March 2016 Newsletter

WCF March 2016 Newsletter

The newsletter provides a summary for WCF Members of what the Management Committee has been doing recently and what is on the agenda in the near future.  Your comments are always very welcome.  It is also made available to all on the WCF web-site and via the Nottingham list and other croquet bulletin boards.

Council debates and decisions

Topic 50: Consultation on Statutes 107.3 and 107.4 which deal with the operation of the WCF Golf Croquet Rules Committee.  This closed on 6 March 2016.  Responses were received from Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Scotland, South Africa and the USA.  The results have been sent to Members and, on the main issues, showed a consensus in favour of eight members (five appointed by Australia, Egypt, England, New Zealand and the USA, two elected by the other Full and Associate Members and a non-voting member appointed by the MC), each to serve a maximum of two terms of four years each and new editions of the GC Rules to be published no more frequently than once every four years.

Topic 51: The Italian Croquet Federation applied to change its status from Associate to Observer.  This closed on 20 March 2016 without objection from any other Member and so the change of status came into effect.

What has happened in March?

We received the very welcome news that the Scottish Croquet Association and the Balgreen Club had been successful in obtaining a £10,000 grant from the National Lottery and so were able to meet the condition for obtaining a £1,500 capital grant from the WCF.  Congratulations are due to all involved and we look forward to seeing how this project develops.

A range of small but useful amendments to the Event and Sports Regulations have been drafted and considered by the MC and will shortly be put before the Council.

The Statute review is now fully under way with the completion of a first draft of Version 12 which is with the MC for review and comment.  Once finalised, it will be sent to Members for formal consultation.  The operation of the WCF has evolved over the years and the current version 11.6 needs revision, notably in relation to the provisions relating to general meetings that are no longer relevant since the Council agreed to make all decisions by email voting.

Forthcoming WCF championships

2016 Association Croquet World Championship

This will be held at the National Croquet Centre, West Palm Beach, Florida from Saturday, 16 April to Sunday, 24 April 2016.  The Qualifying Tournament will be held from Monday, 11 April to Thursday, 14 April 2016.  The current entry list is available on the WCF website together with a link to the event website.  Results will be available on CroquetScores.

2016 Golf Croquet World Team Championship

Tier 1 will be held at the Surbiton Croquet Club in south-west London from Sunday, 15 May to Saturday, 21 May 2016.  The competing teams are Egypt (holders), England, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Wales and USA.

Tier 2 will be shared between the Bath Croquet Club and the Camerton & Peasdown Croquet Club from Sunday, 15 May to Friday, 20 May 2016 with the intention that players from teams in both tiers can meet for a combined championship celebration on Friday, 20 May 2016.  The competing teams are Australia, Belgium, Czech-Moravian Republic, Germany, Latvia, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland.

Tier 3 will be held at the Guildford & Godalming Croquet Club from Wednesday, 18 May to Friday 20 May 2016.  The competing teams are Georgia, Norway, Portugal and Russia.

Details of the Tier 1 and 2 teams and squads are available on the WCF website.

2017 Golf Croquet World Championship and Under 21 GC World Championship

Both events will be held at the Victorian Croquet Association headquarters at Cairnlea, in the western suburbs of Melbourne.  The Under 21 will run from Saturday 18 to Wednesday 22 February 2017 and the Qualifying Tournament from Monday 20 to Wednesday 22 February 2017.  The main event will begin on Saturday 25 February 2017 and end on Sunday 5 March 2017.  The Invitation Date is expected to be in April 2016.

2017 Association Croquet World Team Championship

Tier 1, the MacRobertson Shield, will be held at Mission Hills Country Club, Palm Springs, California from 18 April 2017 to 4 May 2017.  Tiers 2.1, Tiers 2.2 and 3 will be held at Sussex County Croquet Club in England from 17 to 22 July 2017.  The Invitation Date for the lower tiers is expected to be in October 2016.

Membership enquiries

There are none to report.

MC Topics recently completed or closed

There are none to report.

Topics open, pending or under administration on 31 March 2016

MC 291:           Appointment of GC Ranking Officer and Assistant Ranking Officers

MC 295:           2016 AC World Championship, April 2016

MC 313:           2016 GC World Team Championship, May 2016

MC 318:           2017 GCWC and Under 21 GCWC, February 2017

MC 324:           2017 AC World Team Championship, April 2017

MC 326:           WCF Event Income

MC 328:           Membership status of France

MC 331:           International Laws Committee

MC 339:               WCF Event and Sports Regulations

MC 344:           2016 Ramsis Cup

MC 345:           Development – further projects in 2016

MC 346:           WCF Statutes revision project

Outlook for April

The ACWC will be held this month so the main focus will be on final preparations for the GC WTC and continuing with the Statute review.

Stephen Mulliner

Secretary-General 7 April 2016