CA Awards – 2011

Club Awards:

The Townsend Award 2010 – Bury Croquet Club and Swindon Croquet Club jointly.

This award is given every two years to a club with one or two lawns which has, in the opinion of the Development Committee, that has made exceptional progress in providing a good playing environment over the previous two years.

The Apps Heley Award 2010 – Chester Croquet Club – presented on the occasion of the opening of their new pavilion earlier this year.

This award is given to the club with three or four lawns that has made most progress at a national or local level in the last two years.

Most Improved Player Awards:

Apps Bowl: Sanaa Hallam

Most Improved AC Male Player 2010

Steel Bowl: Gabrielle Higgins

Most Improved AC Female Player 2010

Spiers Trophy: Nicholas Cheyne

Most Improved GC Player 2010

Coach of the Year 2010: Dr Michael Lester

Michael Lester started to play croquet in 1995. On moving into the local area, Michael joined Budleigh Salterton CC in 1998. He spends a large amount of time organising and coaching beginners, as well as holding regular clinics for improvers throughout the season. His enthusiasm for these tasks has never dimmed throughout his time at Budleigh Salterton. His own handicap is now at a very respectable 3, and as well as being an Association Referee, Michael has also been a Grade 2 Coach since 2007. He is always most willing to offer advice and help to any player prepared to improve their game, and is a tremendous asset to the Club. Several years ago Michael and his wife, Marie, were preparing to move away to be nearer family, but realising the affection in which they were held by the club members, actually moved much nearer to the Club, to the relief of those many members who have been helped by Michael over the years.

Council Medal – Awarded for Services to Croquet

George Noble

George Noble, Chairman of the Surbiton Croquet Club for many years, has instilled a remarkable ethos of volunteering and a relaxed atmosphere that has attracted a substantial membership, including many of the best players of both Association and Golf Croquet. Surbiton is now recognised as one of the leading clubs in the CA and its strength, under George's leadership, was evident in 2010 when it hosted the final round of the MacRobertson Shield to universal praise from the players, and this year when it hosted, not only the AC Open Championship, but a substantial part of the GC World Championship a fortnight later.

George Noble started playing croquet in the grounds of a “stately home” near Aberystwyth where he was employed as a farm adviser by the then Ministry of Agriculture. Brian Shorney was also a graduate of that croquet academy. In 1974 George secured a move to Loughborough to be near a croquet club and joined a group of young players at the Nottingham club, who were discovering the A class game. Then to London where he joined the administrative civil service and dealt with such matters as the Spanish fisheries war, where he spent much time before the Beak in the European Court of Justice, the Foot and Mouth crisis and, finally, animal welfare. George is happy to take some of the credit for the ban on dog tail docking.

In London, George joined the Roehampton club. He won the Men’s Championship in 1979, played for the first time in the Opens the following year, and was subsequently invited to play in the President's Cup. He was also appointed an Examining Referee.

Feeling the need for a dedicated and more accessible croquet club in SW London he, along with a number of others including Ian Bond, Derek Caporn, Stephen Mulliner, Brian Whitehouse and Lionel Wharrad, persuaded the CA to take on a lease of a ground with space for seven lawns in Alexandra Park, Tolworth and formed the Surbiton Croquet Club in 1986. At the start there were no facilities, just a disused public convenience that served as an equipment shed ... which led to a somewhat rustic feel to the early tournaments. However, with grants from the Sports Council, the Croquet Association and Fullers Brewery, a wooden clubhouse was erected, complete with a cellar that George has managed to this day. He has also spent many hours in the kitchen, following the standard set by Hazel Kittermaster, with the result that the club's catering is awarded stars throughout the croquet world. His real pride and joy, however, has been the lawns, which he has converted over the years from rough, sloping, former tennis courts to some of the best in the country. Rather than keep his knowledge to himself, he has been very willing to share it through the CA's Lawn Advisory Group.

Despite being heavily involved at Surbiton, George has also given considerable assistance to the Hunstanton Club. He was its President from 1996 to 2006, during the period of the fire and building of its new pavilion.

George Noble’s contribution to these clubs, and through them to so many tournament players, has been immense and fully deserves the award of the Council Medal.

