The AC Regeneration Working Group was formed in October 2022. It aims to identify ways in which the WCF can encourage and promote the regeneration of Association Croquet.
AC is in decline in all of our Member Countries. The growth of GC has helped to keep many clubs vibrant, but sometimes this has been at the expense of AC. Clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to attract players to AC or to find volunteers willing to run coaching courses in this code. In some clubs (and indeed countries), lawns are used exclusively for GC, limiting the time available for AC play.
Clearly most of the efforts to regenerate AC will 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:
David Openshaw (Chair)
Ian Burridge (MC Representative, Croquet England)
Alan Sands (ACA)
Bonnie Johnstone (CNZ)
Stuart Lawrence (USCA)