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Offers of Drinks and Pods but must show Handicap Cards – (AGM 2014 Summary)

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Executive Summary of Fed AGM 8th November 2014

Fed Chair Liz Wilson with the 2014 League Winners - l to r - Gary Wilson (Pendle - B Level); David Boyd (Chester - Midweek); John Dawson (Chester - Advanced); Don Williamson (Southport - Short); Paul Kenworth (Bury Peelers - Handicap); Pat Clare (Chester - Golf); Ken Eccles (Bury East - Level Play Golf).
Fed Chair Liz Wilson with the 2014 League Winners – l to r – Gary Wilson (Pendle – B Level); David Boyd (Chester – Midweek); John Dawson (Chester – Advanced); Don Williamson (Southport – Short); Paul Kenworth (Bury Peelers – Handicap); Pat Clare (Chester – Golf); Ken Eccles (Bury East – Level Play Golf).

Another fine November day as the delegates assembled from far and wide for the Federation AGM at Culcheth Croquet Club.  Liz Wilson, chairing her last meeting warmly welcomed everyone and the meeting flowed smoothly and efficiently to an early finish.  Thank you Liz for your time as Chairman – your skills and dedication have led the Federation through a very successful period.

Treasurer Bob Connop presented a healthy set of accounts and it was commented that our latest asset – a digital projector – is a valuable addition to our training programme.  Development Officer described the latest coaching initiatives – pods for A class players – as a great success and now considering a programme of two hour pod sessions for B and C class players for 2015.  Child Protection Officer, Jean Hargreaves, informed the meeting her title has now changed to Safeguarding Officer and clubs should adapt their processes accordingly.

League Manager, Tony Thomas, reported another successful and busy season of 170 matches and trophies were awarded to seven representatives of the title winning clubs.  The B League is desperately in need of a new trophy to replace the Glass Jug – can anyone help?  There was an interesting discussion on Handicap Cards and it was decided players must present their cards at league matches.  In cases where this does not happen, opposing captains can contact the League Manager who will seek confirmation of handicaps from clubs and can then retrospectively adjust match results if wrong handicaps have been used.

There was a surprise motion about removal of Bonus Points in the Advanced League (this year, one team were undefeated all season but still only came second in the league) – clubs requested more time to consider this and there will be a postal vote before the end of November to decide the issue.

Paul Rigge reported a great success for a North West representative team who won the Pennine Cup in 2014 but has difficulty in raising sufficient volunteers to play in this fixture.  He now generously offers free drinks to all volunteers in 2015!  Other highlights were Bowdon Croquet Club who won the national Secretarys Shield as well as the Longman Cup.  Remarkably, Graham Good from Bury becomes the first player in history to win both the national All England Golf Croquet and Association Croquet titles in one season.

Following the CA working Party Report and regional meetings there is now an invitation for the Federation to become a member of the CA and whilst the southern Federations seem agreeable, the northern Feds still have doubts – the issue was shelved until our next meeting in March.

Dates for club tournaments and Federation Millennium competitions were agreed.  The Federation Meetings for 2015 will take place on 7th March 2015 and 7 November 2015.

We welcome new Chairman, Garry Wilson from Pendle, best wishes as you lead us further into the promised croquet land.

The above is a personal view written from memory before the formal Minutes are issued.

 

 

Southport Croquet Trophies Go North East

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Derek Knight Does it Again!

Club President Alan Pidcock, Super B winner Derek Knight, B Level winner Dennis Scarr, Tournament Manager John Haslam.
Club President Alan Pidcock, Super B winner Derek Knight, B Level winner Dennis Scarr, Tournament Manager John Haslam.

They came from near and far – from the north east and the south west, from the east midlands and of course the north west, there were even four local players.  The unique double tournament was here again – the Southport Level B and the Southport Super B Advanced Croquet events.

The Southport climate gave everyone a soaking on Saturday, then roasted everyone to a nice colour on Sunday.  The recent very dry weather had made the lawns fast, which combined with some tight hoops made for a challenging competition.

In the Super B event, Derek Knight (Beverley) showed great form throughout the weekend, playing skilful croquet, to remain undefeated, to take the Manor House trophy to add to his B Level win from last year.  Peter Moore (Nottingham) took second prize, losing only one game in the Super B.

In the B Level event, the leader board was changing after every round in a tightly contested format. Three players were still in contention in the final round with Don Williamson (Southport), Barbara Haslam (Southport) and Dennis Scarr (Middlesborough).  Don and Dennis both winning their games to give the Manager a problem but since Dennis had beaten Don in the first round, the beautiful Hawkins Cup was presented to Dennis Scarr.

A really enjoyable tournament with efficient management (and even refereeing) by John Haslam, plus of course the usual Southport excellent catering.

Click on any image to go to a Slide show:

 

THE PODS ARE COMING

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Join a Coaching Pod Now!

Free informal Advanced play coaching for A and B class players at North West Clubs

 

The North West Federation and the CA are setting up 2 “coaching pods” in the North West.  These are relatively informal groups that will facilitate the sharing of knowledge, help establish informal mentoring arrangements and generally raise the standard of play of A and B class players.

 

Each pod session will be two to three hours long covering a particular topic e.g. lift leaves, openings, pegged-out endings and generally held on weekday evenings but might also sometimes be held at weekends.

 

Bury Croquet Club will host its first pod on the evening of Thursday 17th July.

Bowdon Croquet Club will host pods on the evenings of Tuesday 12th August, Tuesday 9th September and Tuesday 14th October (the second Tuesday of the month).

 

All North West players are invited to attend either or both venues at no charge.

If you are a CA member and wish to participate please register now.

Full details and registration at – www.croquet.org.uk

or Email Matt Holmes at Bury – themattholmes@aol.com

or Email Christine Irwin at Bowdon – christine.e.irwin@gmail.com

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Webmaster – Chris Alvey (webmaster@croquetnw.co.uk)