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GC Country Rankings as at 31st March 2024

Position	Country	Average	Players
1	Egypt	2,576	6
2	England	2,472	6
3	New Zealand	2,463	6
4	Australia	2,447	6
5	USA	2,441	6
6	Spain	2,354	6
7	South Africa	2,278	6
8	Canada	2,165	6
9	Ireland	2,150	6
10	Wales	2,133	6
11	Sweden	2,087	6
12	Germany	2,085
13	Switzerland	2,046	6
14	Czech Republic	2,010	6
15	Latvia	1,999	6
16	Scotland	1,965	6
17	Norway	1,908	6
18	Mexico	1,842	6
19	Finland	1,813	6
20	Austria	1,943	5
21	Belgium	1,996	2
22	France	1,833	1
23	Portugal	1,660	1

2024 GCWC – Ranking Places and Wild Card Places

The full list of players, including the Replacement Ranking List can be found on the event webpage: 2024 GC World Championship

Breakdown of Places
After the response date there were 150 entries for this 80-player event. The Management Committee have agreed the following allocation of places:

Ranking Places = 37
Wild cards = 2
Membership Places = 37
Qualifier = 4

Ranking Places
The places were awarded based on the Initial Ranking List dated end of 2^nd April 2024. This is based on their Max DG ranking over 12 months as per Sports Regulations Appendix 2, clause 2.3.

Wild Card Places
The two Wild Cards have been awarded to:
- Addison Matthews from Australia
- Adam Barr from Canada

Member Places - due by 16th May
Members should send the Secretary-General the names of players to be nominated for their Member Places by the Closing Date of 16^th May 2024 at the latest. Some Members have already notified the names of their nominees - please note that these can be changed up to the above deadline.

The request for payment of entry fees and Player Information will follow after 16^th May.

If any of a Members nominated players for their Membership Places are high on the Replacement Ranking List, we recommend that a reserve is nominated. This is in case a player nominated for a Membership Place gets promoted into the Main Event (due to a withdrawal) shortly before the Closing Date. Per the regulations, if a Member does not nominate enough players for their Member Places then the place is either forfeit or if a Member has players on the Replacement Ranking List, the highest ranked player on that list is automatically awarded the place on the Closing Date.

The number of Member Places available for each Country following the requests received by the Response Date is noted below.

Withdrawals
If for any reason a player cannot now take up their place, please notify the Secretary-General as soon as possible so that a replacement can be found. Per the Sports Regulations, the following process is followed in the event of a withdrawal:

Players who have received a Membership Place: when a player withdraws, the Member has 14 days to nominate a replacement, unless the Qualifier Closing date of 29^th September is sooner, in which case they have until that date. If no player is nominated a Replacement Ranking Place is awarded, or if the cut-off date of 2^nd September 2024 has passed, then the place becomes an extra qualifier from the Qualification tournament.

Withdrawal by a player who received a Ranking or Wild Card place: when a player withdraws, if this is before the cut-off date of 2^nd September 2024, then the next most highly ranked player on the Replacement Ranking list at the end of the day the withdrawal is notified will be offered the place. After the cut-off date, the place becomes an extra qualifier from the Qualification tournament.

After the Qualifier Closing date, all withdrawals from the main event become extra qualifiers from the Qualification tournament.

AC Country Rankings as at 31st March 2024

Position	Country	Average Grade	Players
1	England	2,578	6
2	Australia	2,536	6
3	New Zealand	2,490	6
4	USA	2,449	6
5	Scotland	2,114	6
6	Ireland	2,111	6
7	Wales	2,062	6
8	South Africa	1,944	6
9	Canada	1,914	6
10	Sweden	1,613	6
11	Spain	1,592	6
12	Germany	1,442	6
13	Austria	1,656	5
14	Latvia	1,284	5
15	Switzerland	1,705	3
16	Czech Republic	1,619	3
17	Iran	2,201	1
18	Jersey	2,119	1
19	Luxembourg	1,966	1

April 2024 Newsletter

Croquet Expands again…

Not so long ago we welcomed Hong Kong as an RCO and many of you will now be reading their regular Newsletter, recounting tales of their activity, including coaching and national tournaments. See the blog on their website to read all about them: Hong Kong Croquet Club website

Corfu

The WCF are now pleased to report that Corfu has joined the WCF. Corfu is one of the largest of the many Greek Islands. The Corfu Club have been welcoming players to their tournaments, both GC and AC, for many years, and we are really pleased that they’ve now chosen to join us. They too publish regular newsletters, see their website for more: Corfu Croquet Club website

Refereeing Corner

Want to learn the rules?
The WCF launched the Online GC Rules Training Pack in December. We know that many of you are now studying and learning using this online resource. We hope it is going well and that you are using either the WhatsApp group or the Facebook page if you need support.

The associated online test is currently under-going testing and will be launched within the next week or so.

