I have put up a very simple web page for the GC WTC this November/ December at:

www.wcfcroquet.org/Tournaments/gcwtc2012.html.

South Africa has already got a web site running with information on the event, venues, accommodation etc. for the First Division which they are hosting - see:

www.gcwtcroquet.co.za/

Details for the Second Division in Cairo will follow later, as soon as we have finalised them.

Martin French

Secretary-General

16 entries were received by the closing date yesterday for the first ever GC WTC.

The 1st Division will play in Jo'burg from 26th November to 2nd December 2012, and will feature teams from Egypt, England, New Zealand, USA, South Africa, Ireland, Australia, and Sweden. 

The 2nd Division will play in Cairo, starting on 9th December with teams from Wales, Germany, Scotland, Norway, Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, Latvia.

More details of both divisions will emerge over the coming months.  The GC World Team Rankings have also been updated and are the basis on which teams have been placed in the two divisions - see

www.wcfcroquet.org/Rankings/teamranking.php .

Martin French

Secretary-General.

Last year, the WCF completed a review of how the AC world rankings were calculated, and changed to the new Dynamic Grade (DG) system.  We have today kicked off a similar six month study of the GC world ranking system.  Its scope includes:

1. assessing the existing CGS system

2. how should an ideal system handle rapid improvers and sporadic players?

3. considering whether DG might also be suitable for GC

4. looking at issues such as lag, class factors, and how new players enter the system

5. making it easier for countries to enter their own data.

James Hopgood has kindly agreed to lead this study, ably assisted by Paul Billings, Stephen Mulliner, Chris Clarke, Louis Nel and Ian Burridge.  We have suggested a 6 month timebox for the study, with the outcome a recommendation that can be put to WCF Council.

In parallel, we're going to run a smaller study looking at how the AC and GC ranking data should be presented to and accessed by players the world over.  The goal is to find a consistent and user-friendly approach - more details shortly.

Martin French

Secretary-General

The Portuguese Croquet Federation has today been welcomed into the WCF as a new Observer Member.  Founded in June 2010, the PCF is based at a Country Club in the Algarve - see

 www.portugalcroquetfederation.com/

We wish them well in their development of the sport in Portugal.

Martin French

Secretary-General

In the early days of the WCF, a “WCF Friends” programme ran, through which many people around the world subscribed and helped put the WCF on a firm financial footing.  Our President, Amir Ramsis, is keen to recognise their contribution and has arranged with the Ripon Spa Hotel in England to stage a special tournament for WCF Friends.

I would appreciate Members’ help in advertising this event to WCF Friends within each country.  The list of WCF Friends is at

 www.wcfcroquet.org/Home/wcffriends.php.

The tournament will run from Friday 29^th June until Sunday 1^st July, using the 3 lawns at Ripon Spa Hotel www.riponspa.com/croquet.php.  The event will be managed by Evelyn Martin.  The price for three nights full board accommodation at the hotel and croquet entry fee is £319.  There are 16 places available, on a first come, first served basis.  Please contact the Secretary-General to reserve a place.

Martin French

Secretary-General

I'm sorry to learn that Bill Berne passed away after a short illness on 22nd January 2012.

Bill was Treasurer of the WCF from 1994 to 1997, and President from 1997 to 1999.

Our best wishes to his family and many friends.

Martin French

Secretary-General

Recently, Council approved new versions of the Admin Regs, the Finance Regs and the Equipment Regs.  These are now all available on-line at:

www.wcfcroquet.org/Regulations/regulationhome.php

Martin French

Secertary-General

The full results table for the November 2011 Women's GCWC has now been obtained from the CNZ site and is now available on the "Results and Media" tab here:

www.wcfcroquet.org/Tournaments/WWGC2011.html

Apologies for it taking a while to locate a full copy.

Martin French

Secretary-General

A few years ago, the CA made some very useful 8,000 frames per second close-up videos of various croquet and single-ball strokes.  The aim was to understand better what happens in e.g. tight angled hoop shots, or potential double-taps.  The WCF was asked to host these some time ago, but the 2.7Gb of videos made them very, very slow to use.

I am very grateful to Duncan Hector, who has kindly now compressed all these videos and editted them together, so that the overall film of the testing is interleaved with the specific slo-mo shots of each stroke. The result is a 15 minute film on YouTube. There is also an accompanying Word report which explains each outcome and judges them as faults or clean. 

Go to our video page:

www.wcfcroquet.org/Organisation/video.html,

...click on the Coaching tab, then see "Refereeing" to find the film and the report.

Martin French

Secretary-General

I am pleased to announce that the first Women's ACWC will be held from 21st to 28th October 2012, at the Victorian Croquet Centre (VCC) at Cairnlea, a suburb of Melbourne in Australia.

Registration and practice will take place on 20th October and a Qualifying Event will be held, if necessary, on 18th & 19th October. 

First details of the inaugural GC World Team Championship (WTC) are announced today.  The event will be open to teams of 4, in two divisions.  The 1st Division will compete in Jo'burg, South Africa, from 26th November until 2nd December 2012.  The 2nd Division will be held in Cairo starting on 9th December 2012.  Details of the format and duration of the 2nd Division will be announced once the number of teams competing is known.  WCF Members have been asked to submit an entry for the GC WTC by 29th February 2012.

Also today, we have published the outcome of our calls for bids to hold future events.  It will take some months of discussions to turn all the new expressions of interest into firm bids, so the details are somewhat provisional at this stage.  I have added a new link on our home page www.wcfcroquet.org/Tournaments/WCF10YearSchedule_Dec11.pdf to the initial plan which we will update as bids are finalised.  I hope we'll be able to publish this in a more interactive form once our new website is ready.

Martin French

Secretary-General

The ballot on the 11th Edition Statutes, which incorporate the changes necessary for the 2 year trial of the new email-based Council decision process, has been approved by 16 votes FOR and none AGAINST.  Accordingly, the trial will commence on 1st January 2012.

The results of this - and several other recent ballots including the Presidential election - are shown in the Scrutineers Report at www.wcfcroquet.org/Organisation/WCFElection2011.pdf

Martin French

Secretary-General