The recent Covid-19 cases in the community resulted in NZ ascending back up the Alert Levels. Croquet New Zealand announced that a decision around the upcoming tournaments would be reviewed following the Governments press-conference on the 17th of February.
New Zealand has once again banded together and with strong contact tracing processes, we were able to de-escalate the Alert Levels relatively quickly. However, with Auckland currently remaining in Alert Level 2, there is still some uncertainty around what this means for the upcoming tournaments.
The 2020-21 Tournament Guidelines were developed at the beginning of the season based on player feedback to help guide CNZ’s decision making around tournaments. Croquet New Zealand would like to see all tournaments played if possible but player and volunteer welfare is of utmost importance. CNZ also strongly believes that for a national tournament to proceed, all players must have been given the opportunity to be selected or participate. This premise has been used when making the following decisions.
Women’s AC Invitation and CA Gold Cup Invitation:
The Women’s AC Invitation is scheduled to be played on the 5th and 7th of March at Whakatane Croquet Club. As the selections were made prior to the latest lockdown, CNZ believes that no individual was unfairly disadvantaged or excluded from selection due to Covid restrictions.
Therefore, the Women’s AC Invitation will go ahead as planned, unless NZ moves back into Alert Level 2 or higher.
The CA Gold Cup which is to be held on the 19th to 21st of March at Croquet Mount Maunganui will go ahead on the same basis as the Women’s AC Invitation, unless NZ moves back into Alert Level 2 or higher.
Edwina Thompson Invitation, Roger Murfitt Invitation, Copper Tray Invitation and Arthur Ross Memorial Event Final:
These four events are either based in Auckland, have Auckland based players selected or it is possible for an Auckland based player to be involved.
As CNZ believes that for a national event to proceed, all players must be afforded the opportunity to participate, these events are still under review and would require Auckland to be in Alert Level 1.
Associations and participants in these events will be contacted directly and the status of these tournaments will be reviewed following the Governments announcement on Monday, 22nd February 2021.
