At the Croquet New Zealand Annual General Meeting on the 10th of October, the 2019-20 Award winners were announced. Along with the 8 annual awards, 2 players were also inducted into the CNZ Hall of Fame.
The award winners are listed below:
Presidents Trophy – Highest percentage increase of new to croquet members
Barry Memorial Croquet Club – with an increase of 47%!
Huon Pine Bowl – Highest total increase of new to croquet members
Waikanae Croquet Club – with an increase of 18 new players!
Club Participation Award
Cashmere Croquet Club – with a total score of 26%!
Baker Trophy – Most Improved AC Player
Ali’i Posimani (Wellington). Ali’i enjoyed a tremendous season. After receiving his first AC handicap in July 2019 (a 14), he was able to decrease this to finish the season on a 3. During that period he achieved his Silver and Gold Merit Awards, skipping the Bronze award. Ali’i also won several trophies throughout the season including the Heenan Plate and Charles Jones Memorial Salver at the the NZ Open and the Roger Murfitt Invitation.
Most Improved GC Player
Levi Franks (Canterbury). Levi started the season with an index of 1514. Such was his improvement, he accumulated 824 index points to finish on 2338. Levi started the season by winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools doubles with partner, Myles Duggan. This was followed by an outstanding performance at the South Island GC Championships where he was the runner-up in the doubles and reached the semi-finals of the singles where he lost to the eventual winner and GC Nationals Champion, Logan McCorkindale. Levi was also part of the Canterbury U17 team that played Sweden before the GC World Teams Championship, going undefeated to help his team win that Test.
Volunteer of the Year
Kevin McGlinchy (South Canterbury). Kevin has been a volunteer for a number of years so it was no surprise that he put his hand up to do a number of tasks during 2019-20. In the space of one year, Kevin ran a managers training course for 14 potential managers in their region, managed 4 regional tournaments and help organise and manage the South Island Masters Games after it needed to be moved from Nelson. This event included 96 GC singles entries, 74 GC doubles pairs, 28 AC singles entries nd 16 AC doubles pairs. An enormous effort to ensure people can continue to enjoy the game!
Contribution to Croquet
Barbara Ward (Otago). Barbara’s croquet life started in 2014. Within a year she was on Tainui Croquet Club’s committee and a year later she became President. Barbara has navigated the club through a difficult period, establishing themselves as an Incorporated Society and negotiating a new lease for their land with the Dunedin City Council. Throughout this period the club continued to grow! Barbara was recently elected the President of the Otago Croquet Association to continue her croquet journey.
Player of the Year
Edmund Fordyce (Canterbury). Edmund had a phenomenal 2019-20 season with success in both codes. Having won both of the Most Improved Trophies previously, some may say this was the natural progression and somewhat inevitable. Domestically, Edmund was the runner-up in both the NZ Open singles and GC Nationals singles and was the winner of the NZ Open doubles with Greg Bryant. Edmund’s season started with the U21 GC World Championships in July 2019. Edmund won the final 3-2 having only dropped three games all tournaments. Edmund was then a member of the New Zealand team which successfully defended the Openshaw Trophy in Nelson during January 2020. Individually, Edmund won 8 of his 9 singles matches and again only dropped 3 games. With his dominance on the world stage, Edmund is currently ranked 2nd in the GC World Rankings.
Croquet New Zealand Hall of Fame
Following the announcement of the annual awards, two players were inducted into the CNZ Hall of Fame.
You can see their bio’s and list of their croquet achievements by clicking on their names below.
2020 CNZ Hall of Fame Inductees:
Chris Clarke
Greg Bryant
