Strategic Aims of the CA

Strategic Aims of the CA as at March 2011

This document outlines the strategic aims for the future of the CA from the beginning of 2011. It outlines the overall strategy as well as defining more detailed aims under various headings. While the headings may be similar to the existing Committee structure, it should be noted that all Committees should look at this paper as a whole to develop their own plans for the future. Management Committee will monitor the Committee objective to ensure that all the aims in this paper are being dealt with. This paper covers both Association and Golf Croquet with no differentiation.

Overall strategy

The CA has four main strategies as follows

Meet the requirements of its members as ascertained by Council members (in particular the Federation Representatives), the Federation Development and Coaching Officers, and any direct feedback to the CA office or by letters to the Gazette

Develop new, and improve existing, facilities for the purpose of expanding and improving the quality of the playing of croquet in the domain

Promote the game of croquet to non players of all ages

Monitor the financial strength of the CA and introduce changes to improve the position as well as meeting the costs of responding to the requirements of the membership

The CA will achieve the objectives of the overall strategy as follows

1 Development (D, C, E)

The CA will:

1. Continue to support the steady growth of new clubs over recent years with the emphasis being put on facilities that will provide venues for competitive croquet played within Federations and nationally
2. Continue to support existing clubs and the improvement of facilities will continue but priority will be given to clubs who have shown that they are willing to support competitive play in the croquet world.
3. Develop the existing support provided for recruitment and club start ups, and seek to develop new aids to improve the take up of the game both in new clubs as well as existing clubs who may be struggling to retain and/or grow their membership with particular emphasis on encouraging competitive play.
4. Encourage new developments in the provision of equipment for the playing of the game.

2 Coaching and training (C, L, T, S)

The CA will:

1. Continuously monitor the methods of coaching in use and develop them as required to meet the needs of the membership.
2. Encourage and provide training of Coaches and Officials who can support competitions at all levels from clubs through to international events.
3. Develop methods of persuading and training its individual members to aim to improve to their full potential with emphasis put on those with the potential to reach International level.

3 International (I, T, L, C)

The CA will:

1. Support the WCF in its aims of developing the game.
2. Support the WCF by offering to hold a reasonable share of competitions in the UK organised by that body.
3. Work to reach a common approach to the organisation and playing of Croquet throughout the world.
4. Seek to maximise international playing opportunities for its members

4 Marketing (M)

The CA will:

1. Develop marketing packages to support the growth of croquet from club start-ups through to major international events
2. Use major competitions to raise the profile of croquet, both nationally and locally through Federations and member clubs
3. Continue to run the shop with the dual aim of providing a service to its members and raising revenue for the benefit of croquet.
4. Develop and maintain a PR strategy aimed at attracting non players to croquet

5 Competitions (T, S)

The CA will:

1. Provide a structure for the advertising and playing of national competitions and for club events open to all Tournament Members as a service to its members
2. Promote national competitions for all levels of play

6 Publishing (P, IT)

The CA will:

1. As a service to its members, publish the Gazette as a journal of record in whichever format the membership requires
2. Ensure that all CA documents will be biennially reviewed to ascertain that they meet the needs of the members
3. Ensure that the development of electronic publishing of CA publications is encouraged provided that the membership supports the change
4. Use the website to provide an appropriate service to its members
5. Archive material of interest to members and make the archive available to them.

7 Financing (Man, IT, Inv)

1. The balance between the types of income and expenditure will be assessed every two years to see whether any changes need to be made to meet the needs of the membership
2. The amount of income from the various sources will be monitored every two years and adjusted if necessary with the aim of increasing the number of players playing Calendar events and therefore increasing Playing Membership
3. The financial resources of the CA will be kept under review to ensure that sufficient funds are available to support expected demands
4. The financial systems used by the CA will be kept under review with the aim of improving the efficiency of its commercial and member support operations

Monitoring of these strategic aims (Man, Council)

The Management Committee will assess the aims and objectives of each Main Committee at the beginning of each Calendar year against the strategies set out in this document, as well as their responsibilities defined in the Council Practice book and report their conclusions to the March Council meeting.

Barry Keen

1 January 2013