Committee and Other Officers

Note: For general emails use info@croquetsoutheast.org.uk which goes to all Committee members. For reports/results to be included on our website use . The roll of previous Committees is at the bottom of this page.

For privacy reasons, the contact details of most of our Committee members are not shown here, but can be viewed in the Members Section of the Croquet England website, which is only accessible to Croquet England associates or members.

Post About Main Tasks
Chairman
Andrew Stewart
chairman@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
Andrew Stewart Andrew is a retired banker and has been playing croquet for about 6 years.
He is Chairman of the West Worthing Croquet Club which is part of West Worthing Club, a multi-sports club based in Worthing.
He is also Vice-Chairman of the main board of management of the club.
December 2019
Chairing meetings

Newsletter

Secretary
secretary@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
POSITION VACANT

Volunteers requested

Treasurer
David King
treasurer@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
David King David joined Sussex County at Southwick in 2011, after a career in accounting.
He enjoys social and competitive play, the friendly atmosphere and interaction within the club and wider croquet family.
Sportswise, he was mainly involved in football – as a referee, starting at school, through local matches to the professional game, and as an FA Tutor in Referee Training and Development, and Safeguarding Children, for County and the FA, until “retiring” in 2016 after 55 years.
November 2020
Handling income and expenditure and bank accounts

Producing annual accounts

Development Officer
Mike Akester
development@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
My dog introduced me to croquet – we were walking on a Sunday afternoon when she took an interest in another at Hove Beach Croquet Club.
A mallet was thrust into my right hand and a pint of lager into my left…….I soon became hooked. This was four years ago and I now also play at Sussex County.
I have been making arts, comedy and political television programmes since 1975. I also worked for the BBC Television Training Unit.
January 2022
Development of new clubs

Main funding contact for clubs regarding either Croquet England or Us.

Also about requirements for obtaining funds via the national lottery and similar sources.

Coaching & Safeguarding Officer
Richard Carline
See our Coaching page for contact details
Richard discovered croquet in 2013 and is a product of the Croquet Academy.
He became a GC Referee in 2016 and a grade 1 GC Coach the following year.
2018/19 was a busy time as part of the team preparing for the World GC Championships,
Richard passed another test to become a GC Championship Referee and was privileged to have refereed the final.
His past handling of thoroughbreds in Newmarket and Lambourn is, in his opinion closely related to coaching and bringing on croquet players.
November 2019
To introduce, advise, help and coach individuals, groups, and croquet club members in all aspects of the game of croquet; predominantly Association Croquet and Golf Croquet
Tournaments Organiser
Bob Clark
tournaments@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
Bob is a (mostly) retired civil engineer, having run his own consultancy for over 20 years.  He gravitated to croquet fromplaying golf for 40 years and joined Littlehampton Croquet Club in 2015 and Sussex County Croquet Club in 2016.  He is a Trustee of the Littlehampton Sportsfield where the croquet club is situated and Chairman of the Management Committee.  His other interests are motorhoming, Duplicate Bridge and Indoor long mat bowls.
October 2023
CA Council member
Ian Cobbold
Ian Cobbold Ian started playing croquet when he retired in 2003.
He first joined Reigate Priory and then with his wife founded the Cheam Croquet and Bowls Club in 2012 of which he was Chairman for 9 years and is now President.
He is also a member of Sussex County.
Ian is a GC Examining and Championship Referee and a Grade 2 Senior Coach. He was elected to the CA Council in 2019 and is Chair of the GC Rules Committee.
January 2022
Webmaster
Jon Diamond
webmaster@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
Jon is a retired IT consultant, who was dragged into croquet in 2000 by an ex-colleague living nearby in Tunbridge Wells, although he probably played a bit at Cambridge many years ago.
He liked it so much that he joined the committee at the Royal Tunbridge Wells Croquet Club in 2004, becoming Chairman in 2006. He is also their webmaster, having created the site in 2003.
He became a GC referee in 2008, just in time to officiate at the Worlds in Southwick, and became a qualified coach in 2015.
He’s equally good, or bad, (depending on how you look at it) at  AC and GC.
October 2016
Calendar maintainer

