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Newsletter 43
Gerald Mitchell
We are very pleased to report that Gerald has made a remarkable recovery. He is at home, driving again and continuing to regain his strength. We send Ana and Gerald best wishes and hope to see him back on the croquet courts next season where he has been sorely missed. Results 2005 Season
This has been another very successful season for the club, culminating in our winning the Mary Rose Trophy when we beat Nottingham 5 – 2 in the final at Surbiton. Details of our successes were given at the recent A.G.M and are on the website but they bear repeating. We narrowly lost to Parkstone (East Dorset) in the Longman Cup but gained ample revenge when we defeated them in the semi final of the Mary Rose. In the Southern Croquet Federation Leagues we won the Northern Division of the association croquet league remaining undefeated and won the play off against Winchester, who won the Southern Division and thus gained the overall title. An advanced play league was introduced this season, which we won, again being undefeated. We finished runners up to Ryde in the golf croquet league, our only loss being against a strong Ryde team. There was also success for our members in other national and regional competitions: • Benson Spiers is the All England Handicap Golf Croquet Champion winning the final at Nailsea in which 16 players took part. • Stuart Parks reached the area finals of the All England Association Croquet Handicap and gained the CA Silver Award for completing a 12 hoop break without bisques. • Nick Butler won the Oxford Advanced Weekend competition and gained the CA Gold Award in the semi final of the Mary Rose Trophy when he won his match 26 – 0 with a triple peel. • Three Blewbury members (Nick Butler, John Spiers and Kit Jackson were in the Oxfordshire team which finished runners up to Sussex in the Inter Counties Golf Croquet Tournament Held at Southwick. • Bernadine Shirley-Smith and Margaret Matham were runners up in the Ladies Day Golf Croquet Tournament for clubs in the South in which over 30 couples participated. Congratulations to all who represented the club so ably. Coaching
An email was sent to all members recently re croquet coaching in the Southern Croquet Federation area. Eighteen members expressed an interest and for their benefit and any others who may be interested set out below are advance details of coaching courses available in 2006, full details of which will be given on the C.A. website and the 2006 Fixtures Book when issued. Association Croquet
Improvers Course
For: Handicaps in the range 18 – 24 Open To: Associates, and to any player who is a member of a Club affiliated to any Federation Arranged by: (a) South East Federation (b) Southern Federation Venues: (a) Sussex County C.C. (Southwick) (b) Hamptworth C.C.(near Salisbury) Dates: (a) 22-23 April (b) 29-30 April Managers (a) Bryan Teague, 52, Sea Lane, Goring by Sea, Worthing, BN12 4PY (Tel: 01903 507355) (b) Jolyon Kay, Ickleton House, London Road, Blewbury, Oxon OX11 9NZ (Tel: 01235 850010) Entry Fees: £18 ( Follow up day, if offered £9) Cheques made payable to (a) “South Eastern Federation of Croquet Clubs” (b) “Southern Federation of Croquet Clubs” Bronze Course
For: Those with handicaps in the range 12 – 18 wishing to consolidate the basics. Open To: Associates, and to any player who is a member of a Club affiliated to any Federation Content: Includes croquet strokes, hoop running, playing breaks, and using bisques to get started and keep going. Arranged by: (a) South West Federation (b) South East Federation Venues: (a) Budleigh Salterton C.C. (b) Sussex County C.C. (Southwick) Dates (a) 8-9 April (b) 22-23 April Managers: (a) Mary Goodhart, 17A Copp Hill Lane, Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6DT (Tel: 01395 443470) (b) Bryan Teague (details as above) Entry Fees: £20 ( Follow up day, if offered £10 ) Cheques made payable to (a) “South West Federation of Croquet Clubs” (b) “South East Federation of Croquet Clubs” Silver Course
For: Experienced players with handicaps in the range 6 – 11, who wish to improve further. Open To: Associates only. Content: Break construction, 4-ball and 3 ball break management, problems around hoops, bisque taking and giving, leaves, cannons and the rover peel. Arranged by: The Croquet Association Venue: Sussex County C.C. ( Southwick) Date: 6-7 May Manager: Bryan Teague (details as above) Entry Fee: £32 (Follow up day, if offered £16) Cheques made payable to “The Croquet Association” Gold Course
For: Experienced players with handicaps BELOW 6, who wish to improve their advanced play further. Open To: Associates only Content: Includes openings, leaves, tactics and triple peels Arranged by: The Croquet Association Venue: Budleigh Salterton C.C. Date: 22-23 April Manager: Mary Goodhart (details as above) Entry Fees: £32 ( Follow up day, if offered £16 ) Cheques made payable to “ The Croquet Association” Summer School
For: Players of handicap 16 and above, particularly novices, who wish to improve their croquet. A comprehensive Association croquet coaching course is offered with an optional Golf croquet session included on the Wednesday afternoon. Open To: Associates, and to any other player who is a member of a Club affiliated to any Federation. Arranged by: South East Federation Venue: Manager: Daphne Gaitley, 38, Monks Close, Lancing, West Sussex, BN15 9DB (Tel; 01903 767174; e-mail: [email protected]) Entry Fees: £100 (includes morning coffee, lunch & afternoon tea but excludes accommodation) General Entry Conditions:
• All entries should be made direct to the relevant Course Manager, on the standard Tournament Entry Form, stating, in addition to the normal details, a daytime telephone number and the category of C.A. membership where the course is open only to C.A. members. • Early application is advisable. Entries will officially close three weeks before the start of each course, although the Lead Coach or Course Manager may allow late entries. Other Courses
Several members have expressed interest in an Association Beginners course and a
Golf Improvers course. It is hoped to arrange these courses at our courts at the
beginning of the season and full details will be given nearer the time.
Becoming a Coach

