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2024 European Golf Croquet Club League – Closing date to enter your club is 28th January

Clubs can now enter the 2024 European Club League heats.

As at 21st January, 21 clubs have already signed up for the 2024 European Club League but there are still places available. For the best chance of securing a place for your club make sure you enter before the closing date of January 28th.

Visit page: 2024 European GC Club League for all the information you need: when and where the heats will be held, the venue for the 2024 Grand Final, the entry form and the rules.

Don't delay, entries due by January 28^th 2024.

AC Country Rankings as at 31st December 2023

Position	Country	Average Grade	Players
1	England	2,578	6
2	Australia	2,541	6
3	New Zealand	2,491	6
4	USA	2,430	6
5	Scotland	2,114	6
6	Ireland	2,112	6
7	Wales	2,063	6
8	South Africa	1,944	6
9	Canada	1,923	6
10	Sweden	1,614	6
11	Spain	1,592	6
12	Germany	1,450	6
13	Austria	1,658	5
14	Latvia	1,277	5
15	Switzerland	1,731	3
16	Czech Republic	1,620	3
17	Iran	2,201	1
18	Jersey	2,120	1
19	Luxembourg	1,970	1

GC Country Rankings as at 31st December 2023

Position	Country	Average	Players
1	Egypt	2,587	6
2	England	2,470	6
3	New Zealand	2,456	6
4	Australia	2,443	6
5	USA	2,426	6
6	Spain	2,348	6
7	South Africa	2,267	6
8	Ireland	2,150	6
9	Wales	2,137	6
10	Canada	2,130	6
11	Sweden	2,087	6
12	Germany	2,085
13	Switzerland	2,049	6
14	Czech Republic	2,010	6
15	Latvia	1,998	6
16	Scotland	1,938	6
17	Norway	1,908	6
18	Mexico	1,841	6
19	Finland	1,813	6
20	Austria	1,943	5
21	Belgium	2,209	1
22	France	1,832	1
23	Portugal	1,660	1

ERC Election Results

The election closed on 31st December 2024.

The four candidates with the most votes, who are elected to the European Regional Committee (ERC) are:

- - Alan Looney – nominated by the Croquet Association of Ireland
  - Duncan Catterall – nominated by Croquet England
  - Michael Böer – nominated by the Deutscher Krocket Bund
  - Roberts Stafeckis – nominated by the Latvijas Kroketa Federacija (re-elected)

Their term of office started on 1^st January 2024 and lasts for four years.

They will join Andrés Álvarez‑Sala from Spain who has two more years on the committee before his term ends.

On this occasion Daniel Studerus was not elected. We thank him for making himself available and hope that he might try again should places become available again in future.

WCF Equipment Regulations version 6.4 published

December 2023 Newsletter

Ahmed el Mahdy won the 2023 retraVision GC Over 50’s World Championship

The 2023 retraVision Over 50's Golf Croquet World Championship was held in Western Australia between Saturday 14^th October 2023 to Saturday 21^st October 2023 at two venues, the Moorabinda Croquet Club (MCC) and the Bunbury Tennis Club (BTC).

Congratulations to Champion Ahmed El Mahdy from Egypt who now adds the Over 50's to his impressive list of titles, including GC World Champion in 2015. Showing strong form throughout the Championship, Ahmed beat fellow Egyptian Omar Fahmy in 3 straight games in the semi-finals with barely a clearance missed. In the other side of the draw Jenny Clarke from New Zealand won through to the final by beating Jeff Newcombe, one of the qualifiers. Jenny took the first game of the best of five final 7:5 with good clearing and some excellent hoop shots. However, Ahmed settled in patiently and his long hoops and accurate clearing were too strong, and he won the next three games.

The Plate was won by Brett McHardy, from Australia who beat Steinar Olsen from Norway 2:1 in the final. In the Bowl, Australian Pete Landrebe came through 7:5 7:5 against Stephen Mulliner. Torben Bak, another qualifier who did well in the main event, reaching the last 16, made it to the final of the Shield but lost to Barry Jennings, also Australian.

