Business Plans

A business plan addressing the next four years outlines the main activities anticipated by the current administration.

The work of the WCF falls into four main categories, namely:

• • • Organising World Championships
    • Development
    • Communication with Members
    • Administration and finance

Organising World Championships
This is the function that the majority of croquet players regard as the most important. Holding World Championships demonstrates that croquet is indeed a global activity and allows the best players to travel to Australia, Egypt, England, New Zealand and the USA to test their skills against their global rivals.

It begins with a SWOT analysis and summarises the extent to which the goals of the current year have been achieved and sets out the plans for the future years.

Development
The WCF offers active advice and assistance to bodies interested in promoting croquet in countries that are not currently represented in the WCF. This is not an evangelistic activity for the WCF. Provision of advice is free but must be requested by the potential WCF Member. Assistance takes the form of organising coaching for players and individuals who wish to bcome accredited coaches and referees. This is made available after the potential WCF Member can demonstrate that they have achieved a realistic form of organised croquet in their country using their own resources. The WCF does not provide start-up funding.

Communication with Members
The MC seeks Member input on a regular basis, usually in the form of an e-mail vote on a particular Topic. The Secretary-General publishes a regular Newsletter setting out what the MC has been discussing and what decisions have been taken by the Council and MC since the last Newsletter. The WCF and MC operate on a basis of transparency. Administering croquet is not like dealing with defence secrets and there is no reason why the WCF Members and their players should not know what is going on. There are occasionally exceptions when confidential items relating to personnel or a commercial contract occur.

Administration and finance
These cover the process of running the WCF and the MC as organised bodies, ensuring that regular tasks are initiated and completed on time. While the detailed organisation of a World Championship as a tournament is delegated to the WCF Member who has bid to be the Event Host, the MC retains an over-arching responsibility to ensure that preparations proceed smoothly and a specific responsibility for the player entry process and the collection of entry fees. For this purpose, the MC appoints an Event Sub-Committee consisting of the Secretary-General and two other MC members, one of whom is called the Event Lead and has prime responsibility for liaising with the Event Host's championship organising committee on behalf of the ESC and the MC as a whole. The Event Lead is usually a national of the country where the World Championship will be held.