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APRIL SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Thank you to all who attended our Working bee. A great deal was achieved and all members can see the results around the club and gardens. We also thank those members who undertook other tasks around the club at other times. You won’t be able to see it easily, but our clubhouse roof has been repainted as well.
2) The AGM is scheduled for Saturday 14 May, at 10 am. Soon, I will send out the formal notice of the meeting, including an invitation for members to move a motion for the AGM. If you are having any thoughts along these lines, please talk to me. We intend to recommend two changes to membership categories: the withdrawal of Novice membership, and the renaming of Associate membership to Concessional membership. The full wording of these motions will be circulated to members before the meeting. We will also call for nominations for the Club’s Executive, Committee and Handicappers. We encourage members to think about whether they might stand for a position. If you are not sure what this entails, talk to any present committee members. The Treasurer will present the Club’s annual accounts, together with the Committee’s recommendation for the subscription for the 2022-23 season of $370.
3) A Forum will follow the AGM, where members may raise matters with the Committee that do not require a formal motion in the AGM. Again, if you are thinking of raising any matter but are not sure of the proper approach, talk to me.
4) The Croquet Tasmania Golf Croquet Women’s Championship will be held at the club at the end of the month. Our lawns will not be available to members between 12 noon on Thursday 28 April until Sunday 1 May.
5) Our Lawns continue to look better and better, with work continuing to control weeds. They will generally be mown on Mondays and Thursdays. Our new practice lawn will soon be ready for use. We remind members to take care of our lawns. If you inadvertently damage the lawn, please do fix it - ask for advice if you are not sure how. The longer damage is left in place, the harder it is to remediate it.
6) We have received an email advertising a Winter Holiday Croquet Tour in Southeast Queensland, starting in Mooloolaba on Tuesday 26 July and finishing on 4 August. It will mix sightseeing in the area with four opportunities to play Golf Croquet at a different club each time. The cost is $4100 pp twin share. If you are interested in learning more, contact me for a copy of the brochure.
7) New members. We welcome Jill Holloway, Rod West and John Paton as new members of the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
MARCH SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Don’t forget the Working bee to be held this Saturday 5 March from 9.30. We will be doing both maintenance and gardening jobs, followed by a BBQ lunch. We thank all the members who have already been doing tasks around the club.
2) AGM A reminder that the date is Saturday 14 May, at 10 am. An official announcement will follow in due course, including an invitation to members to move a formal motion at the AGM. We will also call for nominations for the Club’s Executive and Committee. Please think about whether you might like to stand for a committee position. If you are not sure what this entails, talk to any present committee members. The AGM is followed by a Forum, where members may discuss matters that are not formal enough to warrant a motion at the AGM.
3) Subscription fees The Committee has considered the Treasurer’s draft budget for 2022-3. The draw down on the Club's reserves in the current year is likely to be about $18,000 - principally due to the lawn renovation works. If not for our successful fund raising activities - raffle, functions, corporate hires and increased sponsorship, this would have been greater. Given our fixed costs - including the lawns contract, insurance, water charges, council rates - and the need to slowly rebuild the club's reserves, the draft budget shows a small surplus of $2,333. Taking into account estimates of membership numbers and turnover, we will be recommending a full membership fee of $370 (excluding affiliation fees) at the AGM, compared to the current $330.
4) Lawns I think we will all agree that we are seeing our lawns gradually approach peak condition. There is a problem with water logging on C lawn since the rain arrived, and the watering regime will be tweaked to avoid this. In Spring, it will be possible to better level the lawn here.
5) Club championships are currently being played. It is great to see the good numbers taking part, especially in Golf Croquet.
6) GC coaching. There are about three weeks left of the one hour coaching sessions for our newer members from 10 am on Monday mornings. If you have already had coaching at this level, but would like more advanced coaching, ask around to see if you can get a group of members at a similar level, and then approach me.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
FEBRUARY SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Club championships will be held in March. We will be inviting expressions of interest in mid February. There are events suitable for players of all abilities and experience, so why not have a go!
2) Congratulations to Jane Hyland, who recently won the CT AC Women’s Open, despite being the lowest seeded player in the event. Fantastic achievement, Jane!
3) Lawns All the renovation work on our lawns is now finished. It will take a little while for them to come to their peak condition. Thank you to the Renov8 team, especially Jay, for all their work.