The WCF should like to thank the ACA for hosting the Championship. Special thanks go to the Moorabinda Croquet Club and the Bunbury Tennis Club for the use of their excellent lawns. Our thanks also to the Manager Chris Clarke and to Director Max Kewish and to the many other officials and volunteers who organised the event.

Online GC Rules Training Pack – now available on the WCF website

The WCF are pleased to announce the launch of an online GC Rules training pack.

This suite of 28 modules has been formed into an easy-to-follow study plan. The aim of this pack is to provide remote clubs, whose players cannot easily travel to study or take an exam in person, with an online alternative. We hope this resource will be of benefit to these remote clubs by giving them the confidence that someone in their area has been able to take advantage of this training.

As well as for those in remote locations, the course may be used by anyone, either in part or in full. We expect it to be helpful to those who wish to:

i) refresh themselves on some of the rules
ii) use as pre-learning before attending an in-person course
iii) use for self-study before taking an exam with an Examining Referee

Details of the online test are to follow soon. On completion of the online test students will receive a certificate showing their result in the test. To become a qualified referee students will need to sit the relevant exam in their country.

The WCF should like to thank Ian Shore, from the Chiltern Croquet Academy, for creating these modules. He is currently busy working on the on-line test questions… watch this space!

2023 Hall of Fame new inductee: Mr Ahmed Hamroush from Egypt

Ahmed Hamroush, first President of the Egyptian Croquet Federation, is admitted to the WCF Hall of Fame

Mr Hamroush was instrumental in bringing Egyptian GC into the rest of the World, as well as the first President of the Egyptian Croquet Federation. His full citation can be read on the WCF website: Hall of Fame Members

Mr Hamroush was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman as part of a documentary about the British Empire. Filmed at the Gezira Croquet Club in Cairo. Watch from about 33 minutes in.

Video clip > The British Empire - Jeremy Paxman

Dawson Balls Mark 3 – Primary Colours now WCF approved

The WCF have now approved the new Mark 3 Dawson balls Primary colours. We hope to receive secondaries for testing very soon.

Paul Manwaring advises that he is now back in production and will be able to meet orders for Primary Colours very soon. His plan is to sell to Australian Clubs from 15 January 2024 onwards and international orders from 15 February 2024.

The WCF wish to thank Paul for his perseverance trying new 'recipes' following one of the key chemicals being banned. Well done for getting this across the line.

Meet the WCF Management Committee (MC) – From 1^st January 2024, there are several new faces on the team

Congratulations to José Álvarez-Sala from Spain, who won the election for President. His term starts on 1^st January 2024 and lasts four years. As President José hopes to guide croquet through further growth, something he has done admirably in Spain over the past two decades.

New on the Management Committee is Jeff Soo from USA. He brings a wealth of experience administering croquet as well as being a top player in the three versions played in the USA: Association, Golf and 6 Wicket (US Rules).

Samir Patel was successfully voted back onto the committee and so stays for another 4-year term. His experience and knowledge is an invaluable asset to the WCF. Staying on the committee is Begoña Elzaburu, Debbie Lines (Secretary-General), Graeme Roberts, Mohamed Raslan, Peter Payne (Treasurer) and Roberts Stafeckis.

Leaving the committee after four years is Hal Denton from the USA. We thank Hal for his work over the past few years and wish him well.

Thank you Ian Burridge

After four years as President, Ian Burridge is moving on to other challenges. Ian started as President on 1^st January 2020 and most ably guided the WCF through the difficult times of the pandemic. This involved the delay and re-organisation of many events and a complete re-think of the forward calendar. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, during his time as President, Ian efficiently steered the MC through its day-to-day activities, such as event planning, grants to help small clubs, improving the regulations and much more. Specific projects he helped the WCF to deliver include:

Advantage GC – this version of handicap GC allows players of different standards to play a game that is more similar to level play and it is now played widely across all our Member countries.