CA Diplomas – Awarded for Service to Clubs

Bill Arliss, Sussex County CC – Attending AGM

William, commonly known as Bill, joined SCCC in 1989 with his wife Pamela. They quickly became prominent members with rapidly reducing handicaps. In the early 90’s Bill was elected to the SCCC Management Committee where he took responsibility for club competitions and hoop setting. During his time on the Committee he recognised the potential of Golf Croquet and actively developed it at Sussex CCC. In 1998 he became Chairman of Council of the CA where he continued his active promotion of Golf Croquet. In spite of the heavy workload involved in his CA responsibilities, Bill continued as a loyal and hardworking member of SCCC developing GC coaching, managing tournaments and in 2004 heading up the organisation for the GC World Championships which were hosted at the club. It has been said that behind every big man is a strong woman. In Bill’s case this has proven to be very true. The support Pamela has given Bill throughout his croquet venture cannot be understated. Their support towards SCCC over the last 22 years has made a significant impact on the club’s success as a major croquet venue.

John Barber, Broadwas Croquet Club

Since its inception in 1998 John Barber has dedicated himself to the betterment and furtherance of Broadwas CC, giving freely of his time and much else beside. When he was appointed Club Captain (and Head Groundsman!) he firstly created one lawn in the outfield of our village cricket pitch (next to his cottage) and with just 10 members things got underway. His tireless devotion fostered increased membership and by 2004 this stood at 31, and the club had three excellent lawns. But John wanted more, and by 2007 the club had four full sized lawns with 45 members. Broadwas CC now has 53 active playing members and the club has become recognised throughout the South West Federation and beyond.

Over the years John has always tried to encourage good club management practice, resulting in the club becoming ever more active in all areas of open competition.

As captain, John created a happy and harmonious membership. In 2009 he finally relegated his captaincy and ostensibly ‘retired’, but he is still there for everything and everybody… in 2010 the club was finally put on the CA map by winning the prestigious ‘Murphy Shield’… John Barber’s dreams had finally come true!

Eric Bevan, Kington Langley CC

Eric Bevan joined Kington Langley Croquet Club (KLCC) when he and his wife Irene moved to Wiltshire from Kent in 1991. In the intervening years it has been clear to KLCC members that Eric is not only a very accomplished player of both Association and Golf Croquet, but also a very patient and skilful teacher of the tactics and techniques of both disciplines, being a qualified coach. He is a long-standing and valued member of KLCC’s Committee; he is a past Chairman of the Club and is now its President.

With secretarial help from his wife, Eric has organised all of the Club’s internal events and competitions in meticulous detail for many years, and is often a ‘hard-to-beat” competitor. He usually provides the refreshments (and sometimes token prizes) for “fun” events himself.

Eric is now over 80 and in indifferent health, but he still turns out when he can to coach at, and to participate in the Club’s twice-weekly sessions. He also continues to represent KLCC in some South West Federation League (Association) matches and when needed also in SWF Golf Croquet League matches – a true stalwart.

Eugene Matthew Brady, Auckland CC

Eugene has been a member of Auckland Croquet Club since its start in 1998, was club competition secretary from 2000 until 2002 when he became club treasurer, relinquishing the post in 2010 but continuing as a greatly valued committee member. He was also founder and first editor of the club’s newsletter. His technical ability and skill have been instrumental, as both player and team manager, in Auckland Croquet winning the Croquet North (CN) Golf Croquet League Championship on eight occasions. With his expertise he has achieved personal success in CN Golf and Association Championships.

He has endless patience and willingly coaches and encourages new and established members to improve their game. Eugene devotes a tremendous amount of time and commitment in keeping the club going, cutting grass, white lining if necessary and opening for play. He liaises with our landlords, Durham County Council, attending meetings and ably representing the club when required. Now treasurer for Croquet North and manager of the Golf Croquet League and Golf Croquet Championships, he is an excellent ambassador for the game of croquet in the North East.

Cliff Cardis, Swindon CC

Cliff Cardis joined soon after the birth of the Swindon Croquet Club 1986 and volunteered for the Secretary’s position, a position he held for twenty years. He carried the club through many turbulent times and the move from a one lawn to a two-lawn club from Lydiard Park to Moredon Playing Fields.

