It is with very great sadness we report that Christine Irwin, the Federation Coaching Officer, has passed away suddenly after a brain haemorrhage whilst in the US and where a cremation is planned to take place. Chris died on 14th March in the critical care neurology unit at UF Shands Hospital in Jacksonville. Christine, a brilliant Coaching Officer, was developing new initiatives to take our Federation coaching to new levels. Christine was a highly regarded member of the Bowdon Club where she will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with Colin at this very sad and difficult time and we send our condolences on behalf of everyone in the Federation.
Croquet Update from Headquarters
Highlights of the Croquet Association Council Meeting:
I attended the Council meeting on the afternoon of 28th March. There was a sombre start as Council reflected on the sad news from Bowdon and the immense contributions to Croquet made by Christine Irwin and John Saxby.
The meeting followed the CA Special General Meeting, where all the motions regarding the constitutional changes were passed. There will be an article in the June Gazette to keep people informed as to what is happening next.
Council set up and appointed the Membership Changes Implementation Group (MCIG) which will report to the Management Committee on a regular basis until such time as its purpose is fulfilled. It is a group of five and after a certain amount of encouragement, I became a member of it. The purpose of the group, following the constitutional changes, is firstly to serve all members at all levels in pursuing the objectives of the CA. Specific areas the MCIG will consider are establishing requirements for an on-line membership system and the ways that the distribution of the Gazette may be achieved.
In due course clubs will become responsible for passing on the details of their members to the CA so that they can be recorded as CA members. The MCIG will also consider how this may be achieved. Please contact me if your club has Juniors playing, or an existing Junior membership structure.
Other bullet points from the meeting were:
- Lawn hire will increase from £30 to £31 in 2016.
- All federations agreed to join the CA.
- The East Anglia Fed is trialling a new GC handicap system this season.
- Tournament Regulations have been changed, bring your card to tournaments!
- There is a new Lawn Care Manual being prepared for the CA website.
- A National Croquet Day to be investigated tied into other existing countries.
Lastly our patron sent her good wishes for the Womans AC Worlds taking place in Nottingham 25/7 – 1/8. It has been framed and will be available to see during the tournament.
North West Croquet Welcomes the New Season
Executive Summary – Federation Spring Meeting – Sat 7 March 2015 at Culcheth.
About 35 people attended the annual spring meeting of the NWFCC. New chairman Gary Wilson (Pendle) welcomed everyone to this, his first meeting as Chair. Treasurer Bob Connop presented a positive report regarding Federation finances which are in a stable and healthy position. CA Representative Peter Wilson described the major issues facing the game are the proposed constitutional changes which are to be voted on at the CA Council meeting on 28 March 2015.
League Manager Tony Thomas thanked clubs for their input into the 2015 League fixture schedule, which had been published on time. The Croquet league season will be commencing on 5th April and finish at the end of September. Overall, the league remains healthy and has again expanded slightly. The Level Play Golf Croquet league continues to develop and has increased by two clubs (Bowdon Bandits and Bowdon Sinners) this year.
Coaching Officer Christine Irwin sent in a report describing how the Flying Circus coaching group are available to deliver any coaching course, free of charge at any club, for groups of 8 to 16 players of similar ability. So far, there will be a one day course at Bowdon on 10 April for high bisquers (16-20) and a Beginners Golf course to be arranged at Fylde. Last year we introduced pods – monthly 2hr coaching sessions for advanced players which were very successful. These will be repeated this year and we also hope to introduce a similar programme for higher handicap groups.
The CA is publishing a new Golf Croquet Coaching Manual which should be available in a few weeks. A two day course for club coaches is being organised following the successful venture last year. If anyone wishes to embark on a Referees course or wishes to take the referees exam, please contact Christine.
Development Officer Ron Welch has resigned from this post and we are now searching for another member to take on this important role. Paul Rigge is also searching for volunteers for the annual Pennine Cup match against the north east Federations.
The major Agenda item concerned the Constitutional changes being promoted by the Croquet Association which need to be voted on by individual CA members and clubs by 18th March. The CA website has details on how to vote. There was a wide ranging discussion on this complex topic with a variety of views expressed. It was felt the information being disseminated was confusing and seemed to be changing over time.
One consequence of the proposed changes is the invitation by the CA to Federations inviting them to become full CA voting members. After discussion, it was decided a motion could be proposed at this meeting and there was a large majority in favour of the Federation accepting the CA invitation.
There were various club announcements – Bowdon have developed an extra lawn; Bury are developing one of their new venues at Whitehead Park which will eventually become their main centre of operations; Pendle still have vacancies for their Easter tournament and they have changed the names of their Level Play Golf teams from A and B to Pendle Forest and Pendle Tykes; Southport have renovated their entrance path to eliminate previous flooding problems; Liverpool are positive about a new recruitment programme; Culcheth are still playing on their indoor surface on a weekly basis and everyone is very welcome to attend; Tattenhall now have two lawns available.
Don Williamson (Southport) is a member of the CA Handicap committee and reported the CA would like club handicappers to become more active in their role and Federations should also have a Handicapping Officer. It was subsequently agreed that Don Williamson would take on this role. All clubs should have received a poster describing how Handicap Cards should be completed. The north west website also lists details of club handicappers.
The meeting closed at 11.30 am – a record early closing time. The next club meeting will be the AGM, to be held at Culcheth on 21 November 2015.
Tony Thomas (Personal View)
8 March 2015
You can obtain the unratified Minutes of the 2015 Spring Meeting by clicking here