May 2014 Newsletter

WCF May 2014 Newsletter

The newsletter provides a summary for WCF Members of what the Management Committee has been doing recently and what is on the agenda for the coming month.  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

There were no Council debates or decisions in May.

What did we do in May?

Tiers 2.1 and 2.2/3 of the Association Croquet World Team Championships were held respectively in Ireland, at Carrickmines, and in England, at Southwick, in the week ended 17 May.  In Tier 1, the hosts, Ireland, just edged out the holders, Wales, by one point.  Spain, the ante-post favourites for Tier 2.2, were made to work for their victory by a strong performance by the team from Austria who were clear winners of Tier 3.

Preparations for the entries for the 2014 Over-50 and Women’s Golf Croquet World Championships continued with the place allocation announcements.  There will be 40 entries in each Championship with a notably strong New Zealand contingent for the Women’s.

The venues for the three 2015 World Championships (Under-21 GCWC, the Golf Croquet World Championship itself and the Women’s Association Croquet World Championship) were confirmed and the final details of formats, playing schedules and event lengths were the subject of detailed consideration.

It became apparent that the publication of the new world championship place allocation procedures in Version 8.5 of the Sports Regulations had not led to universal understanding.  A further round of explanation was undertaken which appears to have been successful.  It was emphasised that Members are now free to award their Membership Place or Places to any of their eligible players.

The proposal by CNZ to use Atkins Quadway hoops for the 2015 Under-21 GCWC and the main GCWC caused a measure of concern to some Members who had noted the high degree of challenge that they had presented in the recent MacRobertson Shield.  The challenge depended to a large extent on the very narrow tolerances used in the Mac which will not be used for the GCWCs. CNZ have reported that the hoops have been used in the Canterbury area for GC for two years without causing problems.  The hoops will also be used in the New Zealand GC National Championships in December 2014 which will provide a final test of their suitability for top-class GC events.

Forthcoming WCF championships

2014 Over-50 Golf Croquet World Championship

This will be held in Cairo from Sunday, 5 October to Saturday, 11 October.

2014 Women’s Golf Croquet World Championship

This will be held in Cairo from Sunday, 16 November to Friday, 21 November.

2015 Under-21 Golf Croquet World Championship

This will be held at the United Croquet Club, Christchurch, New Zealand from Sunday, 1 February to Thursday, 5 February 2015.

2015 Golf Croquet World Championship

This will be held at the Mount Maunganui Croquet Club and other clubs in the Bay of Plenty region, North Island, New Zealand from Saturday, 7 February to Saturday, 14 February 2015.  A Qualifying Event will be held from Tuesday, 3 February to Thursday, 5 February 2015.

2015 Women’s Association Croquet World Championship

This will be held in Nottingham, England with proposed dates from Saturday, 25 July to Saturday, 1 August 2015.

Topics completed or closed in May

MC 250:           Association Croquet World Team Championship, Tiers 2.1 and 2.2/3.

MC 281:           Formation of Working Group to review croquet ball production.

Topics open or pending as at 31 May

MC 278:           Review of croquet activity among Members.

MC 279:           Request for coaching assistance from the Croquet Federation of India.

MC 280:           Request for financial assistance for club development from the Italian Croquet Association.

MC 282:           2015 Golf Croquet World Championship, February 2015.

MC 283:           2015 Women’s Association Croquet World Championship, July 2015.

MC 284:           New WCF web-site – opportunity to review content and archiving.

MC 285:           2015 Under-21 Golf Croquet World Championship, February 2015.

MC 286:           Statute 301-306 amendments.

MC 287:           ACWTC Tier 2.1 hosting.

Outlook for June

The main activity for the month will be finalising the outstanding details for the five World Championships that will be held over the next 13 months.  In addition, the discussion of possible amendments to Statute 303 has led to the view that a slightly more comprehensive set of related amendments should be put before Members in the next two months in order to reduce the size of the second stage of statute updating that is planned for 2014Q4.  We hope to have the Statute 301 to 306 amendments before Members by July.

Stephen Mulliner

Secretary-General 9 June 2014