European Regional Committee - Ian was very focussed on getting this set up and has been extremely active assisting the ERC committee since they started nearly two years ago. Ian masterminded and managed the European Club League last year and will continue to manage it during 2024 – information on how to enter your club into the 2024 heats will be coming out soon.

The MC would like to thank Ian for his hard work and commitment. We wish him all the best for the future.

ERC Committee

The European Regional Committee was formed two years ago, and we are already saying goodbye to some of our first committee members as they finish their term of office. Thank you to Daniel Larsson, John Swabey and Kerstin Loretz for helping set up the ERC in its early years.

Remaining on the committee is Andrés Álvarez-Sala, whose term lasts until the end of 2025.

Roberts Stafeckis, the current Chair, also finishes his first term at the end of this year and he has put himself forward for re-election. Four places on the committee are available and we had five nominations, so we are currently in the middle of an election which finishes on 31^st December 2023.

European Club League – the results

2023 ERC Club League Champions - Dulwich

The first year of the European Club League finished with the Grand Final, held at the Roehampton Club in London, England. Congratulations to Dulwich, our first winners.

Well done to the Finals Day team of Pierre Beaudry, Jonathan Claxton, Guy Scurfield and Andrew Hobbs.

Full details of all of the heats and the final can be found on the WCF webpage: https://worldcroquet.org/european-golf-croquet-club-league-the-grand-final/

European Championships 2024

The ERC are running three Championships during 2024. For more information on each one, please follow the links below.

Those interested in playing should contact their national organisations to make themselves available. Please note, the deadlines are short, so do not delay.

2024 GC European Championship
This will be held between 16-19 May 2024 at the Sussex County Croquet Club in Southwick, near Brighton, England. https://worldcroquet.org/2024-european-gc-singles-championship/

2024 GC European Women's Championship
This will be held between 1-4 August 2024 at the Saffrons Croquet Club, Compton, Eastbourne, England.
https://worldcroquet.org/2024-european-gc-womens-championship/

2024 AC European Championship
This event is returning after a gap of six years. It will be held between 15-18 August 2024 at the Carrickmines Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin, Ireland.
https://worldcroquet.org/2024-european-ac-championship/

Launching Online GC Rules Training

Our smaller Members do not have the infrastructure or geography to support on lawn courses or exams. This material has been created to provide them with an online training course (and in due course a test). It will allow these countries to improve the quality of refereeing on offer.

The material covers all the GC Rules. It has been designed so that it can be used by players wishing to understand the GC Rules better with additional modules for those wanting to become qualified referees. Laid out as a study plan it takes students through everything they would need to pass the written elements of a typical GC Referees exam. It also covers, via video links, some of the on-lawn material, but obviously this is limited.

This material has been created for the WCF by Ian Shore of the Chiltern Academy as a global resource that will be available to all. The WCF are extremely grateful to Ian for producing this useful resource. The material sometimes links to material published on the Croquet England website and we thank them also for access to these resources.

To find out more, and to access the Study Pack, go to webpage: Online Referee Study Pack

Results of the 2023 WCF elections

Congratulations to the successful candidates in the recent WCF Elections. All three will serve a four year term of office starting from 1st January 2024.

WCF President: José Álvarez-Sala from Spain

José won the election with 36 votes. Jeff Soo polled 25 and Andrew Hobbs 2 votes.

Management Committee (2 positions): Samir Patel from England and Jeff Soo from USA.

Samir Patel gained 60 votes, Jeff Soo 49 and Stephen Wright 15.

All WCF Members voted in what was a close election.

Thank you to Lewis Palmer and Chris Williams for being the election scrutineers.

Thank you to all the candidates who we hope will try again in future.

Would you like to help run the ERC?

There are FOUR open positions on the European Regional Committee (ERC) – nominations due by 30th November 2023.

