Croquet England seeks new Chair of Trustees

by Gabrielle Higgins [^]
29th January (CqE Official News)

Samir Patel, who has served as Chair of Trustees since Croquet England's inception in 2023 and before that as Chair of the Croquet Association's Council since 2021, will be standing down later this year. Croquet England owes a great debt of gratitude to Samir, and more will be said in due course. Meanwhile, applications are invited for his successor by 1 March 2026 with a view to a phased handover taking place between April and October. This is an exciting opportunity to lead Croquet England and help shape its future as the strategy of More People playing More Croquet in More Places moves into its delivery phase.

Information about the role and how to apply is available here.

New Policies - updated

by Samir Patel [^]
3rd February (CqE Official News)

The Croquet England Trustees have approved four new Policies

Gender Policy - Most players will have seen at least some news reporting following the UK Supreme Court's ruling in April 2025. The new Gender Policy reflects that ruling, together with research by the World Croquet Federation and responses to a player consultation. This policy aims to balance the principles of fairness and inclusion in a way that is reasonable and proportionate, but we recognise that there are limitations to the information available. Further guidance from the Equalities and Human Rights EHRC is awaited and is likely to influence this policy in the future. In any discussion of this policy, I'd like to remind everyone to keep in mind that it operates within a framework that includes the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy, Anti-bullying policy, Welfare and Wellbeing policy and Codes of Conduct.

Fundraising Policy - Croquet England is a registered charity, and like many other charities raises funds from a variety of sources. This policy addresses Croquet England's commitment to the Charity Commission's guidance on fundraising (CC20) and the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice.

Prize Policy - This policy outlines the framework for awarding prizes in Croquet England tournaments. Its aim is to ensure that all activities must adhere to Charity Commission regulations, the Gambling Act 2005, and the Code of Fundraising Practice.

Professional Players - our constitution sets out that we are focussed on the promotion of amateur sport. For this to mean anything in practice, we have now created a much more robust definition of a professional player (and hence by exclusion a definition of an amateur player). All calendar events remain open to both amateur and professional players, unless stated otherwise in the special conditions.

In addition, the Selection Policy has been updated to include a revised selection ethos for the Solomon Trophy contested between Great Britain and the USA and to add reference to the selection places for the Croquet England Open Championships and other Doubles events. Updated Selection Procedures have been approved by the Executive.

Tournament Regulations 2026

by Samir Patel [^]
30th January (CqE Official News)

Croquet England's Tournament Regulations apply to all Calendar Fixtures included in the annual calendar. As is usual, these have been reviewed by various of Croquet England's committees since the end of the 2025 season and updates have been approved by the Executive Committee which apply for the 2026 season.

The main change that will affect players is the introduction of three dress code variants.

• The existing 'whites' regulation remains the default.
• There are now options for tournament organisers for a 'smart casual' or 'strict whites'.
• Tournament organisers must specify any variant in the calendar entry for the event, so players are advised to check these before before packing for an event. We also recommend that any dress code conditions are communicated to players with joining instructions for an event, along with other useful information such as start time.

A number of new policies have been approved by the Croquet England trustees, including the Prize Policy, Professional Player Policy and Gender Policy.

The full regulations, which include a summary of all changes, are published on this website.

Announcement date for Women's GC Europeans moved

by Chris Clarke [^]
28th January (CqE Official News)

Please note that the announcement date for the Women's GC Europeans has been changed to 20th March.

Chris Clarke

Chair of GCSC

Tournament Entry System goes live on Friday

by James Death [Admin] [^]
28th January (CqE Official News)

The fixtures calendar will be live soon. Once live, players will be able to enter the tournaments listed throughout the season. Remember, there is no rush to enter if there is an allocation date. Entries are to be treated equally whenever they are entered before the allocation date.

Some of the courses are already live, as a lot are early season.

Clubs will be able to enter their teams in the Inter-Club competitions.

The listing has been simplified to make it faster and easier to scan. If someone wishes to enter just a single fixture, they now need to go via that fixture's details page. For more help on how to use the Fictures Calendar efficiently, please refer to the help pages here >> https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=tournament/caCalendarHelp#customisation

Best of luck to everyone for the upcoming season.

2026 European AC Singles Championship

by James Death [Admin] at Telc, Czechia [^]
26th January (International)

The 2026 European AC Singles Championship will be held at Telc Croquet Club, Czech Republic between 15-18 August 2026. The event capacity is 20 players. The entry fee for this event is £84 per player. Details for the event can be found at Croquet Europe - AC Singles Championships

England players who wish to play should register their availability by 19 March 2026 at https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=members/availability. England will receive up to 2 Ranking Places, which will be announced by the ERC by 26 April 2026. England will also get 1 Membership Place, which will be selected by the AC Selection Committee by 25 May 2026.

CqE Women v Oxfordshire

by James Death [Admin] at Cheltenham [^]
19th January (AC)

Each year the winners of Division 2 of the AC Intercounties play against a CqE women's team.

The 2026 match will be on 9-10 May at Cheltenham.

It is intended to provide a development opportunity, with some friendly but competitive singles and doubles.

Women who wish to be considered for the CqE Women's team can now register their availability here, availability needs to be declared by the 7th February.

Players who wish to be considered for the Oxfordshire team should contact their county organiser.