Report of the WCF Management Committee
For the period 7th July 2001 to 7th December 2002
1. The last report of the Management Committee covered the period up to
the WCF Council meeting held in London, England on 7th July 2001.
2. This report covers the period from then to the start of the 9th WCF
World Championships in Wellington, New Zealand. A verbal report will be
given to the WCF Council of any Management Committee meetings held in
Wellington prior to the Council meeting. A written summary of this verbal
report will be included with the minutes of the Council meeting.
Administration of the WCF
3. The appointment of Gary Fox as Secretary-General was ratified when he
was elected to the Management Committee in the postal election held shortly
after the Council Meeting in London.
4. Also elected to the Management Committee were David Openshaw, England
and Graeme Roberts, New Zealand.
5. Letters of thanks for their service have been forwarded to Bill Berne,
USA, (Immediate Past-President), John Prince, New Zealand and Rod Williams,
Scotland (Ex-Treasurer), who have ceased to serve on the Management Committee.
6. The appointment of WCF Officers was approved at the postal vote late in
2001. The following appointments were made:
Treasurer - Andrew Hope, Scotland
Webmaster - Chris Williams, Wales
Events Manager (America) - Tony Hall, Australia
Events Manager (Australia/New Zealand) - Gary Fox, Australia
Rankings Officer - Chris Williams, Wales
Archivist/Historian - David Drazin, England
Golf Croquet Rankings Officer - Bill Arliss, England
Equipment Officer - Alan Pidcock, England.
7. The following positions remain to be filled: Newsletter Editor, Events
Manager (Europe) (needed for 2005), Handicapping Coordinator, Chief Referee.
New Members
8. The Russian Croquet Federation was elected as an Observer member at the
postal vote. The President visited St Petersburg in June 2002, played
"Russian Croquet" both indoors and outdoors, and made recommendations to
the President of the Russian Inter-regional Federation of Croquet. Russian
Croquet is similar to the croquet played in other countries prior to 1900,
with wooden mallets and balls and a two peg and nine hoop setting,
including a "mousetrap" in the center. He was shown possible sites for
grass courts needed to introduce Association Croquet with modern
equipment. They have difficulty obtaining hard currency to purchase modern
croquet equipment. He was presented with a wooden ball, later mounted and
presented to the Belgian Croquet Association (which paid Russia`s
affiliation fees this year) with a suggestion that it eventually become a
trophy for competition between Belgium and Russia.
9. The Bayeux Croquet Club was elected as an Observer member to represent
France at the postal vote. It was hoped they would amalgamate with other
clubs to form a new French Croquet Association but this has not occurred
and seems unlikely. We will continue to monitor the situation with the
assistance of the European Croquet Federation.
10. Late in 2001 the President visited a group at Nagpur in India
pretending to be the Croquet Federation of India. He also visited a man in
Delhi who had been notified as the secretary of the Delhi Croquet
Association who is actually the secretary of the Delhi Rugby Association
and has no knowledge of croquet, or why his name was provided. The group
in Nagpur had previously received a free trip to Japan from the World
Gateball Union. The group has no knowledge or interest in croquet and
merely wanted a free trip somewhere. The visit was a waste of time and
money and resulted in the President becoming ill with food poisoning and a
series of viruses. Two other groups from India have been in contact but
when questioned have broken off contact. They do not appear to be genuine.
11. The Swedish Croquet Federation applied to join the WCF early in 2002
and the President visited Sweden in June, playing at Vimmerby and
inspecting the existing facilities and newly planted court at
Bastad. There are about eight active clubs in Sweden and their national
championships have been conducted twice, incorporating both "Swedish
Croquet" and Association Croquet. Swedish Croquet is similar to Russian
Croquet but is only played outdoors and uses modern equipment. The center
hoop, with four wires, is called "the crown". The President spoke to the
Swedish President by telephone but was unable to arrange a meeting due to
time and distance. Sweden has at least one player competent to play in
world championships. It is recommended that Sweden be accepted into the
WCF as an Observer member.
12. The Austrian Croquet Federation applied to join the WCF following
meetings in London at the 8th WCF World Croquet Championships and email
contacts. The President visited Austria in June, staying with their
President near Salzburg and playing at a resort hotel in South
Austria. Austria is well organised and will have three clubs soon,
although courts are still under construction. Austria was to play Germany
in a social but competitive meeting in Germany in July. It is recommended
that Austria be accepted into the WCF as an Observer member.
13. In late 2001 the President visited South America. In Chile The Prince
of Wales Country Club in Santiago has some sets of Jaques equipment and is
seeking to introduce croquet, which has been played on country estates for
many years. He visited Argentina where the Country Club Atletico Banco de
Provincia de Buenos Aires has the ability to introduce croquet and an
enthusiastic individual. He also visited Brazil but found no croquet at
all. In mid 2002 he visited Finland, finding no croquet at all, and
Denmark, where there seems to be no organized croquet in Copenhagen but
where it is played as a game by children.
14. There are apparently two clubs in Mexico, some distance north of
Mexico City. It is hoped to have someone visit there next year. A small
expatriate group has been located in Turkey. Occasional croquet is played
in Hong Kong and Peter Payne will visit in a few days.