Cliff gained his Coaching Badge in the 80s and has spent many hours/weeks/months over the years coaching beginners and improvers. Hardly a week goes by without a phone call from Cliff to arrange a match and he is not shy to winkle out a high handicap player for a game where he shares some of his experience to feed the newer player’s enthusiasm for the sport. He delights in passing on the finer points of the game to the clubs up and coming members. Cliff is always keen to make sure the hoops are set firmly and correctly and withdrawn with the lifter made to make sure the holes are not damaged on withdrawing the hoops. Both gauge and lifters were made by Cliff.

After Marie, Cliff’s first love is his music – he is a long serving choirmaster touring many local venues throughout Swindon. S.C.C are very lucky to have such a long-term keen player prepared to share his admin, engineering and coaching skills and his enthusiasm for the game.

Neil Chalmers, Norwich Croquet Club and the EACF

As an Executive Officer of the East Anglian Croquet Federation for eleven unbroken years Neil put immeasurable energy into supporting the Federation’s activities, promoting the game and in recruitment. As Coaching Officer he arranged coaching and training courses and as Equipment Officer his organisational skills brought immeasurable benefit to both the clubs and Federation. He established a large stock of used equipment and transported it around the Eastern Region to promote the game. As Indoors Organiser he organised and managed winter croquet at Soham Sports Centre where he revised the playing formats and updated the equipment.

Concurrently Neil served on the committee of the Norwich Croquet Club, as Secretary and lately as Chairman. His balanced wisdom, patience and diplomacy has steered the Club through their recent difficult years. He helped establish the present venue at Eaton Park, relentlessly establishing improved facilities, promoting the game and expanding membership.

Neil stood down from office with the EACF and Norwich Club in 2010 but continues as a Grade 1 Coach and CA Referee, organising Club fixtures, and has been recently been enjoying great success in CA Tournaments around the country.

Brian Christmas, Shrewsbury – attending AGM

Brian Christmas is one of nature's natural gentlemen and a stalwart of Shrewsbury Croquet Club. He was a founder member over 25 years ago when he played in a demonstration match at Attingham Park, the local National Trust mansion, to attract members. Initially he was one of the few players who knew how to set out the lawn and paint the lines and have more than a basic knowledge of the rules; he was much sought after for tactical advice. Brian has been on the club committee for as long as anyone can remember and held the positions of Chairman, Secretary, Coach and Captain the latter being his current responsibility.

He has single-mindedly fought for greater recognition of Croquet in Shropshire, including writing match reports for the local newspaper, and in recent years has been instrumental in persuading other groups to try the game. More lately still he has worked with the County Council’s Sports Liaison Officer to introduce croquet to schools. Above all he has always been keen to share his knowledge and enthusiasm and is never more pleased than when a player he has taught achieves a lower handicap than his own.

In addition to his untiring work for Shrewsbury Croquet club he is also the chairman of the West Midlands Federation a position he is clearly proud to hold.

George Collin, EACF – attending AGM

In November 1985, George Collin became a member of the steering group that was set up to form the EACF and after being instrumental in drawing up the Federation’s constitution, was duly elected treasurer, a post which he has held to the present. Since 1985 there have been more than 80 meetings of which George has only missed one. George, through careful and diligent management has nursed the Federation’s accounts and it is due to his considerable effort that they are in a healthy stated at the present time.

George has also been a long serving member of the Wrest Park Committee for many years as groundsman. Although he does not mow the grass, he organises the scarifying, fertiliser application, marking out and hoop positioning. He liaises with English Heritage ground staff to arrange spraying for weed control. George acts as ROT at most Wrest Park events and when not in play he can often be seen teasing out lesser Trefoil with a cheese knife. He will be retiring as EACF treasurer at the next AGM.

David Collins, Dulwich Croquet Club – Attending AGM

David joined the Croquet Section of Dulwich Sports Club in 1990, having previously been a member of Eden Park. In our view he has given outstanding service to the Club during the 21 years he has been a member. He served on the Committee and was President (=Chairman) from 1995 (taking over at short notice after Stephen Badger’s death) to 2003. He was responsible for the introduction of coaching sessions which he led for many years, some of which were “open” and was an official handicapper. He was highly instrumental in bringing Association Croquet back to Dulwich after many years when only Golf Croquet had been played, although he was and is an enthusiast for both forms of croquet. In addition he was the “maintenance” man who helped keep the old croquet pavilion going until we moved to accommodation in the Squash Building. He has been a regular attendee at Club Afternoons and Evenings, always welcoming new members and visitors and inviting them to join him in a game, offering advice when deemed appropriate. As a player he had a very low handicap and took part in many League and other Matches in addition to Club Tournaments. In addition has raised much-needed funds for the Club by arranging corporate events at Dulwich. Club member Simon Carter writes: “I began playing at Dulwich over a decade ago, as a novice. I enrolled on David Collins’ coaching programme. He was an inspiration to me. His patience and encouragement meant that I grew in confidence and skill and have gone on to play at every level of the game. Undoubtedly, I owe that success in a large part to David”