Expertise Sharing
The WCF have also launched GC WhatsApp group “WCF Global GC Referee Queries”. This group is specifically for qualified referees to use when they come across queries that they cannot answer. Each Member has nominated one individual to post into the group from their country. Other referees can join but will have view only access. Stephen Mulliner, chair of the GC Rules committee, is monitoring this group and will respond with answers.
WCF Launch GC Referee WhatsApp group

Upcoming Events

Plans for the next Golf Croquet World Championship are well underway. The response date was 19^th March and we’ve had 150 entries for the 80 places! The MC are reviewing the entries and will announce Ranking Places and Wild Cards by 16^th April at the latest.

Members are reminded that names for their Membership Places must be received by the Secretary-General no later than 16^th May 2024.

The Qualifier will be held from 13^th to 16^th October, also at Chesapeake Bay Croquet Club, and has 40 places. To find out more: How to enter the Qualifier

Regulatory Updates

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

Topic 126 - GC Knock Out seeding Consultation
Members voted to approve Block Separation by Grade as a new method to seed the Knock-Out stage of WCF GC Events. This method will be used at all 2024 championships.

Topic 127 - ERC committee nominations
Roberts Stafeckis was re-elected and remains Chair of the ERC. See below for introductions to the new committee members.

Topic 128 - President and two new Management Committee Members
Jose Alvarez-Sala, Samir Patel and Jeff Soo. See previous newsletter.

Topic 129 - Election of Brian Havill as Independent Examiner.
Elected.

Topic 131 - WCF Statutes and Regulation Update
Revised versions of our Statutes and four of our Regulation documents were approved by Members on 28th March 2024. See post: Revised Statutes & Regulations

Topic 133 - 2024 Budget and approval of 2022 Accounts

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

Topic 130 - Code of Conduct consultation
A draft was previously sent out to Members some months ago. This original consultation received mixed results. Following further discussions and a complete re-draft, a second consultation was sent to Members on 17^th March 2024. Consultation closes 8^th April 2024.

Topic 132 - Ranking Amendments re Returners and Fast Improvers
The consultation closed at the end of January. The Ranking Operations Committee are reviewing the feedback received with the intention of this soon going out for a vote with minor amendments.

Topic 134 - Privacy Policy
A draft is with Members for consultation, which closes 9th April 2024.

Spotlight on….

A new feature of our Newsletter, each issue we will feature one of our useful links or resources.

This month the spotlight is on…. Paddy Chapman’s useful coaching site croquetdev.com. In particular, the section on AC Break Play. Using simple and easy to follow interactive diagrams, this is a MUST read for everyone who wants to understand how the basic patterns of AC work.

Click here> Croquetdev.com/breaks

It’s very easy to follow and it clearly shows how the Roquet > Croquet > Continuation pattern works, and demonstrates 2-ball, 3-ball and 4-ball breaks and various variations.

Share this with your clubs, and get your beginners understanding how to play AC, from their sofas!

NEWS from around the World

Croquet England
Croquet England has now been set up as a charitable organisation and is the new name for the National Governing Body for Croquet in England. The associated changes to administration and operation have been put in place during late 2023 and early 2024. This has involved many changes, including to their policies and procedures and to the website. The new Croquet England website is more outward focussed, whilst the old Croquet Association website remains but will increasingly be for affiliates only.

To see the new website: Croquet England new website

Croquet in Spain – artificial lawns
The A La Par Foundation in Madrid has a full-size artificial grass lawn, the first in Spain. The Spanish Croquet Federation are working with the WCF so that we can jointly learn more about how this type of club can help expand croquet in Spain, or indeed, around the world.

The Foundation's croquet field is located in the Fuencarral-El Pardo district of Madrid. It was opened in June 2023 and the Spanish Croquet Federation have given it approval for use in their local events and tournaments.

EUROPE NEWS

European Club League – the heats

As we start the European summer season, we’re excited that this new Club League continues this year with 28 clubs competing in 7 heats around Europe. Good luck to all the teams competing.

To find out more about the 3 ERC Events being held this year, visit the new look Events page of the ERC website.

Introducing the new ERC committee

The ERC has now been operating for over two years, and some of our original committee have stood down. Our thanks to Kerstin Loretz, John Swabey and Daniel Larsson for their assistance over the past two years.

We welcome some new faces to the European Regional Committee team:

Alan Looney – Ireland

Alan Looney is the Honorary Secretary of the Croquet Association of Ireland (CAI) and is a Past President of Carrickmines Croquet & Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, the home of the Irish Croquet Championship since 1909.

Alan has represented Ireland at both GC and AC and plays both disciplines both socially and competively. He is a keen supporter of European competitions and has been a local advocate for the European Golf Croquet League with Carrickmines agreeing to be a host in June 2024.

Alan is also on the CAI organising committee for the 2024 European Association Championships which will be hosted by the CAI in Carrickmines CLTC in August 2024, and since joining the ERC in January, he has taken on the ERC Event Lead role.

