Internal Competitions for 2020

Information from Roger Sutton

The draw for the internal singles competitions has now been made and these will be found on our website shortly.

This year I will not be posting them on our notice board.

When you book a lawn please advise Francis that you are playing a match.

Some of the matches may take over the two-hour slot so please advise how much time you think you will need.

When the match has been played please e mail the result to results@sussexcountycroquetclub.org.uk

The result will then be posted onto the website.

This year the wearing of whites for competitions is optional however wearing white will indicate to other players that you are in a match and should not be disturbed.

Please be aware of the play-by dates, we have lost two months of the season so it is important to adhere to them. It is the responsibility of both players to organize and get the game played. You will have less time to get your matches played.

Please note the following changes to competition details:

AC Daldy: only three entrants so it is now in American Block format.

Temporary Lawn Booking System

We are instituting a temporary lawn booking system which Francis Ainley will operate. This will function as follows:

• Members will contact Francis with bookings up to 9.30 on the day of play via:

- the WhatsApp group ‘GC Ad Hoc Roll-up’*
- email: francis@sussexcountycroquetclub.org.uk
- SMS text to 07712 810 631
- telephone 07712 810 631

• Contact preference is via the WhatsApp group and telephone as a last resort. The bookings will be published by 10am on the day on the following web page:

http://sussexcountycroquetclub.org.uk/calendar/lawns.htm

• There are four * 2 hour booking slots per day: 11am, 1pm, 3pm & 5pm
•  Bookings should include names of both players if more than one player, and date& time preference in order. E.g. Fiona Phillips & Clive Hayton, 11am or 1pm. Please ensure it is clear you are making either one booking (11am OR 1pm) or two bookings (11am AND 1pm)
• Up to 3 booking in total per member may be made up to one week in advance on a first come first served basis. Using the above example, Fiona could make 3 bookings and Clive 3 bookings

Francis may publish updated schedules prior to the day of play, but only the schedule published at 10am on the day will be definitive for that day. Members should ensure that they cancel any bookings that are no longer needed.

Obviously this system will be temporary and cease as soon as we return to something like normality.

*To join this group, click on this link from the phone where you have WhatsApp installed:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/BUuOt4zQPn88l5SrIG0fa2

(If this link is not clickable, use the link in the email sent out by Fiona at 9.28am on 15th May).

Covid Guidance from the Croquet Association

The Croquet Association has published its latest guidance on playing croquet safely, once clubs are allowed to open, which is currently planned for the end of March 2021.

Click this link to the CA Covid Risk Assessment, which the Club is applying.

Thanks to Roger Sutton for preparing and running an on-line quiz session for the club.

The winner was the team with the score closest to the correct score which was 630 points. It was won by Francis and John Ainley.

Here are the full results:

The AC 14pt doubles tournament on Friday 20th March has been cancelled.

For information about future tournaments please check this website.

Dominic Nunns in Australia for AC World Championship

Dominic Nunns has posted on his Go Fund Me site:

Hey everyone! I expect many of you followed the event elsewhere but just to round this off I got knocked out of the main event at the last 32 stage to eventual finalist Matt Essick of the USA. I then got knocked out of the consolation Bowl but gained a lucky loser spot in the Shield where I got a good win against Ben Rothman 2-1 before losing out in the final against Stephen Mulliner. The whole event was a really memorable experience, and I’m also delighted it led to at least three articles in local papers, including the Argus, featuring positive publicity for SCCC (thanks, Linda for the press releases!). There’s even talk of a short slot on Brighton’s Latest TV so watch this space. Thanks to everyone for the support.

David Collins Remembered

Club members who were around in the 90's will remember David Collins who has sadly died at the age of 84. He was not a member and not a frequent player at Southwick - he won two tournaments in 1996 and 1997 but had nonetheless a great influence on a whole generation of AC croquet players through his longterm involvement in the Summer School which ran at Southwick until superceded by the Academy.

Frances and I knew him quite well from his visits to the club; we were opponents in competitions on a few occasions, notably (for me) including one where we ended the game playing in about 4 inches of rainwater.

He had a delicious wry sense of humour and was a thoroughly nice man; but it will be as a coach that he will be best remembered by players of that period.

Long-term coaching colleague Daphne Gaitley said of him: "I was very fond of David and assisted him on the Summer School. When he retired from it in 2001, David (my husband) and I managed it together. I was also on the SECF Committee with him. He was a brilliant coach, a very special person and will be sorely missed by many, many people."

John Low

GC Doubles One-day Competition  21st February 2020

After the rains of previous days and the lawns closed due to waterlogging, one might not have placed a bet on Friday's competition taking place. Hats off then the Ben and the grounds team for making the lawns playable, and 56 players were able to take part in the GC doubles one-day competition at Southwick today, orchestrated by Roger Sutton.

There were four blocks; all the results given below.

The B level event was divided into two blocks:

Thanks to the catering team for providing a much needed bowl of hot soup at lunchtime and to Roger for managing the mammoth event.

Click on image to connect

There may also be live/recorded cover on Facebook

Fellow SCCC member Dominic Nunns has been selected to take a ranking place (32) in the UK team.

The Knockout stage has started. You can find when Dominic is playing on the official website.

The results can be followed on CroquetScores.

Play more croquet this season!

There's been an explosion of one-day competitions in the South East so there has never been a better time to play competitive croquet locally. Whether you an experienced competitive player or have just started thinking about entering competitions and have a higher handicap you can enter and have the experience of playing a day competitively at a club in easy reach.

Read more here ....