The ERC has now been in place for two years. The committee normally serve for 4 years, but when we started, we set 3 of the 5 members a shorter two-year term, so that the committee would not all change at the same time going forward.

Three members end their initial term on 31st December this year – Roberts Stafeckis, Daniel Larsson John Swabey. Roberts and Daniel are willing to stand for a second term, should they be elected, whereas John has decided to stand down. Kerstin Loretz has decided to resign from the committee with immediate effect.

We are therefore recruiting for FOUR open positions.

The committee operates via email but also meets approximately once per month. The main language used is English. The ERCs main task is to ensure that the calendar of ERC Championships and Club League Matches are organised and planned. This involves finding hosts, agreeing the bids, sending out invitations, managing the player lists, communicating with the host organisers and advertising all this on the WCF website. Additionally, the ERC may consider regional promotional or development initiatives if requested by the Members.

Please advertise this opportunity to help organise and develop croquet in Europe amongst your players. We invite nominations by 30th November 2023.

The Nomination Process

All nominations must be made via the Member Organising body to the WCF Secretary-General and may be submitted by Full or Associate Members. Nominees may come from a Recognised Croquet Organisation (RCO) but must be nominated by a Member.

All nominations for these positions must be authorised in writing or by email by the candidate and by an appropriate officer of the nominating Member. Nominations must be accompanied by a brief résumé of the candidate’s personal details and their objectives. They must be received by the WCF Secretary-General no later than the 30th November 2023. A headshot photo would also be appreciated.

Election – if there are more candidates than open positions, there will be an election. The process for this will be circulated should it become necessary.

2023 retraVision Over 50’s Golf Croquet World Championship – Winner: Ahmed El Mahdy

Congratulations to Champion Ahmed El Mahdy from Egypt.

Ahmed won the GC World Championship in 2015 and now adds the retraVision Over 50's to his impressive list of titles. Showing strong form throughout the Championship, Ahmed beat fellow Egyptian Omar Fahmy in 3 straight games in the semi-finals with barely a clearance missed. In the other side of the draw Jenny Clarke from New Zealand won through to the final by beating Jeff Newcombe, one of the qualifiers better known for being a long-term top 50 AC player.

Jenny took the first game of the best of five final 7:5 with good clearing and some excellent hoop shots. However, Ahmed settled in patiently and his long hoops and accurate clearing were too strong, and he won the next three games.

The Plate was won by Brett McHardy, from Australian who beat Steinar Olsen from Norway 2:1 in the final.

In the Bowl, Australian Pete Landrebe came through 7:5 7:5 against Stephen Mulliner.

Torben Bak, another qualifier who did well in the main event, reaching the last 16, made it to the final of the Shield but lost to Barry Jennings, also Australian.

Full results can be found on 2023 retraVision Over 50's World Championship Results

Pre-event Information

The 2023 retraVision Over 50's Golf Croquet World Championship will be held in Western Australia between Saturday 14^th October 2023 to Saturday 21^st October 2023.

It will be held at two venues, the Moorabinda Croquet Club (MCC) and the Bunbury Tennis Club (BTC). There are six courts at Moorabinda and 2 at the Bunbury club.

The Event capacity is 48 players.

Current Players Lists: See post: Latest Players

retraVision: Top Aussie Company to Sponsor World Croquet Championship in Bunbury

The ACA have recently announced a new major sponsorship deal with retraVision.

Croquet has entered the big league with famous Australian Retailer Retravision throwing its weight behind the sport down under. It’s a real coup for the sport in Australia and Western Australia to have a sponsor with the reputation of Retravision coming onboard. The Award Winning electrics appliance company is not only famous for its retail success, but its community minded approach to business. It has sponsored and linked with numerous organizations through the years. Now croquet is set to benefit from the company’s generosity.

Age Restriction! Members and Players are reminded that all entrants for this event must be 50 or over on the start date of the event. “Sports Regulations - Clause 5.1.6. A player may compete in an Event subject to a minimum age limit if they have attained the minimum age on the first day of the Event.”

