World Croquet Federation
Minutes of the Management Committee Meeting
National Croquet Center
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA 15th November 2003

1. The Chairman opened the meeting at 2.52 pm and extended a welcome to those members of the Committee present and guests.
2. Members present were Tony Hall, David Openshaw, Gary Fox and Colin Irwin, forming a quorum. Also present by invitation were Charles Jones, Chris Williams, Rankings Officer and John Taylor.
3 Apologises were received from Rhys Thomas, Andrew Hope, Treasurer, Peter Payne, Graeme Roberts, Ahmed Hamroush and Amir Ramsis Naguib.
4 The Chairman advised that two emails had been received from Peter Payne concerning the minutes of the meeting on 10 November. These were available to members of the Committee. Peter's comments were welcome and the Committee discussed issues raised by Peter.
5 France. The contacts provided by Peter would now enable us to contact them by email and in English - the language of the WCF.
6 Hong Kong. Tony will email existing contacts in Hong Kong to provide a possible contact point for the New Territories contacts.
7 Golf Croquet Rankings. Peter's comments were noted and we will be following up with the countries not submitting results and arrange for the updates to be notified.
8 Netherlands. Peter Payne and Tony Hall to liaise concerning future contacts.
9 Slovenia and Lithuania. Noted that Peter Will follow up.
10 Contacts. Tony Hall will provide contact details for all non-member organizations he has had contact with. The information will be provided to the Secretary-General for distribution to Management Committee members.
11 Budget. Andrew Hope has advised that at first glance he has nothing to add other than a contingency sum be put in for unexpected expenditure of say 500 GBP per annum. The alterations will be made and any further input from Andrew will be included and advised to Committee members.
12 Friends Funds. The Committee shared Peter's concerns concerning the loss on exchange rate and the effect on the Friends Funds. A paper will be prepared to investigate the consolidation of the funds. The options to be looked at will include the transfer of the funds to England, the use of the funds for Australian expenses with a transfer of funds between accounts in the UK to offset this.
13 Future Schedule of Championships. Peter's concerns concerning the frequency of Golf Championships were noted and will be taken into account with the preparation of the revised schedule, which al members of the Management Committee will have input to.
14 USCA 2004 Association Championships. Rhys Thomas will come back to the Committee by 16 December.
15 Womens Championships. The Committee will look at the issue of a Womens Championship when an approached is received. Generally the Committee supported the concept.
16 USCA Rules Championships. The Committee would look at any proposal from the USCA to conduct such an event. The game is one of the approved games in terms of the Rules of the WCF and would be eligible for a World Championship.
17 Rule Changes. Proposed Rule changes will be circulated covering the use of email to contact members. No change is proposed to postal voting rules. The Committee also discussed the position of Treasurer and whether the position should have a vote on the Committee. This position may also apply to the Secretary-General if that person was not an elected member of the Committee. A paper will be prepared and circulated to all Management Committee members. The Committee generally supported the idea, with Charles Jones opposed to the proposal.
18 The USCA Golf Croquet World Open. The event is still in the conceptual stage and the Committee will consider it further when more information is available.
19 Second Tier Event. A proposal will be circulated to members of the Management Committee for comment shortly. Issues raised by Peter concerning the ECF and a European team will be included for discussion.
20 Handicapping. A report is expected form Louis Nel shortly. A report is also due shortly on the seeding issue. Reports will be circulated to members for comment and input.
21 Drugs Policy. Currently the WCF does not have a drugs in sport policy. The Committee endorsed a view that performance enhancing drugs should be prohibited not withstanding that a doctor has confirmed the use of the drugs for therapeutic use. Some sports do accept a doctor's certificate to that extent. The issue has wide ramifications for the sport with the possible testing of athletes in future world championships. The issue will be investigated both in Australia and England as a starting point and a paper prepared for the Management Committee.

The meeting closed at 4.10pm