Success for Neal Bacon

Congratulations are in order to Neal Bacon. Neal, a member of the Edgbaston Croquet Club, has been awarded the prestigious Croquet Association Apps Memorial Bowl for the most improved AC male player. Neal had an amazing season completing no less than 83 games both at home and in tournaments. To cap this season Neal has also been appointed Development Officer for the West Midlands Federation.

CA Council Election

West Midlands Croquet Federation members are urged to cast their vote for the CA Council elections. The East and West Midlands belong to the same constituency. Voting is now open and will close on Tuesday 3rd September.

CA members (either directly subscribed, e.g. Premium or Standard members through their club) who are 16 or over and registered to vote in the constituency can do so online at :

https://www.croquet.org.uk/vote

or by post using the attached ballot paper. Also attached are the personal statements of the two candidates.

Halse Tournament – Edgbaston June 3rd & 4th

Brian Shorney (Eardisley Croquet Club) is presented with the Halse Cup by tournament organiser Tony Whateley (Edgbaston Croquet Club)

The tournament was held at Edgbaston Croquet Club over two days. It attracted a wide range of handicaps from 20 down to 6 and was played on a base 6 format. By the end of day one there were three players with an unbeaten record and during the second day’s play two players, Robert Harvey (Edgbaston C.C.) and Brian Shorney (Eardisley C.C.) emerged to contest a final match. Unfortunately the weather played its part and a prolonged downpour of rain caused so much pooling of water rendering further play impossible. After due deliberation the match was awarded to Brian.

After the presentation of awards, Brian, a handicapper, revised the handicaps of Robert Harvey to 6 and that of Joe Manifold (Church Stretton C.C.) to 18. Many thanks to Tony Whateley (Edgbaston C.C.) for managing a very enjoyable tournament. Thanks also to Edgbaston Croquet Club for hosting this event.

Tournament contestants for the Halse Cup 2019

More images from the tournament

Philip Wood (Kenilworth C.C.)
Joe Manifold (Church Stretton C,C,) defying the elements!

Croquet Coaching for Club Coaches

This course was held on Tuesday and Wednesday 14th-15th May 2019 at Kenilworth Croquet Club. It was delivered by Roger Mills who is a Lead Coach in the South West Academy. The course was attended by 3 candidates; Philip Bate (Stourbridge C.C.), Philip Mander (Kenilworth C.C.) and Alan Ridley (Shrewsbury C.C.). All 3 candidates judged the course to be a resounding success and encourage other interested club croquet players to attend. The course can be designed to meet the needs of both AC and GC players. The Federation would like to give its thanks to Roger Mills for his excellent tuition and to Kenilworth Croquet Club for providing a splendid venue for the course. Special thanks go to Adrian Morris (Kenilworth C.C.) for organising the venue and the refreshments.

Croquet Association 2019 One Ball Tournament

WMF One Ball Charity Tournament held at Himley C.C. on Sunday 31st March

The Croquet Association has initiated a One Ball Handicapped Charity Tournament over the last few years where clubs are invited to arrange their own club tournament, the winner of which being entitled to enter the “Finals Tournament” historically held at Surbiton C.C.

Since little or no One Ball Croquet is played within the WMF Clubs, permission was obtained from the Croquet Association to arrange federation tournament in 2019 so that individual clubs could enter participants and thereafter pass on their experience to fellow club members. The winner of the tournament was then eligible to enter the National One Ball Tournament on 12th May together with a £50 donation for the Alzheimer’s Society.

Although tournament entries were limited by the clash with Mothers’ Day, 8 tournament participants from 5 different clubs enjoyed a pleasant days play with enthusiasm for the format increasing as the tournament progressed.

Four of the entrants won 4 of their 7 games with the tournament winner, Janet Bedford (Broadwas C.C.) winning 5 of her 7 games. Jeremy Pardoe (Broadwas C.C.) was runner up by virtue of a higher win bonus advantage. Unfortunately our tournament is unable to enter a player in the “Finals Tournament” but the £50 charity donation, given by the players, will be passed on to the Croquet Association.

Janet Bedford celebrates her victory in the 2019 WMF One Ball Croquet Tournament