The C.A. runs coach qualification courses for those wishing to become club coaches.
These courses are usually run over two days and are a mixture of lectures, syndicate
groups and practical sessions. At the end of the course, if you have convinced the
assessors of your ability to coach, you will be awarded a Club Coach certificate and
badge.
There are several grades of C.A. Coach: • Club Coaches (yellow badge) – trained and authorized to teach in own club • Grade 1 Association Croquet Coach (blue badge) – national coach qualified to • Grade 2 Association Croquet Coach (green badge) – national coach qualified to • Grade 3 Association Croquet Coach (red badge) – national coach qualified to • Golf Croquet Coach (white badge) – national coach qualified to coach golf Blewbury Croquet Club currently has one Club Coach (Association), two Grade 1 Coaches (Association) and two Golf Croquet Coaches. If any member is interested in becoming a coach please contact John Munro for details of coaching qualification courses to be run next season. Recruitment
As stated at the 2005 A.G.M the club needs to find new members and to retain existing members to keep the club on a sound financial footing, and we intend to mount a recruitment campaign before the start of next season. A small sub-committee, headed by Nick Butler, has been formed to oversee this activity, and if anyone has any ideas on recruitment please let Nick know. All suggestions gratefully received. One of the most effective ways of finding new members is through personal contacts so introduce your friends and neighbours and persuade them to come along and try the game. In Case of Emergency (I.C.E.)
We have been alerted to an issue that could be vitally important if a club member
became ill at the courts. In an emergency, paramedics would ask for the name of the
patient’s doctor and would need to know about any existing medical condition
and medication. Also, we would need to know who to contact. In line with other clubs,
we have decided to keep appropriate information (stored in the First Aid Box), but
obviously only on those members who would like us to do so. If you wish details to
be held for you please give them to Jim in a signed statement: “Please hold medical
information and contact details for me at the croquet courts, for use in an emergency.”
The information should include:
• Primary contact details (e.g. your home phone number, etc) • Secondary contact details (e.g. a relative, friend, neighbour) • Medical condition (e.g. allergies, asthma, angina) Handicaps
The handicap committee met in October and Jim will be sending you a full list of members’ handicaps for both association croquet and golf croquet shortly. Winter Programme

There are three events for your diaries:
• Skittles evening on Saturday 21st January 2006 at Upton village hall
• Indoor croquet tournament on Saturday 18th February at Blewbury village hall
• Winter party on Saturday 18th February at Blewbury village hall.

For one of the fun activities at the party, we would like to borrow photographs of as
many club members as possible, taken when they were youngsters. Jim will collect,
copy and safely return all photos supplied. Please contact Jim if you are able and
willing to participate. Expect to have fun!
Full details of these events will be sent out later and we will look forward to seeing as
many of you as possible there.
Shelter Extension Project
Our plans to extend the shelter have been approved by the Vale of White Horse District Council, and we have received three builders’ quotations for the work. We can expect the overall cost to reach about £17,000. We have £5,000 in the club development fund and the Croquet Association has promised £2,000, so we will need to raise about £10,000. To this end, we will be writing to members for pledges of financial support for the project. This support is of course entirely voluntary and confidential. Names of those offering pledges will be known only to our Treasurer. Assuming that we raise the funds, we will endeavour to have the work completed in time for the coming croquet season, but that aim is subject to the weather and the availability of the appointed builder. Christmas Greetings and Best Wishes for 2006 to all members and their families.

Source: http://www.blewburycroquetclub.org.uk/newsletters/newsletter43.pdf