Category: News

We’re now accepting club registrations for the SECF for 2022.

Please use the form at https://southeastcroquetfederation.org.uk/1674644977408/annual-registration/

Don’t forget if you wish to enter any of our leagues your registration and payment must be received by 31st March.

It’s recommended that entries for our Team events is also received by this date, as we cannot guarantee acceptance of your entry if it’s received after then.

The team at the South East Croquet Federation are already working hard to prepare for the 2022 season which promises to an exciting year with the GC Croquet World Championships returning to Sussex from 30th July to 7th August. Sussex County Club in Southwick will be opening its doors to spectators so that they will have the chance to see the top players from around the world in action. Also the qualifying rounds will be held at Compton Croquet Club near Eastbourne from the 25th to 28th July. In this newsletter you will find details of how to register your Club with the Federation for another year and make entries to leagues and tournaments.  Also details of the appointment of new officials who are in place to help and support Clubs who need assistance, along with other news and information

Register your Club for 2022 As from the 1st February the form will be available on the Federation website to register your club and make entry into our Leagues and Tournaments for 2022. Follow this link https://southeastcroquetfederation.org.uk/1674644977408/annual-registration/ . Payment for annual membership and entry fees should be made immediately via bank transfer to the our bank account at 77-63-04 Account number 74029768 for the South East Croquet Federation. With the problems of the last two years now hopefully starting to ease we are particularly keen for as many clubs as possible to enter the competitions. So if you club has not entered a league or tournament before then this could be the time to put your toe in the water and give it a go.  If you want help or advice email info@southeastcroquet.org.uk Please submit your registration form by 31st March 2022.

New Development Officer We are pleased to announce that Mike Akester has taken over as the Development Officer for the South East Federation.  Mike will now be Clubs point of contact for any funding issues they may have particularly if they are looking to bid for funding from the CA or the Federation. Also any advice they need about developing their club.  The email address is development@southeastcroquet.org.uk We should also remind Clubs about Croquet Matters the framework that the CA has devised to help committees manage their clubs better.  Visit the CA website by following this link https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/clubs/info/croquetMatters

The Croquet Association is running a competition with a prize pot of £3000 to encourage Clubs to come up with initiatives to make them more welcoming to new members particularly those from diverse backgrounds.  Please see attached letterfor full details as to how to enter. The Federation’s Publicity Officer, Jonathan Isaacs, is more than happy to help Clubs with ideas as to how to market themselves better particularly with a view to attracting new members.  Please email him at publicity@southeastcroquet.org.uk

The Croquet Academy launches its 2022 Coaching Programme The 2022 coaching programme is now available for entries via its website www.thecroquetacademy.com This year, the Academy celebrates its 15th year. It was created as a joint initiative between the Croquet Association, The South East Croquet Federation and Sussex County Croquet Club to provide a centre of excellence for croquet coaching. Since its formation it has organised numerous courses for players of all abilities from complete beginners to bespoke courses for member countries of the World Croquet Federation. This year the Academy are introducing some new innovations, including the establishment of two new “Hub” clubs at Guildford and Tunbridge Wells in addition to the main facility at Southwick. All three clubs are offering four GC Coaching opportunities aimed at medium and high handicappers. The plan is to make the most popular academy courses more accessible to players throughout the Federation. All these courses will be lead by Croquet Academy coaches. In addition there will be a full range of Croquet Courses at Southwick including the use of Short Croquet as a successful way of introducing players to Association Croquet. For the first time the Academy is running a modular course (on line) “Developing your mindset”. This course will enable you to complete a structured programme at your own pace and will include interactive on line sessions with our mindset practitioner. Outline details of the 2022 programme can be seen on the Coaching page of the SECF website: www.southeastcroquetfederation.org.uk Full details of the courses and entries should be made via the Academy website and bookings will be taken in order of receipt: www.thecroquetacademy.com

Handicapping The Federation has appointed two handicappers. Roger Sutton for Golf Croquet and Martin Peacock for Association Croquet.  Their aim will be to help Clubs to achieve a consistent approach to handicapping across the region and in particular assist Club that are struggling   setting handicaps for their members. It would be appreciated if you will complete the section on the registration form confirming your present handicappers. Details of the Club handicappers the Federation hold at present can be found by following this web link https://southeastcroquetfederation.org.uk/1674644977408/club-handicappers/  There is a lot of information about handicapping on the Croquet Accociation website https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/golf/handicapping/ClubHandicappers

Michael Akester had been appointed as our Development Officer, replacing Ian Cobbold who deserves a well-earned rest. You can see him and a brief profile on our Committee page.

