CA Diplomas Awarded in 2006
Contents...
Bo Harris - Cheltenham Croquet Club
Bo Harris with CA President Bernard Neal
During her long membership of Cheltenham Croquet Club, Mrs G. D. Harris (Bo) has been active in many aspects of club life. She was Secretary for many years when the post included that of Membership Secretary. The kitchen and management desk have also benefited from her competent attention. She has represented the club in many competitions and won the top national ladies' events.
It is perhaps in her sphere of coaching beginners that Bo has contributed most to the well-being of the club. In 2002 she was presented with the Gloucestershire Lifetime Services to Coaching award in respect of her effective no-nonsense approach to introducing new members to the game.
Bo is still passing on her sound playing skills informally and she also co-manages the club's High Bisquers Tournaments.
Pauline Softley - Sussex County Croquet Club
Pauline has been a member since 1990 and has served on the club committee for 10 years, during which time she was an excellent club secretary for six of those years. She copes with organising the extensive duty rota for the Inter-Counties Championship which is a mammoth task tactfully and efficiently accomplished.
Pauline is a quietly useful member doing all the things which keep a large club running smoothly, particularly during tournaments.
Pauline prepares tea every Tuesday for the Golf Croquet afternoons as well as for many other club events. She will turn her hand to a wide range of ancillary duties. She still finds time to enjoy both Association and Golf Croquet.
John Gosney - Sussex County Croquet Club
John joined the club some nine years ago and within two years had joined the grounds sub-committee, assisting in setting and moving hoops. This required early attendance at the club, sometimes before 7.00 a.m. Prior to the start of the season, he assists with the marking out of the eleven lawns. Each year he undertakes the many maintenance and repair tasks required in respect of buildings and club equipment.
John was a major contributor to the club's tree planting scheme and he has formed the trees into a fine hedge.
John has always volunteered to undertake any task required at the club and is usually one of the first to volunteer.
John played a major part in the planning, design and implementation of the irrigation system and has now mastered its computer programme.
John is not only the first to volunteer for the various tasks undertaking by a team of about 20 club members but also uses his initiative in spotting and dealing with problems. He is a real "gem".
John is also a good playing member with an association handicap which is still falling. On occasions he can also be persuaded to play Golf Croquet.
Bob Whittaker MBE - Bath Croquet Club
Bob was the secretary of the club for three years; Lawns and Equipment Manager for five years; and Chairman for two separate spells. He "retired" from the committee this year after 12 years service.
Bob was instrumental in leading the Club's successful bid (from the lottery fund) in 1996. The money was used for a major lawn-levelling project and Bob rightly represented the club at the opening ceremony in front of the Mayor of Bath and John Solomon.
Bob is a Grade 1 coach and regularly coaches beginners and improvers.
During the winter months Bob helps with all maintenance tasks; liaises with the ground staff and also Council officials over parking arrangements.
Bob carried out liaison work with the Council and solicitors in respect of the club's leasing arrangements.
Bob is a qualified referee and has officiated at many tournaments. He also regularly sets hoops for club and CA Tournaments.
Bob has also carried out much work for the CA and South West Federation.
David Magee - Cheltenham Croquet Club
David Magee with CA President Bernard Neal
David is another all-round club performer. He is well known as a manager of tournaments at all levels. He has been active in the coaching of beginners and can often be seen giving ad hoc lessons to more advanced players. He helps in the tea room with tournament lunches and in many areas of the club where so many jobs need to be done.
David was instrumental in the provision of the new CA office.
On retirement three years ago David became the Lawns Manager. He has recruited and trained a most effective team of hoop setters.
There is no doubt about the level of David's contribution to the World Championships in 2005, he was everywhere and is very much a "work in progress".
Mike Cope - Bath Croquet Club
Mike recently retired from the committee after over 15 years service. He was Secretary for 10 years in two separate spells.
Mike was a leading part of the team which successfully bid for Lottery funding.
Mike is a qualified coach and organises the club's regular Saturday morning sessions for beginners. He has also regularly coached "improvers".
As Secretary Mike regularly liaised with the CA and organised the club's Annual Dinner.
Mike carried out extensive work with the Council and Solicitors in relation to the club's lease.
Pat Hetherington - Colchester Croquet Club
Pat was on the Colchester Committee from 1979 to 1996, being Chairman from 1987 to 1996 and gave her time unstintingly to the club. During this period the club went through a period of decline membership. It was due to her hard work that Croquet was promoted in the Colchester area and the club returned to a healthy position. She has managed innumerable tournaments, organised and provided refreshments and, when the club was at low ebb, almost single handedly ran the club.