Duncan Catterall – England

Duncan is keen to help croquet grow in Eruope. He is keen to explore how we can promote croquet to a wider audience via both public engagement and highlighting world class play.

He hopes to utilise his experience as an architect/designer to look into the digital presence of the ERC, specifically a public facing website and social media engagement.

His croquet events business ‘Croquet & Cocktails’ gives him experience with understanding the commercial viability of croquet and its potential sponsorship opportunities. Many of you will have seen the livestream footage from the recent Invitational Event in Mauritius which Duncan managed.

He also serves on the Croquet England marketing team and hopes these two roles will enhance each other.

Michael Boer – Germany

Michael is excited by all the new events and activity in Europe since the ERC was founded. He is keen to actively help to ensure that this continues successfully into the future.

Michael has been playing croquet for 20 years and loves maintaining contacts with players from all over Europe by playing in these international tournaments. He has been a member of the board of the German Croquet Association for several years.

They join Roberts Stafeckis, Chair, who was re-elected and Andrés Álvarez‑Sala, whose original term doesn’t end for another two years.

WCF Statutes and Regulations Update

2024 – European Events open to overseas players

Dates	Country	Event Name	Contact
18th - 19th May	Czechia	Czech AC Open	vasek.doskocil#seznam.cz
18th - 19th May	Germany	Helenen Cup GC Doubles Advantage, Hamburg	jjencquel#gmail.com
20th May	Germany	Hanseatic Cup GC, Hamburg	jjencquel#gmail.com
31st May - 3rd June	Ireland	Championships of County Dublin AC, Carrickmines	fiachracarroll#gmail.com
8th June	Portugal	Portuguese Open GC, Algarve	algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com
21st - 23rd June	Latvia	Midsummer GC Mixed Doubles, Ikskile	roberts.stafeckis#gmail.com
12th - 14th July	Switzerland	Swiss GC Open, Geneva	peter#paynes.ch
2nd - 4th August	Switzerland	Swiss AC Open, Geneva	peter#paynes.ch
3rd - 10th August	Ireland	Championships of Ireland AC, Carrickmines	fiachracarroll#gmail.com
23rd - 25th August	Czechia	Czech GC Open, Telc	vasek.doskocil#seznam.cz
30th August - 1st September	Latvia	Baltic Open GC, Ikskile	roberts.stafeckis#gmail.com
13th -15th September	Ireland	GC Championships of Ireland, Carrickmines	fiachracarroll#gmail.com
14th - 15th September	Portugal	Chairman's Shield GC, Algarve	algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com
10th - 11th October	Portugal	Benamor Open Doubles & Singles GC, Algarve	algarvecroquetclub#gmail.com

WCF launch GC Referee WhatsApp Group

The WCF are pleased to announce the launch of a WhatsApp group called ‘WCF Global GC Referee Queries’.

The purpose of this WhatsApp Group is to provide a platform for addressing queries relating to unusual refereeing incidents or unclear interpretations of the GC Rules in order to establish a unified global approach.

Queries will be raised by national moderators, who have been nominated by their local governing body. Answers will be provided by the Chair of the WCF GC Rules Committee – currently Stephen Mulliner.

Referees with queries should address them in the first instance to their local moderator, contact details for this person can be obtained from your national governing body.

At the moment this group is for GC Refereeing queries only. We are keen to see whether the use of WhatsApp for this purpose is successful before setting up an AC group as well.

Corfu joins WCF as RCO

The Management Committee (MC) are very pleased to announce that Corfu, one of the Greek islands, has requested to join the WCF. The MC have reviewed their request and can confirm that the Corfu Club meets the requirements to join the WCF as a Recognised Croquet Organisation (RCO).

The club, based near Gouvia on Corfu, has been established for many years. It has four lawns, and regularly hosts tournaments open to visitors, both in GC and AC. The thriving club has an active membership who play mainly GC and One Ball, with just a small amount of AC played. To find out more, including how to visit them, see their website: https://corfucroquet.club/

Richard and Karen Quilter (President and Secretary) will be our main contacts. Please offer them, and all the Corfu players, a warm welcome to the WCF.

WCF Sports Regulations Updated

On 14th January 2024, Council voted to amend the method for seeding the GC Knock Out at our Singles Events. The result voted to move towards a new system of seeding: Block Separation by Grade.

The Sports Regulations have now been amended to reflect this vote and version 9.2 uploaded to the website: https://worldcroquet.org/wcf-business/statutes-regulations/

All future WCF and ERC GC events will use this method of seeding.

Other changes to the Sports Regulations are currently in progress following a recent consultation.

2024 Budget Approved by WCF Council 31st January 2024

I’m pleased to announce that on 31st January 2024, Members voted to approve the 2024 Budget.

WORLD CROQUET FEDERATION

Category: Latest News