Championships
15. The 5th WCF World Golf Croquet Championships were held in Florida at
the magnificent new National Croquet Center in February 2002. The event
was most successful with Khaled Younis, Egypt repeating his successes of
1996 and 1998. Salah Hassan, Egypt, who won in 1997 and 2000, was
runner-up. The USCA is congratulated on the conduct of the championships
and on completion of the Center.
16. The 9th WCF World Championships is to be held in Wellington, New
Zealand in December 2002.
17. It is regretted that Canada has withdrawn from conducting a WCF 14pt
Teams Croquet Championships scheduled for 2003. Bids from other countries
to conduct this event are sought.
18. Egypt has not yet confirmed that they will conduct the 6th WCF World
Golf Croquet Championships in Cairo in October 2004.
19. England bid for the 10th WCF World Championships for July/August 2005
and approval in principle has been given.
20. A new draft Schedule of Future World Championships is to be discussed
at the Council meeting.
Changes to the Constitution
21. Many of the proposals for changes to the rules and constitution were
approved at the postal vote, however the proposals to change the method of
electing the Management Committee and President were defeated. Specific
rules which were changed were:
(a) To adopt a new rule to provide for reciprocal courtesies to be
extended to members of one Association visiting another. Member
Associations were advised and some letters of introduction have already
been issued.
(b) To introduce a Golf Croquet Rules Committee with representatives
from the five largest countries and a sixth member elected from the other
six countries. Representatives were appointed and Leo McBride elected as
the sixth member but the convenor of the former Golf Croquet Working Party
and Australian representative, Tony Hall, has not been well and little
progress has been made. Now that he is well it is expected that a revision
of the WCF Golf Croquet Rules will commence shortly.
(c) A variety of changes to amend the Constitution and Rules in
accordance with current practice were applied and promulgated by publishing
them on the WCF website.
Visits to Member Associations
22. As mentioned above the President completed visits to many countries
during the reporting period. Talks with Presidents and representatives of
different countries suggested a need to differentiate between observer
members which actually play croquet and those which remain purely
observers. A proposal will be presented to the Council meeting on 7
December for discussion prior to possible submission to a postal vote.
23. Hospitality extended by member associations has been outstanding and
the President wishes to thank all those concerned. Some advice was
welcomed but some was clearly unwelcome. Croquet administrations are not
all successful in promoting the sport. Those which are not expanding their
membership of both clubs and players need to re-assess their
strategies. On the other hand some countries are doing very well.
WCF Newsletter
24. It has been disappointing that we have been unable to publish a
newsletter in the period. Communication with our members, Friends of the
WCF and players at all levels is important. We must recruit a competent
editor as soon as possible and member associations are requested to advise
us of anyone willing to perform this important function.
WCF "Friends" and Sponsorship
25. Another six individual Friends made donations of one hundred pounds in
the period covered by this report. The number in each country is now as
follows, making a total of 149.
MEMBER Actual Target
Australia 31 30
Ireland 4 10
Russia 0 5
Belgium 0 5
Isle of
Man 1 5
Scotland 4 10
Canada 9 10
Italy 6 10
South Africa 3 10
Egypt 5 20
Japan 10 10
Spain 0 5
England 34 30
Jersey 3 5
Switzerland 6 5
France 2 5
New
Zealand 8 30
USA 19 30
Germany 0 5
Palestine 2 5
Wales 2 5
Guernsey 0 5
26. To continue to progress strongly the WCF needs to secure better
financial support. As the number of Friends is now substantial and the WCF
Balance Sheet strong, the President considers there is a firm basis on
which to approach potential sponsors. Any member association which
identifies an appropriate potential sponsor is requested to contact a
member of the Management Committee.
WCF Working Parties
27. World Rankings: Chris Williams continues to produce a world ranking
list for Association Croquet which has achieved strong
recognition. Australia bases handicaps of its top players on their world
ranking grades and some other countries are considering a similar
system. Bill Arliss has the basis of a similar system for Golf Croquet,
but needs more input. All organisers of high level tournaments are asked
to submit the results to the appropriate WCF Rankings Officer.
28. International Referees: Meetings held at Bunbury in 1997, Christchurch
in 2000 and Roehampton in 2001 produced significant coordination of
refereeing practices world-wide. Another meeting is planned for Wellington.
WCF Internet Site
29. The site has been active since the appointment of Chris Williams as
webmaster. It has a current set of the WCF Constitution and Rules, contact
details for WCF office-bearers and officers, details of past and current
World Championships, details of Golf Croquet rankings and the 2001 WCF
accounts. Hopefully even more information previously published in booklet
form can be put on the site and thus made more accessible. The address is
http://www.worldcroquet.u-net.com
WCF Archives and History
30. David Drazin now has custody of the WCF archives, including the files
maintained by Chris Hudson during his 14 years as
Secretary-General. Anyone needing information about the early years of the
WCF should contact him. He has commenced the task of writing the history
of the WCF. The Secretary-General is now maintaining WCF files in
electronic format. In future it should be much easier to pass on the files
to new incumbents.
WCF Press Releases
31. Four Press Releases have been made in the period, Management Committee
Elections, New Members France and Russia, New Rules and Standing Orders
and Wellington Council Meeting Agenda.
A. T. Hall and G. Fox
President and Secretary-General
20 November 2002