Southport volunteers recognised, pennants won, and Gateball referees advance

At a recent presentation to Volunteers by the local Federal Member for Moncrieff, Angie Bell, there were three very worthy recipients of their Volunteer Awards: Mike Wallis, Amanda, and Lee Wentworth.

Speaking of volunteers, Southport Club held its 3rd BBQ at Bunnings in September. It has been a very good fund-raising activity with over $3,000 added to the Club's finances for this year. There is a need to encourage and to train more volunteers to ensure such profitable events can continue.

At the recent AGM most positions were filled by the person who carried out the task for the last year. A new Treasurer, Murray Furness, and a new Grants Officer, Vince Thackeray, were elected. These two roles were previously carried out by the dedicated and hard-working member, Kerry Lamerton. Her last month in these roles was to oversee the reconfiguration of the doors to the two toilets which was completed last month using Grant Money. Having people like Kerry within our Club has provided so many positive results to make our Club better than ever.

The Gold Coast Regional Pennants are now concluded. Congratulations to the Southport Golf Croquet Teams who won the Division 1 and the Division 2 section of the competitions. Also on the winning podium is the Southport Sharks Ricochet Team that won the GCT Regional Pennant Competition. The Association team was runner-up in the Region.

Travelling to Perth to represent QLD in the Australian Interstate Golf Croquet Championships were Gabby Spencer and Mary McMahon, who is the Team Captain. The highlight was defeating the team from NSW. The QLD team was placed in 3rd position. Mary was joint Player of the Series for QLD. Her next competition is to fulfil the invitation to play in the Over 50's World Golf Croquet Competition to be held in October in W.A. Good luck Mary!

Both of these players are proof that targeted practice sessions pay off, with both Gabby and Mary doing regular practice almost every day. Both have reduced their handicap to a minus level.

Mary McMahon and Gabby Spencer, who represented Queensland in Perth.

In the Gibson Medal for Association players in QLD last month, Kathie Grant was placed second. It was a title that she won last year. This month she has competed in the NSW AC Singles Championships and in the ACA Bronze Medal held for QLD players. Kathie is another Southport player who dedicates many hours to improving her game and spends many hours coaching other AC players.

Kathie Grant, placed second in the Gibson Medal.

Two teams of Gateball players travelled to Albury to compete in the Australian Gateball Championships 7-10th September. There were 32 pairs of Doubles in the Australian Gateball Doubles Competition. Kathie Grant and Barbara Northcott reached the semifinals and placed equal 3rd. The winning pair were two Japanese players. In the teams competition, there was a team from India and one from Japan. It was so good to welcome back our overseas visitors.

On a Sunday morning in August a series of exams was held for those who wish to be Referees for Gateball. The standard ranged from Level 1, and Level 2 to International Referee. The next step is to have the practical tests completed in order to receive any qualification.

Referee candidates Barbara Northcott, Eunice Frater, Donna Nicholson, Ros Crowe, Keith Chur-Hansen, Kerry Lamerton, Robert Roose, Kathie Grant, and Robyn Barlow.

Vale - Jim Northcott AM 1938-2023

It was with great sorrow that the death of Jim Northcott was announced as of 12/9/23. His long life provided many highlights. As a Major (Retired) he had an extensive career in the Australian Army with 2 tours of duty in Vietnam. After his work as Chief Marshall of the Opening and Closing Ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, he became the Director of the Australia Day Celebrations for QLD for 10 years. Returning from 5 years in Tokyo, he joined the Southport Croquet Club in 2007. Jim was President of Southport Croquet Club 2007-2009 and again 2020-2021. He was a qualified Coach in the four codes and a Referee in Ricochet and Gateball. His presence and guidance will be greatly missed.

By Southport. From the Croquet Newsletter, September/October 2023, pages 24, 25.