President's Report

Bald Head Island Croquet Club

August 2007

 

 Judy Porter

 

The purpose of this report is to provide the membership with a review of all of the Croquet Club activities during the past year.  I want to thank all members of the Club for their support and help over the past year.  Special thanks to the Executive Committee:  Mike Boozell, Bill Johnson, Brenda Quanstrom, Mary Conklin, Trisha Barnard, John May, Anne Schick, and John Knott.  And to Committee Chairs: Sky Conklin, Marilyn Ridgeway, Dick Johnston, Diane Robinson, and Anne Boozell.

 

Membership Committee:  Marilyn Ridgeway Chairperson

 

The Bald Head Island Croquet Club hosted two Wine and  Wickets: Oct 14, 2006 and June 3, 2007.

Both events were very popular and well attended. Members of the Croquet Club had a chance to introduce new comers to the sport and while not everyone joined the Bald Head Island Croquet Club, more people now recognize the preciseness,strategy and fun that croquet can offer.

 

The following people have decided that membership is a must:

John and Lou Chamberlain

Bill and Jarilyn Daigle

Judy Hart

John and Ellie Sias

Brenda and Larry Jones

Barabara McQuaide

Harry and Suzanne Miller

Diane Robinson

Larry Kirby.

 

The new members have been enthusiastic and a welcomed addition to our club.

Suggestion to new chair. Get a BHI Club membership list and send invitations to non croquet members. Beth Burger will help you with this.

Tournament Committee:  John Knott, Chairperson

 

This year’s tournament schedule included 4 tournaments, Golf, Doubles, Association and Singles and also one handicap adjuster.  Committee members thank the players who have participated in these events.

 

Invitational Tournament: Judy Porter, Tournament Manager

 

Twenty-two players participated in the 2007 Invitational.  Twelve players  from other clubs joined with ten players from Bald Head Island Croquet Club.  The success of the Invitational was due to the support from all members of out Club.  This was truly a Club effort with members working on housing, hosting, the opening reception, board keeping, greeting,  trophies, etc.  I have to say the trophies were spectacular.  People are already talking about the 2008 Invitational and I know that we can get our goal of 32 players..

 

Social Committee:  Anne Schick, Chairperson

 

This year was a great year for the social success of the Croquet Club.  Having the Social Chairman as part of the Executive Committee made communications much easier for planning of the events.  The notices of events went much better this year, and we have had an easy time with lunch orders and drinks on the court.  New forms for communication with the Club have made things even easier.

 

We were able to work very well with the staff at the Bald Head Island Club to plan and host Awards luncheons and brunches for the Croquet Club.  We tried to have the opening parties for tournaments at the Club, but the members voted to return to our old format with all parties at members’ homes.  This added extra scheduling for our members, but happily, we have all the socials scheduled through December 2007.  Thanks especially to all the new members who have jumped in and accepted duties as hosts, co-hosts and food committee members.

 

Although the membership has shrunk a bit, we averaged 34 people attending each social during the 2006-2007 year.  Thank you to everyone who has made this year a success – particularly to Judy Hasson and Judy Knott who bolstered me with extra help and support.

 

Education Committee:  Trisha Barnard Chairperson

 

The members of this year’s Education Committee were:  Mike Boozell, Chris Christian, Susy Gillilan, Judy Hasson, John May, Jan Triplett, and Dave Strawson.  We held one meeting on November 30, 2006 and the rest of business was carried out via email. 

 

The following were discussed at the meeting and later carried out:

 

Rules:

On Dec. 14, 2006 a session was hosted by Chris Christian for all Referees to go over the new rules.

 

For non-Referees, a 2 session course was taught by Judy and Bob Porter on the entire rule book.  This was attended by 4 people, and was a valuable experience for all.  It would be a good thing to repeat on a yearly basis.

 

Wednesday Wickets:

It was decided to limit the educational component of Wednesday Wickets to 15 minutes before starting time, once a month.  Dave Strawson stepped up to doing this and has done an excellent job with sessions on jump shots, angle shots, wiring etc.

 

Group Mentoring:

Group Mentoring for beginning players was organized by Jan Triplett during January through March. It was well attended each month and attendees reported that it was very worthwhile.

 

Helpmates:

An email was sent out to the entire membership requesting volunteers to be part of a list of players who are willing to help other players improve their game.  The list was compiled by Mike Boozell, and emailed to all Croquet Club members.  Any player was invited to call upon anyone on the list to make arrangements to get together to work on their game.  For any new players who might not know the people on the list, Mike was available to act as liaison to hook people up.

 

Croquet College:

This year’s Croquet College began the last week of March and was completed by the last week of April in order for all the College students to participate in the Handicap Adjuster Tournament May 5-6.  A meeting was held a week before the start of Croquet College in order for students and instructors to meet, get class materials, and set up times for their classes.  There were 5 classes, and a total of 20 students, with class sizes ranging from 2 students to 6.  The ideal class size is no more than 4, but the handicaps of participants made it necessary to have some smaller and some bigger classes.

 

Feedback from Students, and Instructors alike was very positive.

 

Clinics/Lessons with a Pro:

Oct. 15-18, 2007, we have scheduled Ron Lloyd to come to BHI to give clinics and lessons.  At the present time, we have 20 people who have expressed a desire to participate.  The schedule for this event will be created when the time is closer.

 

Women’s Wickets:

This is the first year for Women’s Wickets.  It does not currently have a formal educational component, however, some of our women, including new players, have enjoyed getting together to play and learn from one another on Friday mornings.  If any men want to come, the women are happy to have them join in.

 

Croquet School:

The Education Committee continues to recommend that anyone wishing to improve their game consider attending a 3 day USCA Croquet School offered National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach.