Most-Improved Player Awards

• Most Improved Male AC Player will receive the Apps Memorial Bowl.
• Most Improved Female AC Player will receive the Steel Memorial Bowl.
• Most Improved Male GC Player will receive the Spiers Trophy (re-designated 'Male only' from 2020).
• Most Improved Female GC Player will receive the Colman Trophy (a new award introduced in 2020).

Eligibility is restricted to players who are members of an Affiliated club, and who are playing predominantly within the Croquet England domain for the period under consideration.

Nominations for these awards can be made by Clubs, Federations or individuals (including the candidates themselves) and sent to the office by 31 October. The nomination should provide detailed information about the candidate's improvement during the season (or, in respect of players who join Croquet England part-way through the season, the portion of the season after joining). Nominations should be accompanied by:

• a copy of the player's handicap card(s);
• a list of tournaments won;
• any peeling achievements (for AC); and
• any special circumstances that might be thought relevant.

The award winners are decided by the Handicap Committee, whose decision is final. In usual circumstances, the names of the award winners will be announced by the end of November, and the trophies are presented at a suitable occasion of the recipient's choosing.

In determining these awards, the Handicap Committee will take into account a range of quantitative and qualitative factors. For example (and for illustrative purposes only), the Association Croquet Awards might take account of:

• decrease in handicap;
• increase in ranking grade;
• percentage of games won;
• number of tournaments won;
• number of games played handicap compared with level;
• quality of opponents;
• number of peeling breaks (for AC); and
• the extent to which the candidate played only within his/her club, or played in tournaments at other clubs.

Further to the above, for the purposes of Most Improved Player awards, the Handicap Committee will NOT judge players to have 'improved' in the following circumstances:

• players who suffer a dip in form and then recover back to their previous standard
• new players in their first year
• existing accomplished AC players who take up GC and, to no great surprise, are good at it straight away

In the case of the first bullet point above, the player 'returning to form' would need to have attained a significant new personal height of achievement to be considered for an award.

With the present pattern of play in the domain as a whole, it seems unlikely that handicap play will be especially significant in the award of the Most Improved GC Player.

Handicap Committee Chair

Christopher Roberts