. He intends to hold quizzes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting next Tuesday 7th April. The times and further details will be posted to the Notts List, Australian List, Facebook and WCF Website in due course.
 
We have added a further project to the list of ideas, a Club Court Booking System and this is one of the projects where we currently have a live lead. We also have initial leads on #1 Established Croquet at other sports venues, #6 creating video content to attract young players and #8 League Management.
 
The original annoucement with a full list of projects can be found here https://www.worldcroquet.org/index.php/latest-news/394-development-projects

Relaunch of the WCF Hall of Fame

Bryan Dawson, the inventor and manufacturer of the Dawson Croquet Ball, has been inducted in the WCF Hall of Fame in recognition of his unique contribution to modern croquet.  Bryan received his certificate of induction from the WCF President Ian Burridge, during the Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Association Croquet World Championship.

Bryan is the first person to be inducted since 2014.  The WCF Management Committee is keen to receive further nominations for induction.  All those submitted by 30 September 2020 will be considered by the WCF Hall of Fame Committee which will announce the names those who have been recommended for induction by 30 November 2020.

A nomination by an individual is to take the form of a written citation sent by email to the Secretary-General.  It should demonstrate how the candidate has made an outstanding contribution to any of the Games of Croquet as a player, administrator or supporter or any combination thereof. A citation should be in English and not less than 500 words and should be accompanied by a photograph or portrait of the candidate.

 

Coronavirus update

The WCF MC is monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as it develops in the context of three remaining World Championships in 2020.

 

  • 2020 WCF Golf Croquet World Team Championship Tier 2, Spain, 11-16 May.  The WCF MC is in contact with participating Members and is keeping the situation under continuous review in conjunction with the Event Host, Federación Española de Croquet.  In the meantime, we advise teams and spectators to avoid committing to any further non-refundable expenditure.

 

  • 2020 WCF Golf Croquet World Team Championship Tier 3, England, 14-18 July.  The WCF is in contact with participating Members, none of whom have made their travel plans and they have been told to avoid committing to non-refundable expenditure, as should any spectators. The host club and the Event Host, the Croquet Association, have been advised. We will continue to monitor the situation, and provide an update to competing teams during April.

 

  • 2020 WCF Women’s Association Croquet World Championship, New Zealand, 29 November-6 December.  We expect the situation to change significantly between now and when the event takes place.  We are therefore currently assuming that the event will take place as scheduled.  However, no players will have confirmed places in the event until the Allocation Date of 31 May 2020.  We will therefore review the situation shortly before that date. Potential players and spectators should avoid committing to any non-refundable expenditure for the moment.