4) Working bee to be held Saturday 5 March from 9.30, with a BBQ at lunchtime. With both maintenance and gardening jobs, there’s something for everybody. Please note that we do not need any more donations of plants for the garden.
5) The Property Council have hired the club from 4 pm on Tuesday 15 February. With a large group attending, we need another four or five volunteers to assist in showing them how to play. If you are happy to help, please talk to Liz Madden.
6) GC coaching for new members. We will again hold a one hour coaching session for our newer members from 10 am on Monday mornings. Note that this is aimed at members who are just starting their croquet journey. If you have already had coaching at this level, but would like more advanced coaching, ask around to see if you can get a group of members at a similar level, and then approach me.
7) Level 1 GC coach training Given enough interest, I will run a course in how to coach beginners to GC, following the ACA guidelines. It should take one session, or maybe two. This will not give official accreditation, but there is a pathway to that following the course. I would like to encourage all members with a few years of playing GC to consider doing it. To express interest, email me and indicate your preferred time: Thursday morning, Saturday morning or another time.
8) Emails I have been finding that, recently, a few of my emails to members have been rejected by some addresses. To ensure they get through, please whitelist the club’s email address. If you are not sure how to do that, can I suggest asking a young person for help!
9) AGM We have set the date as Saturday 14 May, at 10 am. Please consider whether there are any matters you might wish to raise at the AGM, and talk to me if so. Please also think about whether you might like to stand for a committee position. If you are not sure what this entails, talk to any present committee members.
10) New members We welcome Marg Jennings, Margaret Binns and Rod Chisholm to the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
DECEMBER SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Covid, vaccination and borders opening Please read carefully the email sent out concerning the Club’s reaction to the opening of the Tasmanian borders. We are relying on all members to be familiar with the conditions on the use of the club and to do their bit to keep us all as safe as possible.
2) Lawns Weather permitting, we anticipate that the lawns will all be returned to their full size before Christmas. Thank you to all members for your forbearance while this work was carried out. All lawns will be closed from Monday 10 January for a week to allow scarifying, coring, seeding and top dressing. We anticipate that our lawns will be in top notch condition when this is finished.
3) Christmas Lunch was a lovely affair, with weather to match. The turnout was excellent - the biggest in years. We thank Bayside Meats for donating a meat try which was the lucky door prize. Thanks also to all those who attended the working bee beforehand to prepare the Club for the event.
4) Maintenance: A reminder that we have a sign up list for jobs around the club. If you are daunted by a job, why not organize a small group to work on it together? The period when the lawns are closed in January would be a great time to do it.
5) The Raffle was a huge success, raising $1922 for the club. Many thanks to all those businesses and members who donated prizes and to Anni Morgan and her helpers for all the effort that went into running it.
6) Lawn damage We have been noticing small damaged areas on our lawns. Please, if you do inadvertently damage the lawn, take proper measures to rehabilitate the area. If you are not sure what to do, seek help from a more experienced player. Note that poorly executed jump shots are one cause of damage. Please do not attempt jump shots unless you have received coaching on how to play them correctly from a qualified coach or very experienced player, and have practiced them well away from critical areas of the lawn. We ask other members not to teach jump shots.
7) Twilight Croquet will run on Tuesday evenings from 18 January until 15 March, with a change from Tuesday 15 February to Wednesday 16 February because of an outside booking. As announced elsewhere, Twilight Croquet will be open only to fully vaccinated members of SBCC and other croquet clubs.
8) Congratulations to member Callum Hyland, who recently won the NSW AC Open - a wonderful achievement indeed!
9) Visitor Carmel Davies (fully vaccinated!) from a club in Queensland will be visiting the club, most likely on Friday 31 December in the afternoon and the morning of Monday 3 January. Please make her welcome if you are playing then.
10) New member We welcome Tony van de Vusse to the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
NOVEMBER SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Covid, vaccination and borders opening Given the age profile and health status of many of the members of our club, your Committee discussed the challenges we will face when the borders are opened on 15 December. It is the view of the Committee that all members and visitors attending the club after that date should be either double vaccinated, or have an official exemption. We intend this to be on an honesty basis. Before a final decision is made, the Committee welcomes input. Please send any comments to me.
2) Thank You Drinks Despite the dreadful weather, there was a gratifying turn out for this occasion. We thank all those members who braved the rain and wind, and brought such lovely food with them.
