Morning Coffee: USCA Nine Wicket On Deck

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This week the USCA's Nine-Wicket National Championship will be played in the Kansas City metro (Shawnee, Kansas). As usual, Croquet Network will post short reports and daily photos from the event so be sure and tune in Friday through Sunday to follow the action.

Robert Fulford won the CA Selection Eights. Photos and summary are on the CA webite. Final standings in the forum--
/croquet-network-forum/post/1595180#post1595180

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CFA Offers Book on "Serious Croquet"

The artistry and emotions of competitive croquet are captured in a soon-to-be-released book.  It combines Bob Chilton’s poignant photography and John Osborn’s eloquent prose to depict the serious side of croquet as never before.  Bob has filled the 160-page, cocktail-table, 11” x 14” book with exquisite photography of over 130 tournament players from across the U.S.  John Osborn draws from his life-long obsession to capture the competitiveness as well at the humorous side of the sport.
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Morning Coffee: Amir Ramsis is New WCF President

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The World Croquet Federation has announced that Amir Ramsis will become acting President. Ramsis is Vice-President of the Egyptian Croquet Federation and has served on the WCF Management Committee since 2003. The election for a new WCF President, along with other posts on the Management Committee, will take place during November-December with the successful candidates taking up their posts on January 1, 2012. More info--
/croquet-network-forum/post/1590857

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Morning Coffee: The Loss of a Leader

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The murder of WCF President Charles Jones in Thailand last week is still the news that haunts the croquet world. There was an update in that a suspect has been arrested. In the meantime, there has only been a short statement released on the WCF website and I suspect the shock of such an event has everyone a bit paralyzed. After all, there is very little precedent for such an event in sports. And perhaps, a moment of quiet is what is best for the croquet world. Despite the fact that I never knew Charles, the international club of croquet creates a bond and I know that players across the world were saddened by this senseless loss.

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Croquet World Mourns Death of Charles Jones

World Croquet Federation president Charles Jones was killed August 23 in Thailand. Articles indicate that he was 56 and taking a holiday while making his way back from the World Golf Croquet Championships held in England.

Info on Jones from the Croquet New Zealand website:
http://www.croquet.org.nz/?id=306&entityType=HTML

News links:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5505783/Kiwi-croquet-boss-murdered-in-Thailand

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10747339

Video:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Slain-Kiwi-wanted-to-open-Thai-croquet-club/tabid/309/articleID/223514/Default.aspx

Morning Coffee: World GC Debate Continues

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Nearly one month later and the debate surrounding the World Golf Croquet Championship reached a crescendo this past week. To start, Mark McInerney hit the Irish Times website with a compelling Q&A driven by a truly slanted interviewer. McInerney seemed to handle it well, but I find it interesting that the piece made their society section and not the sports section. I find it interesting that society page reporter would feel comfortable with such a condescending attitude toward croquet--
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2011/0820/1224302538156.html

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