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

Executive Summary of Fed AGM 8th November 2014

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.