WELCOME I asked myself, is it coincidence or is it fate, that months ago I planned for Jenny Clarke’s image to be on the cover of this issue, and in this very month she has made the headlines in Croquet once again? You will read later how Jenny won the second Sugar Beach Interna7onal Croquet Cup, and this issue follows far too soon a'er the Associa7on Croquet Open Championships to include a full report, so here comes the spoiler: Having just won the New Zealand Open Championship in 2025, she has now become the first woman in nearly 60 years to have competed in the Associa7on Croquet Open Singles Championships final. My congratula7ons go to Robert Fulford for claiming the 7tle of the Singles Championships for the twel'h 7me, which matches Reg Bamford’s record for the event. Reg has hit the headlines himself in the last month, winning the Golf Croquet Open Singles Championships for the thirteenth 7me. Now it’s 7me to ask the big ques7on: Why has it taken so long for a woman to get back into the finals? And for the big answer, well I suppose we need to ask the smaller ques7ons first. Croquet England have ini7ated a plan to encourage more women to a8end coaching across both codes in the 2026 season, which in turn will hopefully encourage more women to enter tournaments and increase the probability of their success at the highest levels in the game. Alison Alison Maugham Editor editor@croquetengland.org.uk SURVEY OF ALL COACHES By Ruth Raunkiaer Many thanks to the 282 coaches who completed the survey when first asked. It is a great help to the volunteers on the Coaching Commi8ee that we didn’t have to chase you for a response. Also thank you to the 94 coaches who have so far responded to our reminder. If you are one of the 134 coaches who s7ll hasn’t responded, please do so now! The survey really only takes less than 2 minutes to complete. If you don’t respond, we cannot know that you are s7ll ac7ve as a coach and should remain on the CqE Register of Coaches. The Coaching Commi8ee is responsible for maintaining an up‐to‐date Register of Ac7ve Coaches. The current exercise has so far resulted in 71 coaches being removed from the register, as they were no longer coaching. CqE Coaches are covered by the CqE Professional Indemnity Insurance when coaching on behalf of a CqE member club, an academy or CqE itself. By responding, you will also be helping the Coaching Commi8ee to learn about what coaching takes places around the country and so be able to allocate our resources where they are most usefully deployed. Once the results have been thoroughly analysed, they will be shared with all in the Gaze8e. Please respond now! If you prefer, you can send an email instead, to confirm that you are ac7ve as a coach, to ruth.raunkiaer@croquetengland.org.uk.
Croquet Gaze8e Online Issue 002 | July 2025
Front cover: Jenny Clarke wins Sugar Beach Interna7onal Croquet Cup [Page 10]
CONTENTS 4 5 6 8 Hibiscus Chairman's Column Tunnel of Time Le8ers to the Editor
10 15 18 21 24 25 28 29
Sugar Beach Interna7onal Cup Associa7on Croquet Repor7ng Golf Croquet Repor7ng Mike's Story Measuring Improvement Club News Lawn Maintenance Mumbles Recruitment
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 3
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