[<<] [>>] by Ian Vincent
5th October 2006 (CqE Official News)

1. Personal

At the end of the December 2005 meeting of Council, Alan Oldham announced that he would miss the next one in March, his first absence for very many years, for a trip to watch a solar eclipse. Sadly, he died a few weeks after his return. He had been a Vice-President since his retirement, in 1992, after 25 years as Hon. Treasurer. He was also the CA Archivist and an active member of the Golf Croquet Committee. The Association was well represented at the service of thanksgiving for him and a donation of £100 was given to the British Heart Foundation. He is to be awarded the Council Medal posthumously for his exceptional service to the Association. Chris Williams has been proposed to replace him as Archivist, subject to confirmation by Council, but discussion about the role and procedure for proposing additional Vice-President(s) is scheduled before any are nominated.

John Beech, a former member of Council who led the Lawns Advisory Group, died in early September after a long illness.

Tony Fathers, a former chairman of the marketing committee, retired from Council during the year.

The Chairman represented the Association at the service of thanksgiving for the 80th Birthday of our Patron, the Queen.

2. Membership

There was concern about an apparent drop in the number of new individual associates in 2005, which prompted a review by the Marketing Committee, but paid up home membership at the end of July remained almost static at 1600. Encouragingly, there has been a 10% increase in the number of member clubs (from 122 to 137), resulting from pro-active work by the Office and Development Committee and the attraction of the Civil Liability Insurance. This was moved to new brokers, resulting in a significant saving in premiums.

After being unchanged in 2006, it was agreed to increase subscription rates for both individuals and clubs for 2007 in line with inflation, to ensure that the level of grants to clubs could be maintained.

The Association was represented at the opening of the new lawns at Letchworth and Royal Tunbridge Wells.

3. Constitution

Concern was raised about the personal liability of members of Council and Trustees, but the advice received in 1999 that the benefits of incorporation would be marginal was reconfirmed. However, it seems possible that the Association could become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation under the bill currently before parliament and the situation will be reviewed when that and its associated regulations are in place.

A change to the Objects of the Association has been proposed to regularise international activity and further changes to permit electronic voting have been drafted. Appeals procedures and the role of the Chairman of Council are also under discussion, following the eventually successful appeal by the Surbiton Club against the decision not to award the Golf Croquet Inter-Club Championship trophy after failure to agree a date for the final.

4. Administration

The role of the Administration Committee was reviewed and resulted in an increased emphasis on IT provision, under the chairmanship of Dave Kibble.

After a period of parallel running, the rewritten database, including a receipts module, is now fully in place, and being increasingly integrated with the web site. There is now a members login area, where Associates can view, but not yet update, their own details. The directory is also available to members online and the printed copy is now produced directly from the database.

A financial system, Sage, is being purchased, initially for stand-alone use by the Treasurer, after which integration with the Office systems will be considered.

The documentation of office procedures is being reviewed and updated.

Whilst recognising the value of the "Nottingham List" as a means of communication, Council decided not to assume any responsibility for it, to avoid liability for its content.

5. Coaching

A new Association Croquet coaching manual was made available on the web site. A survey of coaches is being planned.

6. Development

Development grants have been made to East Dorset, Fylde, Auckland, Blewbury, Bowdon, Bransgore, Budleigh Salterton, Caversham, Chelmsford & Bentley, Chichester & Fishbourne, Eynsham and Reigate Priory, and offered to Sydenham and Sussex County. Grants or loans over £5,000 now need approval by the Management Committee.

Equipment provided out of the new club fund was sent or promised to 7 clubs: Bakewell, Charlton, Dogmersfield, Ilkley, Liverpool and the Universities of Southampton and York.

The committee have a group looking at the relationship between Federations and the CA.

Insufficient interest was shown to justify organising club conferences this year.

7. Equipment

Standards for ball colours have been specified. The MacRobertson Shield has been refurbished.

8. Golf Croquet

The tournament programme continues to grow and is being reviewed to try and minimise clashes with major association croquet events.

We have agreed to host the 2007 European Championship at Budleigh Salterton.

The Golf Croquet Committee have instigated a process for filming various croquet shots at very high speeds. It is hoped that this will lead to a better understanding of what actually happens in both Golf and Association Croquet and will much assist in the training of referees for both formats of the sport.

A review of the implications of the growth of Golf Croquet is proceeding.

9. Handicap

The Apps Memorial Bowl was awarded to William Gee, but there were no nominations for the Steel Bowl.

10. International

A policy about grants for potentially elite junior players was published, but plans for coaching them did not materialise due to illness.

A working party to review drugs policy was set up but has yet to report.

Proposals by the WCF for changes in their rules were considered and the issue of representation on its management committee discussed.

11. Laws

A laws quiz was written and made available on the web site and in the Gazette.

12. Marketing

Despite the lack of a press sponsor, it was decided to proceed with the National Garden Competition, which had 150 entries though with a 40% no-show rate. Feedback from clubs was generally positive, but the cost of advertising and the considerable effort required to organise the event means that it is unlikely to be repeated in this form.

A review of CA membership resulted in a recommendation for a recruitment bonus, which was endorsed by the Management Committee, provided that the bonus is paid to clubs rather than individuals.

The Open Championships at Cheltenham this year were sponsored by Mitsubishi Motors and are to be sponsored at Hurlingham next year by Lawpack.

A significant amount of publicity was generated by the Prescott affair and the Opens.

13. Publishing

Production and distribution of the Gazette have been without major problems this calendar year. Replacement of the Editor's PC should enable content to be converted to PDF for online publication. The website continues to be developed, with more content and the start of a useful members' area.

14. Selection

A team consisting of Keith Aiton, Mark Avery, Chris Clarke, Robert Fulford (captain), Jonathon Kirby and David Maugham has been selected to defend the MacRobertson Shield.

Selection criteria for international Golf Croquet events were introduced which require participation in a minimum of two qualifying events.

15. Tournament

The fixtures book was distributed in early January and a calendar of forthcoming events published on the web site. There is concern about the level of entries to some tournaments; in particular, the Women's Championship and Mixed Doubles continue to be very poorly supported.

The attempt to resurrect the National Schools' and Junior Championships with Hurlingham as the host club was unsuccessful, as the date chosen did not fit satisfactorily into the schools' calendar, although a number of schools had expressed an interest in participating. For next year attempts will be made to find a date acceptable to schools (and to a host club). A 50% discount in entry fees for juniors was introduced.

It was agreed to subsidise hospitality for visitors playing matches against the CA.