CA Diplomas Awarded in 2016
Contents...
Front (Left to Right): Peter Dowd, Quiller Barrett, Penny Crowe; Back: Richard Henkins, Richard Brooks, Arthur Linley
Philip Bass - Fylde Croquet Club
Philip joined Fylde Croquet Club in 1997 and has proved invaluable to the development of the club at its new site within South Shore Tennis Club. The Club started with three neglected tennis courts and one small 12' by 10' shed. Flooding was a major problem. Philip more or less single-handedly dug a 68-yard ditch to drain water from the blocked underground clay pipes to a culvert in the road. He supervised the dismantling and erection of a new larger shed bought from eBay and designed, supervised and, with help, built a very secure awning which has withstood the coastal winds admirably. Recently he has plumbed water into one of the sheds. Philip also maintains the machinery and has designed and built a tiner from an old mower.
Philip mows, strims and maintains the lawns and surrounding areas. It is hard to convey the effort and graft Philip has put into the club. Being able to advertise and run a CA Tournament with no fear of cancellation due to weather, having suitable facilities to cater for visitors and to know the lawns are the best we can offer requires confidence in the club and Philip has provided us with all this.
Richard Brooks - Sussex County Croquet Club
A regular on the tournament circuit, Richard is a leading GC player and SCCC's GC Captain. He has always been very encouraging to up-and-coming GC players and has organised a Monday afternoon low handicap session at Southwick for many years which has greatly contributed to the club's strong performance in the SECF leagues.
Putting his engineering background to good use, Richard has for many years led Southwick's lawn lay-out and hoop-setting team and he has built a bespoke hoop-lifting device which was featured in the Gazette. Richard has also put in many days' work in flattening the approach areas to hoops before the recent lawn renovation programme.
Penny Crowe - Cheltenham Croquet Club
Penny Crowe joined Cheltenham Croquet Club in 1992 and in 1998 she became Press Officer, a post she held for nine years, three of which overlapped with her position as Secretary of the Club. The club lacked a proper health and safety policy and Penny set about correcting this omission. The template, which she designed, is still used today. She also introduced the club's Accident Book and also a system for reporting health and safety matters.
In 2002 Penny became a club coach and also a referee. Many club members owe their start in the sport to Penny's careful coaching. She has also refereed many tournaments. In spite of all that she was already contributing to the club, Penny next volunteered to manage many of the club tournaments including the popular Croquet/Bridge Tournament. Penny has also volunteered to help with tournament teas, reports to the local newspaper and reports for the CA Gazette on many occasions.
Lorna Frost - Bowdon Croquet Club
Lorna Frost joined Bowdon Croquet Club in 1997 and quickly established herself as a very capable and able manager of many things. She joined the Club Committee in 1999 and in 2007 became its Chairman, a post she still holds.
On the sporting front, since 2000 she has successfully managed the weekly club summer midweek competition with a flexible format system that caters for between 2 and 40 players. The fact that the competition has become so popular with the membership is testimony to its inclusiveness and her personal friendly approach. She has also found time to manage other Club events and numerous CA Calendar annual events including the "May Handicap", "Northern Week" and "B Class Tournament" held at the Club over the years.
If this wasn't enough to keep her busy, she has undertaken the role of Captain of various club teams, has played a prominent role in coaching at the Club, assisted with coaching within the North West Federation and providing and organising catering at Club events which has met with much acclaim from visiting players, officials and spectators.
Lorna continues to do all of these things in a friendly and jovial manner with a resultant valuable contribution to the sport, especially the Club.
Richard Jenkins - Hamptworth Croquet Club
Richard Jenkins set up the GC Winter Series in 2009 and as was highlighted in a Gazette article, he grew something from nothing. Initially the winter series was two lawns for eight players but increased rapidly with popularity to four lawns for 16 players on both days of a weekend each month through the winter. It is now booked fully, well in advance, as players find it so beneficial to have a competition through the cold dark days of winter.
Richard has managed the tournaments brilliantly, coping with extreme weather and also the vagaries of the Hamptworth Club House. He is attentive to players' needs and tries tirelessly to provide a good day. He has now completed over a hundred tournaments.
The successful winter series led onto the C-Level Spring and Autumn competitions from which the B-Level competition was born. Richard then managed the first National B-Level GC competition at Hamptworth in 2013.
Richard thoroughly deserves public recognition for his dedication and committed hard work for the game of croquet by setting up and running the GC Winter Series.
