As we draw closer to the end of the season, I thought I’d take the opportunity to outline the processes we go through when making decisions as members of the Match Committee.
As most of you know, John, Marty and myself are responsible for Golf Croquet with Eric and Rob taking care of Association Croquet.
Last year we we spent considerable time reviewing and subsequently making changes to the Match Committee guidelines. The document was then sent to Croquetwest for discussion and final approval.
Every decision we make is based around the following statement:
The Sub Committee aims to maximize participation in events and believes that preference should be given to player participation, enjoyment, and fulfilment over ease of event management, while balancing the practicalities of numbers and venues.
The process is as follows.
Once final numbers are known, John proposes a format for us to consider which best satisfies our goals. After much discussion; emails, phone calls and in person, we reach a consensus and then John puts the finishing touches on the program.
Every tournament is different and has its own special challenges (which can often change overnight). For example:
WA GC Statewide Teams
Originally, if we had 14 or more teams we had made arrangements to use Bunbury Central in an effort to maximise playing time. Straight away though, we lost a team and so it didn’t make sense to split the event between two venues.
The next decision was to determine the format and what would be a reasonable number of games for everyone to play. We felt 11 was a good number (a singles and double match both untimed) and this could be best done via a round robin. This then raised the issue of not all teams playing everyone and so we had to decide on the best way to ensure a balance. Players will note that Team 1 doesn’t play Team 13, 2 doesn’t play 12, 3 doesn’t play 11 and so on. This is not ideal, but once again, it fits within our aims of balancing the practicalities of numbers.
The finalised program, including playing conditions, draw, start times, player responsibilities etc is then emailed to all the participants and if we are lucky, no further changes need to be made.
We review each event, which includes analysing any feedback that is provided by the host club, individual participants and by us. This information is then used to help us move forward.
It goes without saying that we don’t get everything right all of the time. Tournament management, time off court, maximising playing time and etiquette are common issues that we are working hard to address. The good news though is that the number of entries we are receiving each year is increasing and so we trending in the right direction.
As Max would say, “Happy Hooping!”
Gary