Ramsay and Barbara Bettinson - Middlesbrough Croquet Club
The club committee would like the behind-the-scenes contributions that Ramsay and Barbara have made to croquet on Teeside, over nearly twenty years, be recognised by the award of CA Diplomas.
Ramsay and Barbara have been tireless in their support for croquet firstly in 1989 at Ormesby Hall, then 10 years later at Prissick Park. They also both played a full part in competitions and other activities. Ramsay regularly took on lawn mowing duties and helped with equipment; whilst Barbara often provided tasty meals. Heart problems have more recently curtailed Ramsay's active involvement, but both members are now key to the club's use of an excellent indoor venue for carpet croquet during winter months.
John de Winton - Taunton Deane Croquet Club
When it became obvious that the club would have to move from its premises John persisted in and eventually located a potential site for three lawns at Taunton Vale Sports Club with its modern spacious facilities. He then set about the daunting task of leading the team to obtain substantial funding from Sport England as well as persuading Taunton Deane Borough Council, the CA and members to contribute. Having raised the funds he oversaw the construction of the lawns. Without John's unstinting dedication it is unlikely that Taunton Deane Croquet Club would exist now.
Mike Evans - Beverley Croquet Club
Mike brings what can only be described as sheer energy to the game of croquet. Over the years he has contributed at the local and national level.
Mike had played a form of the game while in the Army. When he left the Army in 1983 he moved to East Yorkshire and joined the Beverley club shortly after it was formed. He has played a prominent part in the development of the club, and has been Secretary, Match Secretary and Chairman. He also joined the east Riding and Bowdon Croquet Clubs.
Mike has been Secretary and Chairman of the Northern Confederation and in 1993 he published a guide to Northern Croquet Clubs. He subsequently co-edited Help-2 which was a national guide to croquet clubs.
From 1997 to 2001 he was on the CA Council and served on several committees.
The truly impressive thing is his enthusiasm for all things to do with croquet. This rubs off on others and has a knock on effect which extends beyond the club.
Mike was responsible for obtaining the indoor carpet which is shared by Yorkshire clubs and he formed a winter league to maximise the carpet's use.
Mike has been heavily involved with the coaching of beginners and also with corporate events.
Mike is a credit to croquet and much deserving of official recognition.
Peter Taylor - Bowdon Croquet Club
Peter is the Ground Manager at Bowdon Croquet Club. He has been an active playing member of the club for 14 years. Peter actively supported all aspects of club life in addition to becoming a good player. He offered to take over responsibility for the grounds in 1997. The high standard of the lawns has been maintained and steadily increased.
The whole appearance of the club has been radically improved and enhanced through his hard work and the way in which he has supervised a team of some 20 volunteers.
The major work inspired and supervised by Peter involving the moving of some 150 cubic meters of earth and increasing the available lawn space has been a major contribution to the age old problem of boundary "fall off".
Peter had a novel approach to improving drainage problems on one of the lawns. He was able to create a system for improving the drainage to enable surface water to escape to the sand sub-strata.
Peter was also fully committed to the restructuring and refurbishment of the bar and kitchen bringing them into line with modern health and safety requirements.
None of the above projects would have been concluded without the help of all the other volunteers in the club but none would have started without the energy supplied by Peter.
Patricia Duke-Cox - Woodhall Spa Croquet Club
Patricia was the driving force behind the formation of the croquet club. In 1991 she urged a group of friends to form a proper club and join the CA. She became the club's first Secretary and served on the committee for over 13 years, holding positions of club coach, press officer and Chairperson.
Patricia was the prime mover in persuading the club to join the local federation so that they might enjoy competition with other clubs. She later became a member of the Federation Executive Committee and served as Secretary from 1999 to 2004. In 2000 she was elected as the Federation representative on the CA Council later becoming Chair of the Development Committee.
Patricia has always "been there" to coach and encourage members to play in competitions. She has always been willing to pass on her knowledge and has been instrumental in the encouragement of youngsters.
There is no doubt that without Patricia's driving force, and the numerous tasks she has tackled, Woodhall Spa Croquet Club would not have progressed as far as it has.
Barry Marsh - Dyffryn Croquet Club
Barry joined Dyffryn in 1988, shortly after the club was founded, and by 1991 had taken on the role of club treasurer, a position he held until this year. Other office holders have come and gone, but Barry has been the glue holding the committee together over 15 years. In addition, he has looked after all the club equipment over the winter, ensuring the club has newly painted hoops and complete sets of balls and clips to start each season. He also works tirelessly with inexperienced players at club evenings and continues to be a huge asset to Dyffryn Croquet Club.
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