Janet Davies, Chester Croquet Club

When Janet Davies moved to Chester in 1994, she found a rather demoralised club of about 20 members, many of whom were not actively playing, and struggling to muster teams to play in regional league matches. She was quickly co-opted onto the committee and become membership secretary in 1995 and then treasurer from 1996 to 2000. In 1996 the club's old wooden pavilion and all its croquet equipment were destroyed by arson and she took the lead in making an insurance claim and replacing the lost equipment. In the following year, in place of previous ad hoc and rather limited arrangements to introduce new members, she took the initiative in advertising, designing and running a beginners’ course which has been held successfully annually ever since. She was elected secretary in 2001 and led plans to relocate the lawns in the local municipal park and increase the playing area from two to four full lawns. These were opened in 2004 by which time membership had risen to about 45. The increase in numbers and emergence of several good players enabled the club to expand participation in NW league matches. The next challenge of planning for a replacement pavilion involved over seven years of

CA Awards – 2011

Iris Freeman, Southchurch Park Croquet Club

In 2001 Iris Freeman started a croquet club in the Southend area: she found an outdoor ground, local radio helped to advertise, and so the club was formed. Iris arranged a national Lottery grant for the purchase of outdoor and indoor equipment and she found a church hall with storage, so play in the winter keeps the club going all year round. Five years on a new outdoor ground was needed and Iris, with her determination, found a new area, and so the club grew. Social events and holidays were organised by Iris for what has become a really friendly club. After 10 years and some health problems Iris stood down as chairperson, but still plays a very active role in the club. Iris is held in high esteem by all members not only for her commitment to croquet, but also her concern for all its members. Iris is a true organiser and friend and the Club would like her to receive recognition of her years of service to the club, and for forming a croquet club which so many enjoy.

Kevin Ham, Dyffryn Croquet Club

2011 is Dyffryn’s silver jubilee year and Kevin is one of a handful of founder members still active in the club. For the past decade he has taken on the thankless task of organising and managing all internal club competitions and also runs a beginners’ course. Unlike many clubs, Dyffryn played practically no competitive golf croquet for the first 20 years of its existence. Kevin took up golf with the same enthusiasm that he has for Association, however, representing Wales several World Championships, and in 2007 he persuaded three other members to form a team with him in the SWF Golf League and they ended the season as champions. Since the Kevin has run a regular golf club evening and has succeeded in retaining many members for whom Association was proving too much of a challenge. One of croquet’s real characters, Kevin has a heart of gold and works tirelessly for the Club. Every club should have a Kevin.

Ros Key-Pugh, Lansdown Croquet Club

Ros Key-Pugh has been an enthusiastic member of the Lansdown Croquet Club for nine years. During this time she has worked unstintingly for the club, serving on the committee as Treasurer, Development officer and now Project Manager. When the club went ‘Golf play’ only, Ros was active in initiating the handicap system and from that progressed to qualifying as a coach, coaching our members and several other clubs in the region. This has helped all those involved to improve their standard of play, become coaches themselves and given them confidence to take part in competitive croquet. In the past five years, as development officer, Ros has put enormous energy and skill into looking for a new site for the club negotiating with planners, landowners and other sports clubs – no easy task as flat land is at a premium in or near Bath. She investigated 12 sites, had planning for one refused and another backing out at the last minute. Ros was not defeated and started again with the result that the club has a new home at Peasedown St John.

Freda Knight and Doreen Taylor - Reigate Priory Croquet Club

Over the past twenty or so years, these two ladies both being non-playing wives of Members, have, almost single-handed, managed the social side of the Club. Both have made extensive and continuing contributions to many facets of the social scene, including lunches, teas and dinners, BBQs, walks, outings and the boring side of ensuring the supply of drinks, biscuits, milk, coffee, tea, sugar, clean towels and very importantly, toilet rolls!

