Sport England recognises Croquet England

[<<] [>>] by Beatrice McGlen & Samir Patel
15th January (CqE Official News)

Sport England has confirmed that Croquet England has met its requirements to be recognised as the National Governing Body for croquet. Although the CA was recognised many years ago, Sport England has recently started to tighten up its requirements, in terms of constitution, governing documents, policies and accessibility of information. Croquet England has therefore had to go through this more rigorous process to obtain recognition.

The process of raising the standard of governance across all sports is gradually being ramped up by Sport England. It has recognised that some of the scandals to hit various sports over the last few years could have been avoided if there had been better governance processes in place. The Code for Sports Governance was introduced in 2016 and strengthened in December 2021.

As a National Governing Body, Croquet England is working towards Tier 3 in the Code. There are some big hurdles to jump to achieve this, but this is happening across the sports sector. The Sports Governance Academy was set up to give advice and training, so we are not alone.

Tier 1 of the Code is a good guide for clubs to follow. We are planning on introducing a voluntary Club Mark scheme for clubs later this year that is tailored for croquet but based on the Tier 1 requirements. More details of this will be sent to clubs in a few months' time. Achieving Club Mark status will help potential players, parents, local communities and funders recognise a club as well-run, safe and welcoming.