Betty King - Norwich Croquet Club
Betty joined the Norwich Croquet Club in the late 1980s and was one of a small small group of players who kept the club running, serving on the committee and taking turns as secretary or treasurer. Betty was involved in the Short Croquet Country Houses initiative in the east. Betty then ran a GC course at the WI's Denman College, also running courses for the WI at Norwich and began to build a Golf Croquet Section for the Club. Through her dedication, these small beginnings grew into a thriving section that now outnumbers the AC players. As a GC referee, club coach and handicapper she enthusiastically organised the Club's GC matches, internal tournaments and managed the league teams for many years. She began the 'Spring Lunch' with its fund raising raffles.
Without her efforts in building up the Club's membership and funds over the years, when problems with a sudden increase in the cost of Lawn hire began, a smaller club might well have folded. However, with the help of a CA Grant and the strength of the members, mainly recruited by Betty, Norwich Croquet Club has survived. Now in its new location, Norwich Croquet Club, once again, has a real future.
Norwich Croquet Club elected Betty King an Honorary Life Member some years ago as a mark of the respect the members have for all her work and the many efforts she has made for and on behalf of the Club over more than 25 years.
Arthur Lindley - Guildford and Godalming Croquet Club
Since 2009 Arthur Lindley has made a genuinely massive contribution to the development of the club, concentrating on the improvement of the condition of the lawns - this going hand in hand with the need to relocate three of the four lawns, two being freshly laid and one being converted from a redundant bowling green. He researched all aspects of lawn care and maintenance and was the driving force in implementing a lawn improvement programme. The results of this have attracted much positive comment from visiting players, notably during Tier 3 of the recent GC World Team Championship.
Arthur's commitment goes further: he masterminded the construction, by club members, of a robust and well-designed 80m fence to separate the croquet lawns from the rugby pitches and hundreds of metres of much-needed rabbit-proof boundary fence. He is in charge of the club's growing collection of equipment, servicing and maintaining usable items, sourcing replacements for redundant items and keeping everything ticking over. Despite all of these activities, Arthur still finds time to be an active AC player - in club competitions, matches and CA tournaments, and manages an AC winter club competition for which he made the trophy. He is universally liked and respected for the impetus he has given to change at the club as it had to adapt to new circumstances and for his extraordinary level of commitment.
Eileen Prodger - Sussex County Croquet Club
Eileen works very much behind the scenes at Sussex CCC. She spends time in the Club's gardens throughout the year keeping the borders bright and cheerful and also helping with the major gardening tasks in the winter.
She is part of the catering team and cooks up excellent meals as well as providing home grown fruit and vegetables from her own garden. She also makes jam for sale to help the club funds.
Eileen is a regular face at the Club's golf croquet roll-ups, plays in league teams and a great supporter of Sussex CCC in all areas.
Walter Sanders - Middlesbrough Croquet Club
Walter has been a member of Middlesbrough club since its inception in 1988. When the club moved from Ormesby Hall to Prissick base in 1998, Walter was instrumental in ensuring there was adequate storage for the club's equipment within the existing pavilion. When the club was on the move again to Albert Park in 2006 it acquired a burnt-out wreck of a portacabin container to use as a secure equipment cabin near the lawns. Again Walter organised a team of club members to refurbish it and produce a highly versatile storage and clubhouse which has been nicknamed 'the Tardis' because of its ability to provide so many facilities. Walter maintains all of the club equipment, repainting hoops and pegs annually as well as the Tardis when repairs are required. Without his stalwart efforts, the club would be much the poorer.
It should perhaps be added that Walter also organises an annual four-day visit in early December to Cober Hill (near Scarborough), transporting all the club's indoor carpet croquet equipment and setting it up in a hall, for members and friends to enjoy during their stay.
Mike Tracey - Nailsea and District Croquet Club
Mike started to play croquet in 2006. He quickly became involved in Club life in a wide variety of activities. He became team captain, organising the squads for the league teams; became the hoop-setting team leader and became club chairman for three years. He then took on the role of treasurer. Mike has produced detailed spreadsheets which gave the Committee a much deeper grasp of the accounts. He is now a qualified AC referee and he manages the annual C Class Advanced Tournament at Nailsea.
A few years ago, Mike ran bridge classes for beginners, forming a group who play every week making a valuable contribution to the Club coffers. As if all the above were not enough, Mike offers his house and refreshments for Committee meetings, his garden and barbecue for fund-raising parties and has also organised quizzes. When his wife, Liz, produces a spectacular tournament lunch, Mike is always there to act as assistant. Mike takes a full part in all Committee discussions and constantly has the best interest of croquet and the Club at heart. He has been the driving force on many issues and his contributions to the set-up and maintenance of the Club website are typical of his integrity and determination.
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