3) Christmas Lunch will be held on Thursday 9 December, with catering by Pickled Pear. The cost is $50, all inclusive. You will receive an invitation soon. We ask you to RSVP by Friday 3 December on the list on the club noticeboard, and to pay by bank transfer if at all possible. We thanks Bayside Meats for donating a meat try as the lucky door prize, and the raffle will be drawn at the lunch. A working bee on Tuesday 7 December will make preparations for the event - more details to follow.
4) Maintenance: Thank you Brian Stafford - already hard at work improving our external paintwork. A list of jobs to complete over the summer is on the noticeboard - please look to see what you can undertake, then put your name down for it.
5) Raffle A great collection of prizes have been donated for the raffle, and we thank all those businesses and individuals who have provided them. Don’t forget to get out there and sell some tickets - extra books available from Anni Morgan and Liz Madden. All books and money will need to be returned by Friday 3 December.
6) External hires At this time of year, we are often approached by outside organisations who wish to play croquet as part of a social event. Such hires both bring valuable income to the club and spread the joys of our game. While we try to schedule these outside of social play times, they will occasionally impinge. On Friday 26 November, AC will need to finish by 11.30 and GC wait until after 1.30. On Friday 3 December, there will be no GC social play in the afternoon. Apologies for the inconvenience (all hires appear on our online calendar and at the club - calendar in the kitchen, whiteboard outside). We will be asking members to volunteer to help out with events on 3, 4 and 10 December.
7) Twilight Croquet will run on Tuesday evenings from 18 January until 15 March - a great chance to encourage others to try croquet. Cost: $5.
8) GC social play We are reinstating the past practice of ringing a bell after an hour - all games to stop, unless the scores are equal (one more hoop played) or a secondary colours game needs up to 10 more minutes due to a late start.
9) New member We welcome David Budd to the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
OCTOBER SBCC COMMITTEE MEMO
1) Maintenance Our club relies a great deal on the voluntary help of members. Soon, a list of essential maintenance jobs will appear on our noticeboard, with an opportunity for members to nominate a task they will undertake sometime over the summer. For more major jobs, we are looking to organizing a working bee. Thank you for your support!
2) Lawn work We thank all members for taking great care around the re-sown areas of our lawns. Unfortunately, this work will take a little longer than was anticipated. All being well, we will be back on full lawns sometime in mid to late November.
3) Alternate stroke AC Doubles On Friday 22 October, we will devote the morning session to alternate stroke AC, where an experienced AC player will pair with an interested GC player to take alternate strokes in a game of AC. The aim is to mix a fun outing with an opportunity to learn more about AC, and to get to know members from the “other code”. If you are interested in participating, sign up on the noticeboard.
4) Dates for your diary: Don’t forget our Thank You Drinks event on Friday 29 October from 4.00. Members are asked to bring a plate, and drinks will be available for a gold coin donation. Plans are in hand for our Christmas Lunch on Thursday 9 December - we need to keep an eye on the Covid situation as we decide on details.
5) Raffle Soon, members will be encouraged to sell - and buy! - tickets for the raffle to be drawn at our Christmas lunch. A great collection of prizes have been donated for the raffle, and we thank all those businesses and individuals who have provided them.
6) Security at the club Members are reminded that the last person to leave the club must check that all doors and gates are properly locked. In particular, the clubroom door to the shaded area needs to be locked with a key (it does not lock automatically when closed) and we must check that the main clubroom door is not left on the snib.
7) Pennants The latest results available to me for the AC Spring pennant show the New Town/Sandy Bay combined Division A teams is undefeated, while the NT/SB Division B team is running second. We will be entering four teams in the GC Spring pennant: one each in Divisions 1 and 2, and two in Division 3. Good luck to all players!
8) New members We welcome Leeanne Adcock and Ben King to the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
1) Dates for your diary: A Thank You Drinks event, combined with the official opening of our newly upgraded lawns by Andrew Wilkie, is being planned for Friday 29 October from 4.00. Our sponsors and the Renov8 staff will also be invited. We plan some demonstration games of GC and AC. Members will be asked to bring a plate, and drinks will be available for a gold coin donation. Our Christmas Lunch will be on Thursday 9 December. Keep an eye out for a raffle to be drawn at the lunch.
2) Lawn work Work to extend the flat area of our lawns is well in hand. This is to enable us to use white lawn markings, replacing the plastic strips which had not only deteriorated but also sunk well below lawn level. We are also re-levelling parts of the lawns, and updating the irrigation system. The $11000 Stronger Communities Programme grant, through Andrew Wilkie, plus our reserves, will meet the cost. We anticipate our beautifully upgraded full lawns will be available by late October, and thank all members for their forbearance while the work is carried out.