Both ladies have served for very many years as Social Secretary, Doreen for much of the nineties and Freda for the noughties and beyond. In addition to “managing” most of the catering, and doing much of it too, both have introduced new ideas into the social calendar and also helped the Club in other ways.

Doreen added winter walks to keep the Members in touch over the closed season, introduced the Club’s Xmas Cracker, a December event in fancy dress that has run for the past fifteen or so years. She also managed to purloin the Tennis Club’s cast off kitchen that serves the Club exceedingly well to this day. Doreen also manages to find time for a little gardening to fill in any spare moments.

Freda, along with husband John was, and still is, a mainstay of the annual BBQ, buying the meat, organising the salads, deserts and BBQ chefs. She recently introduced Club lunches that have been so successful that members turn up purely for the lunches.

Martin Kolbuszewski, Cheltenham Croquet Club

Martin started to play croquet in the mid 1970s and joined Cheltenham Croquet Club in January 1994. In 1998 Martin “volunteered” to take on the role of Minutes Secretary. He has never failed to produce immaculate minutes, accurate summaries and helpful action notes for the members of the committee.  He is the “quiet man” of the club with a dry sense of humour. Martin’s knowledge of the work of the committee can best be described as encyclopaedic. He always seems able to recall decisions that have been made in the past and to guide the committee through the necessary process of any action or change. This is a most useful asset for any Chairman or Secretary wishing to keep a committee “on task”.

When Martin places his pencil beside his pad the committee knows that this is a sure sign that no further discussion need take place on a particular item and that the business of the meeting should move on. Martin is retiring from his position as Minutes Secretary after thirteen superb years of service to the committee. Martin’s playing style is distinctive. If one is watching someone with a flat cap, a cigarette and total lack of follow through then that can only be Martin. Martin has also proved to be a most able Tournament Manager both for the club and Croquet Association.

Robert Laver, Sydenham Croquet Club – attending AGM

Robert has been a member of Sydenham Croquet Club for around eight years, and Secretary for around five. He fights tirelessly for the croquet cause in the face of the bigger tennis section. He constantly challenges their calculations and is steadfast in his support of the section. In addition, he has assumed responsibility for supervising the groundsman, and over and above that, he frequently takes on the mowing of the lawns in the absence of the groundsman. He often volunteers to drive the older members to their matches and helps every time with tea. It is no exaggeration to say that the club simply would not exist without Robert.

Basil Lawrence, Enfield Croquet Club

Following an Enfield Council-run croquet course, those attending were offered the chance to form a Club. Subsequently Enfield Croquet Club was formed and its first Chairman in 1991 was Basil Lawrence who remained in that post until 2009 when age and the ill health of his wife Joan forced him to retire from the game. Essentially a self-taught player who, until 1999 when his protégé Ken Pickett equalled his 14 handicap, was the leading player in the Club. Basil was a hands-on Chairman and also Club captain for a number of years. As Chairman he battled with the local council, improved our lawns, was the prime coach for all newcomers, chief enthusiast and match organiser, also recruited members and introduced golf croquet to Enfield. The sort of leader who painted the clubhouse, built the hoop remover and then spent his winter refurbishing the club mallets, hoops, trolleys and the like.

Always smiling, always there with a friendly word or timely advice. The high esteem in which Basil is held resulted in the Club committee honouring him as a life member and creating the post of Club President which he still is as he celebrates his 90th birthday this year.

Mollie McBride, Chester Croquet Club

Mollie McBride joined Chester Croquet Club in 2000 after attending the annual beginners’ course for association croquet. In March 2001 she joined the committee, on which she still serves, and spent four years as publicity officer significantly widening contacts with the local press, radio and community newsletters. She became an association croquet coach in 2002 and a golf croquet coach in 2003 and initiated the popular ‘rabbits’ sessions for association newcomers and golf croquet sessions which are now a well-established part of the club’s activities. These have resulted in a rapid increase in membership, an improvement in the club’s financial position, and have strengthened our reputation with the local council (the club’s landlords) as a successful and broadly based community organisation. The club now has three regular and well attended golf croquet sessions each week, one of which she still leads despite now being over 80 and suffering from deteriorating eyesight, and she organises one or two golf croquet training days each year with visiting coaches, an enjoyable and instructive croquet gymkhana, and an annual fundraising event for the Samaritans. At the same time, she retains her interest in association croquet, thus encouraging the more adventurous golf croquet players to try association croquet. Her enthusiasm, commitment and friendly encouragement are widely appreciated by all club members.