Designer and webmaster for our website

CA Council member
Carol Driver
I used to play croquet as a child on our tiny lawn at home surrounded by thick, thorny rose bushes. It’s a great game for all and my family still play garden croquet when we get together.
At 55 years old I joined Purley Bury Croquet Club near Croydon. I was looking for a sport to see me into retirement as my knees were failing. I started playing AC initially and now also GC.
I am a member of their committee and take a lead on recruitment. To help with this I became a grade one coach in golf and association and a golf referee.
My background is as an HR Director and I have worked in the public, private and voluntary sectors. I work part time as Corporate Services Director for The Change Foundation, the charity uses sport to change the lives of marginalised young people. Part of my role is to manage the HQ, so I know first hand the challenges of maintaining a sports ground and generating income. I have also set up a successful programme of walking sports at the Centre for the local community.
I love playing sport and over the years I have played a large variety including hockey, netball, korfball and racquet sports. I played cricket for Surrey and I am a qualified cricket coach. I have insight into how sports clubs operate successfully and how sport can build and enhance communities.
I am interested in how we can develop the sport of croquet which is why I joined Council. I really enjoy visiting and playing at different croquet clubs and learning about their history and how they operate.
October 2022
Marketing & PR Officer

publicity@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
March 2023 All matters concerning Public Relations – Press and other Media

Leagues Organiser
John Low
leagues@croquetsoutheast.org.uk
John Low John worked in educational IT before retiring.
First introduced to garden croquet in the 70s he joined Rottingdean in 1994 and then Sussex County Croquet Club a couple of years later.
From playing the AC tournament circuit he moved to managing tournaments at Southwick which he has done for the last decade and a half.
Along the way he designed and still manages the website for the Club and for the Croquet Academy.
December 2017
All matters concerning operation of our leagues and tournaments

To submit league results see our Results Submission page

George Noble George is a retired civil servant who started playing
in Wales in the early 1970s. He moved to Nottingham in
1975 and then London in 1979. A founder member of Surbiton Croquet Club and still an enthusiastic player although in technical decline.He holds the record of 31 years of consecutive appearances in the CA Open Championships – singles and doubles and once reached the doubles final (with Ian Vincent). He is a member of the CA’s Lawns Advisory Group.
Advice on all your lawn maintenance problems.
CA Council member
Samir Patel
Samir Patel Samir took up croquet in the late-nineties at Oxford University. Now a member of Surbiton Croquet Club, he has won the Club AC and GC Championships and the Inter-Club Championship in both codes.
Tournament successes include the President’s Cup, Open Doubles Championship and Championship of Surrey. He has reached the final of the British Opens several times and the Quarter Finals of the World Championship.
He has regularly represented both England and Great Britain since 2007 and is captain of the Solomon Trophy and the MacRobertson Shield teams. He also manages several tournaments each year.
He joined the CA Publishing Committee in 2002 and subsequently many other committees. He was elected to the CA Council in 2019.
He has been a member of the World Croquet Federation’s Management Committee since 2015 and event lead for several AC and GC individual and team World Championships.
February 2020
Other Officers
Honoray President

Bill Arliss

Bill is a retired engineer who took up croquet in 1989. He also took an interest in the management side of the sport, joined the CA Council in 1996 and became national Chairman in 1998.
Following his two years as Chairman he became very interested in Golf Croquet and spearheaded the growth of this in the UK as chair of the GC committee.
He was on both the CA AC and GC Tournament and Laws Committees. He has played for England three times in the GC World championship and recently published his book “Shortening the Odds” which deals with the more advanced tactics in GC.
He was Chairman of our Federation from 2002 to 2020 and was appointed to be the first Honorary President in 2020.
November 2020
Federation Handicapper (AC)
Martin Peacock
February 2022
Federation Handicapper (GC)
Roger Sutton
February 2022

Historic committee members

(Council Members elected to the Croquet Association/Croquet England from the South East Constituency are marked with a *.)

