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WCF November 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 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 35 sought Members’ views on the appropriate refund policy to adopt when players withdraw from a World Championship having already paid their entry fee and resulted in a decision that refunds net of transaction costs would be made. The last quarter of the year generates three regular administrative WCF Topics, namely the review of the Business Plan (Topic 36) and Budget (Topic 38) and the election of an Independent Examiner (Topic 37) for the forthcoming year. All are currently open. An application from the Uruguay Croquet Federation to become an Observer Member has been received and is currently before Council (Topic 39). Lastly, the Management Committee has recommended to Council that the trial of reaching Council decisions by e-mail voting should be ended and that this should become an approved method on a permanent basis. This is also before Council as Topic 40.
What has been happening in November?
The month began with final preparations for the 2014 Women’s GCWC (see below for a brief report) and quickly progressed to the finalisation of the Business Plan, which included a detailed Development Report, and the Budget for 2015 so that they could be submitted to Council.
The Response Date for the 2015 Women’s ACWC passed on 23 November which triggered the process of considering Wild Card Places, Qualifier Places and Ranking Places. The outcome will be announced on 21 December.
Comments received from Members on the Statute 301 to 309 consultation were incorporated in a fresh draft and have been submitted to the MC. They should shortly be put forward to Council with the hope that they will be approved before 25 January 2015, the Closing Date for the 2015 Women’s ACWC. The most significant improvement is that they will bring the provisions regulating the qualification of a player to represent a country into line with the new World Championship allocation process.
A new web-site with a new ISP and more interesting and marketing-focussed home page is under development. Navigation will also be simplified. The MC has seen the new design and it is intended to have the new site ready for population with the data on the current site by Christmas. The plan is to launch the new web-site in the New Year and run two web-sites in parallel for a few weeks before closing the old site.
Recent and forthcoming WCF championships
2014 Women’s Golf Croquet World Championship
This was held in Cairo from Sunday, 16 November to Friday, 21 November. 40 players took part from Australia, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland and the USA. It was expected that the top Egyptian ladies would provide the main challenge to Jenny Clarke of New Zealand, the top seed by ranking and the 2011 runner-up. Jenny duly reached the final in impressive style but found herself facing Judith Hanekom of South Africa. Judith had made a poor start and only just qualified for the knock-out. However, she went from strength to strength and defeated four strong Egyptians to reach the final where she won a thrilling five-game final.
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. The Event Capacity is 28 and Ranking Places and Membership Places have been awarded to competitors representing Australia, Egypt, England and New Zealand.
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 Sunday, 15 February 2015. A Qualifying Event will be held from Tuesday, 3 February to Thursday, 5 February 2015. The Event Capacity is 80 and Ranking Places, Wild Card Places and Membership Places have been awarded to competitors representing Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. Full details can be found on the WCF web-site under World Championships.
2015 Women’s Association Croquet World Championship
This will be held in Nottingham from Saturday, 25 July to Saturday, 1 August 2015. The Event capacity has been increased to 36 players and the announcement of Wild Card Places and Ranking Places will be made on 21 December. Members must inform the WCF of the names of those who have been allocated Membership Places by 25 January 2015.
MC Topics completed or closed in November
MC 288: Croquet Scores agreement signed.
MC 294: Governance Working Group. Report made to Members.
MC 296: Use of PayPal balances to make payments resolved.
MC 297: Entry fee refunds policy. Decision referred to Council as Topic 35.
MC 298: ACWTC Tier 1 (MacRobertson Shield) medals. Decision to award for 2010.
MC 299: 2015 WCF Annual General Meeting. Will be held during 2015 GCWC.
MC 300: 2015 Business Plan – sent to Council as Topic 36.
MC 302: Advertising of consultations etc. on the WCF web-site – sent to Council as Topic 34.
MC 303: Confirmation of 2014 Hall of Fame inductees.
MC 304: World Championship medals purchase – order placed with new supplier.
MC 305: Election of Independent Examiner – sent to Council as Topic 37.
MC 306: 2015 Budget – sent to Council as Topic 38.
MC 307: Application by Uruguay Croquet Federation – sent to Council as Topic 39.
MC 308: E-mail voting – MC recommendation to approve sent to Council as Topic 40.
Topics open, pending or under administration on 30 November
MC 278: Review of croquet activity among Members.
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.
MC 285: 2015 Under-21 Golf Croquet World Championship, February 2015.
MC 291: Appointment of GC Ranking Officer and Assistant Ranking Officers.
MC 295: 2016 Association Croquet World Championship.
MC 301: Statutes 301 to 304 – Topic 33 comments to be incorporated in revised draft.
Outlook for December
The main activities for the month will be continuing to administer the forthcoming World Championships, submitting the amended revision of Statutes 301 to 307 to Council, beginning the review of the WCF Statutes and completing the Management Committee Report to Members for 2014.
Stephen Mulliner
Secretary-General 4 December 2014