John Munro, Southern Federation of Croquet Clubs

John has been a member of Blewbury CC for many years, usually holding office in the club. In 2006 however he was elected to the Southern Federation of CCs committee in order to take over as Federation Development Officer. In October he took up his position and became a valuable member of the CA Development Committee. He has a great deal of patience and enthusiasm that has proved to be a perfect combination for new clubs. Better-established clubs have also appreciated his depth of knowledge, especially when negotiating their way around applications for grant aid from the Development Committee.

John has been most conscientious and it is not thought that he has missed a Development Committee meeting or a Federation Committee meeting since he was elected. The work that he has done on behalf of the CA and the Federation has been quite exceptional. He recently moved to Gloucester and joined Cheltenham CC but continued as Development Officer. Despite the extra travelling he still continued as always. But he decided to retire from the Southern Federation this year. He well deserves his work to be recognized with a CA Diploma.

Peter Pullin, Sussex County Croquet Club - attending AGM

Peter has been a member at Sussex County for nearly twenty years having joined in the early nineties. He quickly developed his skills in the association game while reducing his handicap to 1, and became Captain of some of the teams. He soon joined the management committee and over several years made a great contribution in re-organising all the Club’s own competitions as well as organising the teams for external matches. He made sure that all members were aware of the range of 17 separate competitions, conditions of entry and then collected the entries before devising the draws and blocks as appropriate. This was followed up by considerable chasing and coaxing to ensure that games were completed to a timetable culminating in the now distinctive event on our calendar, namely “Finals Weekend”

The Club is well known for its Winter Working party of which Peter has been a key figure, particularly with work on the Club’s many trees, for which he provided scaffolding, ropes and sawing equipment to complete the tree surgery. His woodworking skills have also produced a variety of bird tables, bird boxes and chopping tables for discounted sale on Open days to raise funds for the Club. Peter has remarried during his time with the Club and he and his wife Jill regularly undertook the catering for some of the Coaching courses with Peter also serving on the catering sub-committee.

.

His contribution to the maintenance work around the club has been exemplary with repair and refurbishment of the 12 shelters on the lawns and to the new secure store; the latter involving a full range of building work skills.

Clemency Reade, Kingston Maurward Croquet Club

Clemency Reade was Secretary of Kingston Maurward CC for 15 action-packed years until last summer. During this time she kept all 43 members in ruthless but friendly order and ensured that every aspect of the club was in good running order. This ability to keep an eye both on the club as a whole as well as on everyday detail was probably due to her previous experience as a hospital theatre sister.

Although the Club has an active committee, maintaining four leagues (South West), social events, also hosting many outside groups including wedding parties, it was Clemency who invariably took the initiative and delegated the various duties and tasks to ensure that everything ran smoothly – which they invariably did!

Newly acquired computer skills enabled Clemency to use her canny communication abilities to keep all members well informed through her regular newsletters (wittily illustrated) – chatty yet very pointed! Her knowledge of events and activities outside the club also ensured that members were constantly made aware of competitions, tournaments and coaching to further their expertise. Largely thanks to Clemency, membership has now risen to over 40 from just 26. Her contribution to the club has been invaluable and a hard act to follow.

John and Edme Robinette, Bury St Edmunds Croquet Club – attending AGM

John and Edme Robinette have been members of the Bury St Edmunds Croquet Club since it was established 25 years ago. Throughout that time, John has served on the committee in many capacities, including treasurer and chairman. He was the force behind the club buying a new clubhouse, monitoring its development and ensuring that every need was fulfilled. His carpentry and design skills have frequently been evident in providing ramps for hoop trolleys (which he also mends), mallet racks, shelves, lean-to sheds etc. His knowledge of lawn maintenance and the mechanics of mowers is vital to the care of lawns where he works tirelessly marking out the lawns, clearing leaves, cutting grass, moving hoops marking lines and performing the multitude of tasks required to keep a club viable.