The entry fee for this event is £136 per player. This is based on a rate of £17 per player per day for 8 days.

Qualifying Competition

There will two qualifying tournaments:

- Western Australia, Cambridge Croquet Club, Sunday 8th October to Wednesday 11th October 2023. Download the pdf for information on how to enter: 2023 Over 50 GC Qualifier Flier - Cambridge

- Eastern Australia ,Cairnlea Victoria, Tuesday 26th to Thursday 28th September 2023. Download the pdf for information on how to enter: 2023 Over 50 GC Qualifier Flier - Cairnlea

If extra places for the main event become available after the main cut-off date of 27th August, then these will all come from the West Coast qualifier.

West coast final qualifier closing date 23rd September.

Main Event Format

The 48 players will form 8 blocks of 6 players. Top 4 from each block advance to the Knock-Out Stage.

All matches in the Block Stage and Knock-Out Stage will be best of 3 games (except for later rounds of Knock-Out Stage), single-banked and played without time limits subject to Sports Regulations 7.2 and 9.4 in emergencies.

The semi-finals and final will be best of five games. The quarter-final at managers discretion.

Consolation Events
The Plate, The Bowl and the Shield will be played in accordance with WCF Sports Regulations Appendix 8 paragraph 2, 4 and 5 respectively.

Hours of play: Play will commence at 8.30 am and continue until around 6.00pm. However, all courts are floodlit so play may continue after dark at manager's discretion.

Hoops: Quadway hoops will be used.

Balls: Dawson balls will be used.

Practice: players wishing to practise before the event starts will be welcome on Thursday 12^th October 2023 & Friday 13^th October 2023. Details to follow.

Social Programme:
Welcome Ceremony: Friday 13^th October 2023.
Championship Dinner: Saturday 21^st October 2023. Players to purchase tickets.
Award Ceremony: Saturday 21^st October 2023 immediately following conclusion of final.

Accommodation and Travel:
Information will be available on the event website early in 2023.

Internet, publicity and Communications
Wireless internet connections will be available. Live streaming is expected to be arranged on the last two days. A dedicated website for the event will be available a few months before the event starts.

The events key dates are below:

Main Event Dates
Invitation Date	15 January 2023	This is the date that Members will be formally invited to send players to participate in this event.
Response Date	15 March 2023	This is the date by which Member nominations for Ranking and Wild Card places must have been received by the WCF Management Committee. Members must also specify the number of Membership Places they wish to take up and RCO's should advise if they would like to request a Membership Place.
Allocation Date	29 March 2023	The World Ranking List to be used to determine the initial allocation of Ranking Places is that published at the end of the Allocation Date.
Announcement Date	12 April 2023	By this date the breakdown of places will be advised and players awarded an Initial Ranking Place or Wild Card will be announced.
Closing Date	12 May 2023	This is the last date Members can nominate players for their Membership Places. Within 1 to 2 days the MC will announce recipients of Membership Places and Replacement Ranking Places.
Player Contact Details & Bios	10 June 2023	This is the date by which players are asked to provide their contact details, bio's and a headshot photo.
Entry Fee Due Date	12 June 2023	Per Sports Regn Appendix 2 6.1. Any players awarded a place on the Announcement Date will lose their place if they have not paid by this date.
Main Event Cut-off Date	27 August 2023	This is the date after which returned places are generally filled by creating extra Qualifier Places instead of Replacement Ranking Places.

Key Personnel
Tournament Director	Max Kewish
Tournament Manager	Chris Clarke
DTM/Plate Manager	David Squires
WCF Event Lead	Peter Payne
Tournament Referee	Jim Clements
Treasurer	Judith Nicholls
Secretary	Rob Bowling
Webmaster	Gary Phipps
Marketing/Publilcity	Marcus McGavock

WORLD CROQUET FEDERATION

Category: Latest News