3) Congratulations! to Lee Ford, who won the CT AC Hi/Lo alternate stroke Handicap Doubles with Noel Davies from Eastern Shore. We have another statewide event, GC Medals event on November 5-7, shared with NTCC.
4) Alternate stroke AC Doubles We are planning a Thursday morning session where an experienced AC player will pair with an interested GC player to take alternate strokes in a game of AC. The aim is to mix a fun outing with an opportunity to learn more about AC. If you are interested in participating, let me know.
5) Outside hires Our busy season approaches, with school groups trying croquet and organisations playing croquet as an end of year activity. Such hires both spread the word about croquet and raise money for the club. We try to ensure these events impact as little as possible on social play, but this is sometimes unavoidable and we thank members for their understanding. Running the events depends on members who volunteer to show visitors how to play. We maintain a list of willing members - if you are not on it and would like to be, please let me know! It is often fun, and is not onerous, especially if the load is spread amongst many of us.
6) Maintenance Keep your eyes peeled for a forthcoming working bee to get some essential upgrades - especially painting - done.
7) On court etiquette: All members are reminded that they should be aware of the need for courtesy to other players. Common sense will tell you what to avoid, I am sure, but please remember not to stand in, or walk across, a striker’s line of play, talk or practise in eyesight while the striker is in their stance, and so on.
8) Suggestions to the committee are always welcome. We have a suggestion box, and there is a form on our website for members to use.
9) GC Coaching: Monday mornings from 10 am: all new(ish) members are welcome.
10) New members We welcome Elaine Bendzulla, Helen Scarafiotti and Les Vose.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
1) Dates for your diary: our Annual Clean Up Day will be Saturday 14 August, preparing for our Opening Day on Saturday 28 August, when the Lord Mayor will run the first hoop. Alicia has put up a list of jobs on the notice board in the club rooms. Please have a look and add your name to a job that you can do on or before Saturday 14 August. While you are there, please rewrite your name on your cup with 21 for the year. There will be a BBQ lunch for members on Clean Up day. Unfortunately, the proposed Quiz Night has been cancelled because of the restricted numbers due to Covid. On Opening Day, members are asked to dress in club colours (red and white) if you can and to bring a plate to share after the formalities of the morning. Our Christmas Function will be on Thursday 9 December. Details to follow, but you can put the date in your diary. This Sunday 8 August, we have an outside group (15 – 21 players) coming in between 2 pm and 4 pm. Sorry for any inconvenience to players.
2) Congratulations! to Mary Roscoe, who won the Division 2 CT GC Mixed Doubles, on the weekend of July 16-18, with Ben King from the Eastern Shore club. A big thank you to Hugh Denny for organising a great event. We have another statewide event, GC Medals event coming up November 5-7. This will be shared with New Town club. Also, thank you to everyone who played in the intra club GC pennant. We had 6 teams with Red team winning followed by Black and then Blue. This was also organised by Hugh and Yvonne. For AC pennant, Sandy Bay players will join with NT club and play in both A and B divisions. Details to come from Eastern Shore club soon.
3) New member Golf Croquet coaching will take place on the following Monday mornings from 10 am: 16 August and 23 August. All new(ish) members are welcome. Kaye is unavailable on Monday 9 August as she is currently isolating at home.
4) New lawn markings As you probably know, Alan Smith from Renov8 has started the work, with lawn A unavailable for play currently. Graham Keating is liaising with Alan.
5) Garden All the taps have been replaced around the gardens. Thank you to Anni for organising. Chris and Alicia spent many hours trimming the hedges, one of the bigger jobs on the clean up list. Thanks Chris and Alicia.
6) Games afternoon As you probably know, a keen group of members meet in the clubhouse on Monday afternoons to play Mah Jong (all welcome!). If you would be interested in attending another indoor games afternoon - perhaps on Thursdays - please contact Alicia Groves or me. Suggestions for what to play (500? Cribbage? Monopoly? Something else?) are also welcome.
7) New members We welcome Tim Meredith to the club and welcome back Rosemary McCulloch.
10) Reminder! The government requires that (if at all possible) you use the Check-in-Tas app on arrival, and our insurers insist you sign in. Please do both!