Edme is the club handicapper, runs tournaments, organises social events including trips to international events and is supportive of all club activities. She is very helpful to members and her knowledge of both AC and GC enables her to offer advice and support to all. She is the referee-on-call whenever she is at the ground and she is a point of reference for any croquet decisions. Both have supported the EACF and frequently hold meetings in their house. They have been strong mainstays of the club.

Ron Sherwin, Purley Bury Croquet Club

Ron and his wife joined Purley Bury CC in 1996, at which time the club had two lawns, one of which had recently been an allotment. At the end of 2004, Ron took over the maintenance of the lawns which involved cutting them at least once or twice a week throughout the season, and on match days. Numerous trips to the recycling tip follow each time to dispose of the cuttings. In addition he regularly waters the lawns and oversees their maintenance. Ron has been a member of the club committee since 2002 and as Treasurer, ensures that he club remains financially sound. Ron, with his wife Audrey, prepares and edits the club’s quarterly newsletter ‘Crosswire’. Ron will willingly turn his hand to any task that is required by the club. His playing skills are reflected by his low handicap & he is particularly kind and helpful to less able players and makes sure that they feel at ease. Ron gives unstintingly of his time and energy to Purley Bury Croquet Club and he is liked and appreciated by the members who acknowledge his significant contribution to the development of the club.

Roy Smith, Swanage Croquet Club – attending AGM

In 2005 Roy Smith, while visiting Sidmouth, noted that outside the cricket outfield people were playing croquet. The thought occurred that Swanage Cricket Club outfield is not in use most weekday afternoons and golf croquet would be an activity that could be enjoyed by the senior age group. Roy then instigated an open day to assess interest, 40 people attended. With some difficulty Roy located four garden sets, the volunteer groundsman produced two lawns and the club was underway. With a little research Roy located a former International player and through him made contact with a local club. He then organised some basic coaching for the members.

The club started with 27 regular players there are now 88 members, a waiting list and 4 lawns. Thanks to Roy, Swanage have played other croquet clubs, two county players have emerged and the profile of Croquet has been raised by a town tournament for the benefit of the RNLI. The club has supported the founding of a club in Wareham, but most importantly 88 people, who still receive coaching from Roy, have a new and stimulating interest.

Freda Vitty, Auckland Croquet Club

Freda became a member of Auckland Croquet Club in 2000 and was secretary from 2001 until 2007, during which time the club went through two changes of venue. Sites were visited and found unsuitable for one reason or another, sorting out and acquiring grants and supporting Eugene Brady in negotiations with the local council concerning our current venue all entailed a considerable amount of expertise, her time and unquenchable energy. An enthusiastic and accomplished golf croquet player she became club competition secretary in 2007. Freda has played for Auckland Croquet in the Croquet North Golf Croquet League, thus being instrumental in their success over the years. She has captained teams in Golf Croquet Inter- counties competitions and played at national and international level.

Freda gives generously of her time to Auckland Croquet and takes charge at the start of the season to set out the lawn for play. She is always willing to provide coaching to new members and direct play when ‘Have a Go Sessions’ are provided for visiting groups. Her dedication to Auckland Croquet and the game of croquet in general, make her a representative of the highest order.

Don Wright, Tyneside Croquet Club

Don Wright has been Treasurer of the Tyneside CC for 20 years, except for two years when he was the Chairman. The club has had several homes during that time, with each move having cost implications and it is largely due to Don’s acumen that the club has been financially healthy throughout.

Don has represented the club on other bodies, selected and captained club sides, made racks and stands for equipment and played his part in cleaning and decorating past and present clubhouses. He helps to mark out the lawns and hammer in the hoops. Don has donated several of his fine watercolour and oil paintings to the club raffle and at the clubs 25 Anniversary dinner provided the musical entertainment.

Ian Wilson, Cornwall Croquet Club – attending AGM

Ian Wilson was a founder member of the Cornwall Croquet Club. He is a qualified club coach and has been intimately involved with the coaching of AC and GC at Cornwall, Nailsea and Plymouth clubs, and gave Fowey Croquet Club invaluable advice in the setting up of that club. He was involved with grounds maintenance at Nailsea and served for several years on each of the Cornwall and Nailsea Committees. Although now he leaves general coaching to other members of the club, he still organises and runs an annual ‘transition to Association’ course for those who wish to try AC after sampling GC. He established a friendly match between Cornwall and Nailsea, for both codes, which stall takes place annually in October.