Date Chairman Secretary Treasurer Members
2022- Andrew Stewart David King Richard Carline, Bob Clark (co-opted 9/2023), Ian Cobbold*, Jon Diamond, Carol Driver*, John Low, George Noble, Samir Patel*, Mike Akester
2021-2022 Andrew Stewart Louise Taylor David King Richard Carline, Ian Cobbold*, Jon Diamond, Linda Gavigan (retired 11/2021), Jonathan Isaacs*, John Low, George Noble, Samir Patel* (co-opted 1/2022), Mike Akester
2020 Bill Arliss John Reddish Andrew Stewart Richard Carline, Ian Cobbold*, Jon Diamond, Jonathan Isaacs*, John Low, George Noble,
Samir Patel* (co-opted 2/2020), Linda Gavigan (co-opted 5/2020)
2019 Bill Arliss John Reddish Hilary Smith Ian Cobbold, Jon Diamond, Jonathan Isaacs, John Low, Roger Loram, George Noble, Richard Carline (co-opted 2/2020), Andrew Stewart (co-opted 10/2019)
2018 Bill Arliss John Reddish Hilary Smith Jon Diamond, Michael Hague (resigned 4/2018),
Jonathan Isaacs, John Low, Roger Loram, George Noble, Ian
Cobbold (co-opted 4/2018)
2017 Bill Arliss John Reddish Hilary Smith Jon Diamond, Michael Hague, Richard Hilditch,
Jonathan Isaacs, Roger Loram, George Noble, John Low (co-opted 12/2017)
2011-2016 Bill Arliss John Reddish Hilary Smith Michael Hague, Richard Hilditch, Jonathan
Isaacs, Roger Loram, George Noble, Jon Diamond (co-opted 10/2016)
2010 Bill Arliss John Reddish Hilary Smith David Collins, Daphne Gaitley, Michael Hague,
Richard Hilditch, George Noble
2009 Bill Arliss Richard Hilditch Richard Hilditch David Collins, Daphne Gaitley, Michael Hague,
George Noble, Hilary Smith
2003-2008 Bill Arliss Richard Hilditch Richard Hilditch David Collins, Daphne Gaitley, Michael Hague,
George Noble, Roy Ware
co-opted 1/2008: Hilary Smith
2002 Bill Arliss Richard Hilditch John Knight Quiller Barrett, Don Beck, David Collins,
Daphne Gaitley, Michael Hague, George Noble
2000-01 Richard Hilditch George Noble John Knight Bill Arliss, Quiller Barrett,
Don Beck, David Collins, Michael Hague
co-opted 12/2000: Daphne
Gaitley
1999 Richard Hilditch Quiller Barrett John Knight Bill Arliss, Don Beck, David
Collins, Alex Jardine, George Noble, Colin Thornton
1998 Richard Hilditch Quiller Barrett John Knight Bill Arliss, Don Beck, David
Collins, George Noble, Colin Thornton
1997 Richard Hilditch Quiller Barrett John Knight Bill Arliss, Don Beck, David
Collins, Connie Chick
1996 Richard Hilditch Quiller Barrett John Knight Bill Arliss, David Collins,
Connie Chick, Roy Ware, Ron Welch
1995 Richard Hilditch Quiller Barrett John Knight Bill Arliss, Stephen
Badger, David Collins, Roy Ware, Ron Welch
1993-94 Richard Hilditch Stephen Badger John Knight David Collins, Hyacinth
Coombs, John Greenwood, Roy Ware, Ron Welch
1991-92 Richard Hilditch Stephen Badger John Knight David Collins, John
Greenwood, Tony Mrozinski, Bernard Smith, Ron Welch
co-opted 10/1991: Hyacinth
Coombs, Roy Ware
1990 Richard Hilditch Stephen Badger John Knight Terry Ballard, Mike Keen,
John Greenwood, Ron Welch, Susan Yonge
1988-89 Dennis Shaw David Higgs John Knight Stephen Badger, Richard Hilditch, Tony
Mrozinski, Susan Yonge
1987 Dennis Shaw David Higgs John Knight Stephen Badger, Richard Hilditch, Tony
Mrozinski, Brenda Sandell

Other Officers

Croquet Association representatives
2018-2020 John Reddish
2013-2018 David Mooney
2002-2013 Quiller Barrett