We’ve also appointed our first Federation Handicappers – AC: Martin Peacock and GC: Roger Sutton. See the CA website for more details about their jobs, and that of Club Handicappers too.

We’ve implemented a new diary system for 2022, which we hope will be easier to use. This integrates the tournaments organised by clubs that are in the CA calendar with those that aren’t into a single page.

It also allows you to see just AC or just GC tournaments and makes it easier for clubs with multiple events to submit them.

The initial release is mainly populated by our SECF events and those from Sussex County.

Agenda to be held via Zoom on Sunday 7th November 2021 at 10.30 a.m. (details have been sent to clubs)

1. Apologies for absence.

2. Minutes of the 34^rd AGM held on 22^nd November 2020 and matters arising. Click 2020_agm_minutes to read the minutes.

3. Election of Officers and Committee for 2022

The following persons offer themselves for election or re-election:
Chairman: Andrew Stewart (West Worthing & Sussex County)
Secretary: Louise Taylor (Merton)
Treasurer: David King (Sussex County)

Committee members: Richard Carline (Sussex County); Jon Diamond (Royal Tunbridge Wells); Jonathan Isaacs (Sussex County) John Low (Sussex County) George Noble (Surbiton).

Andrew Stewart, Ian Cobbold and Samir Patel will also be members of the Committee by virtue of Clause 7 g) of the Constitution since they are the elected members of the Council of the Croquet Association for the South East Constituency.

4. Treasurer’s Report (David King)  To view accounts click Accounts_2021, For report click Treasurer_report_2021.

5. Appointment of the Auditor (Independent Examiner)

6. Chairman’s Report (Andrew Stewart).. To view report click Chairman_Report_2021.

7. Webmaster’s report (Jon Diamond). To view report click 2021 online report.

8. Development Officer’s Report (Ian Cobbold). To view report click Development_report_2021.

9. Coaching Officer’s Report (Richard Carline)

10. League Organiser’s report (John Low). To view report click Report on Federation Leagues 2021.

Motion to be proposed by the Committee to amend the general league rule as follows:

From –The league winners will be the teams with the most league points. Ties will be decided by head to head matches, percentage games won and then by a play-off of 2 or more teams. Any play-off will be held before April of next year.

To – The league winner will be the team with the most league points. If two teams only are tied and have played each other then the winner shall be the winner of that match; otherwise the tied teams shall be placed in order of percentage games won; if necessary, these two stages may be repeated until a winner is found. If there remains a tie then play-offs among the tied teams will be held before April of next year.

Motion to be proposed by Tunbridge Wells CC:
That the format and rules for the AC B League be changed to: “Each match consists of 3 players and each match consists of 3 rounds of 14pt games, each being one singles and one doubles. League teams will be listed in ascending handicap order A to C versus a to c. In the first round A will play singles against a, in the second round B will play singles against b and in the third round C will play singles against c.
All games shall be played with full bisques to a base of 6; Appendix 3 of the Laws of Association Croquet shall apply.
All games are played handicap, with a time limit of 80 minutes. If a lawn is less than 2/3 size normal handicap differences are reduced by a factor of 2/3.
Each player’s handicap must be at least 10 when the fixture is arranged.”
Motion to be proposed by Ealing CC:
That the rules for the AC B U League be amended to replace the sentence “All games are played handicap” with:
“All games are played on a “full bisque handicap” basis, with a base handicap of 10; Appendix 3 of the Laws of Association Croquet shall apply.”

11. Fixing of the rate of the annual subscription for 2022

12. The amount of the tournament and league fees for 2022

13. Report by the South East Constituency Representative(s) on the Council of the Croquet Association (Samir Patel/Ian Cobbold)

14. Any other business to include consideration as to the future format of the AGM either via Zoom, face to face or a combination of these.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the WCF has announced that the WCF has a number of groups working on four current key initiatives:

• Global Handicap System
• Global Player and Game Database
• Advantage GC
• Online Referee Accreditation

The status of these groups activities can be now be seen on the WCF Working Group page. This is intended to be updated regularly.