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
1) Dates for your diary: our Annual Clean Up Day will be Saturday 14 August, preparing for our Opening Day on Saturday 28 August, when the Lord Mayor will run the first hoop. If you have any suggestions for tasks for the Clean Up Day, please let Alicia Groves know before 30 July. We are also planning a Quiz Night, tentatively set for 17 September. Thanks, Cecelia!
2) Congratulations! to members Callum Hyland, who won the Plate event at the KCC MCMF 19 hoop tournament, and Yvonne Shaw, who has been named as Vice Captain of the Tasmanian Golf Croquet team to compete in the Interstate Shield in Launceston and Latrobe in early September.
3) New member Golf Croquet coaching will take place on the following Monday mornings from 10 am: 19 July, 9 August, 16 August, 23 August. All new(ish) members are welcome.
4) New lawn markings As you probably know, we have been awarded a Stronger Communities grant to help us replace the old, deteriorating line markings, which now sit well below the court surface and require a lot of work to keep clear. Alan Smith from Renov8 will carry out the work, probably starting in late August. It will involve pulling up the old markings, levelling out the ground around them beyond the present court boundaries, resowing it with grass and then painting lines on the new surface. For perhaps 6 - 8 weeks, we will need to play on slightly smaller courts and avoid damage to the new areas. The result will be better lawns for us all.
5) Garden trimming Jono Rayner will be at the club pruning our garden on Friday 9 July from 10.30, and possibly the next day if needed. Apologies if this is a little disruptive to play.
6) CT GC Mixed Doubles event will be held at our club from 16 - 18 July. All courts will be out of use for members from mid-day Thursday 15 to 5.00pm on Sunday 18 July. We apologise for this disruption to social play.
7) Games afternoon As you probably know, a keen group of members meet in the clubhouse on Monday afternoons to play Mah Jong (all welcome!). If you would be interested in attending another indoor games afternoon - perhaps on Thursdays - please contact Alicia Groves or me. Suggestions for what to play (500? Cribbage? Monopoly? Something else?) are also welcome.
8) Smoke detector from the kitchen has been relocated in the clubroom (thanks, Chris Groves), due to steam from the urn setting it off. Talking of which, please turn off the urn when it boils.
9) New members We welcome Sue Pastre and Neville Lester to the club.
10) Reminder! The government requires that (if at all possible) you use the Check-in-Tas app on arrival, and our insurers insist you sign in. Please do both!
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
1) Dates for your diary: our Annual Clean Up Day will be Saturday 14 August, preparing for our Opening Day on Saturday 28 August. We are also planning a Quiz Night in September. Don’t forget the New Member Welcome tomorrow at 5 pm!
2) Try Association Croquet If you are a GC player, and are wondering about Association Croquet, we are interested in hearing from you. Given sufficient interest, we are exploring ways to introduce AC to GC players. Please contact me if you would like to be involved.
3) GC Selector’s 8 event Our own Michael Bratt was runner up, pipped at the post by two net games. Congratulation, Michael!
4) Water leak on B lawn The cause was a broken pipe, which is being fixed. There are a couple of other problems with our irrigation system, which Alan Smith is sorting out.
5) Club championships AC Club Championship games have been completed since the last Memo. The winners and runners up are: Open - Graham Keating from Bob Bye. Division B: Hugh Denny from Charlie Davis. Division C: Hazel Maddox from Fritha Neilsen. Coralie Turner Memorial: Jane Hyland from Hazel Maddox.
6) Intraclub GC pennant will commence on Thursday 17 June, running for five weeks.
7) Grant We have been awarded a government grant to help us replace the old, deteriorating line markings, which now sit well below the court surface and require a lot of work to keep clear. A subcommittee of Garry Forward, Graham Keating and Brian Stafford is working with Alan Smith to finalise the details of how this will be achieved.
8) Rule books We have a club copy of the new AC Rules for members to consult, and a supply of the GC Rules for sale at $7.
9) Name badges We will be putting in an order for SBCC name badges soon. It is good for all members to have one, for events like the New Members Welcome or Opening Day, for when you help out with outside hires, for times when we join with other clubs (especially in competitions) and so on. Last time, they cost $15 (with a pin attachment) or $18 (magnet attachment). If you want one, let me know.
10) MCMF 19 Hoop Tournament at Kingston CC on 10 - 14 June. Go along and see some top class Golf Croquet!
11) New members We welcome Sue Johnson, Elizabeth Hickman and Rohini Gunadasa to the club.
Tim Sprod, Secretary, Sandy Bay Croquet Club
