MINUTES OF THE USCA—NC DISTRICT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
July 29, 2005
Linville, NC

The Annual General Meeting of the USCA-NC District was called to order at 8:40 PM by our President, Danny Huneycutt.

Minutes

Bill Berne made a motion to dispense with the reading of the 2004 Annual General Meeting Minutes and that they be approved as written.

President’s Report

Danny began by thanking the High Country croquet clubs for hosting the Club Teams doubles tournament, with special recognition to Lucy Greene and David and Mieke Maloof for making all the arrangements. Now, for a report of 2005 tournament results:

• 2005 NC State Singles Champion is Danny Huneycutt. This year’s event was held at Etowah and Chattooga Clubs, and just like at Linville, the venues were very beautiful. It’s interesting to note that at last year’s tournament which was held at Pinehurst, there were 39 total participants, with 21 players from Pinehurst. This year, there were 36 total participants with only about 10 local players. This indicates that there were more players from across the state who made the effort to support this event which is a very positive move;
• 2004 NC State Club Teams Championship was won by Meadows Mallet Club;
• 2005 USCA SE Regional Doubles Championship was won by Bill and Billie Jean Berne;
• 2005 USCA SE Regional Singles Championship was won by Danny Huneycutt;
• 2005 NC Open Championship was won by Bob Cherry;
• 2005 NC Sextuple Challenge was won by Bob Cherry;
• 2004 USCA American 6-Wicket Doubles Championship runners-up were Bob Cherry and Danny Huneycutt;
• 2005 USCA International Rules Doubles Championship runners-up were Jeff Soo and Paul Scott;
• 2005 USCA International Rules National Singles Champion was Danny Huneycutt;
• Four of the six players on the 2005 Solomon Trophy team were from NC—Jeff Soo, Bob Cherry, Damon Bidencope, and Danny Huneycutt (plus Team Manager Mack Penwell).

We have a new SE Regional Vice President: Gene Young, who replaced Jeff Soo. Jeff has done a great job and will continue to stay very active in NC croquet and he also does a lot of work at the national level. Special thanks and recognition is given to Jeff Soo for the development of our new and expanded NC web site. Danny asked that all clubs send pictures and/or articles about their activities via e-mail to Jeff. The NC FORUM is also another source of good technical information.

Canadian Test Match was again held at Pinehurst. This year there were 12 participants from Canada and we try to match NC players of equal handicaps. NC won the match, but the main focus is the camaraderie and a great time was had by all.

There were 40+ players who attended this year’s Association Croquet (Int’l. Rules) Clinic. There were 6 instructors, 5 of whom are National champions. This is a great opportunity for NC players to become acquainted with the game and/or improve your skills. We will hold another clinic next year in early Spring or late Winter.

Danny ended his report by giving the 2005 “President’s Award” to our Treasurer, Dick Ott for all his hard work behind the scenes in keeping our finances in order.

Treasurer’s Report

Dick Ott reported that we started out the year 2004 with a balance of $6,358 and after expenses ended up with a balance of $4905. For the year 2005, Danny forgot to mention that the instructors at the Int’l. Rules Clinic who did all the work contributed their time and, as a result, we were able to put those funds into an Int’l. Fund to help defray some of the expenses of our players who go to international tournaments. This year we were able to provide $1,000 to those players who represented our State in the Solomon Trophy tournament. We have a current balance of $19,606; however, the Club Teams Doubles expenses have not been paid. By year end, we should be back down in the $5-6,000 range and will end the year 2005 in good shape.

Committee Reports

Gene Young—Development Committee and VP of the SE Region: Gene began by saying that the SE Region is probably the strongest region in croquet. This is primarily due to people like Danny Huneycutt, here in NC, and Conrad Hass, in VA. Gene reported that Conrad had recently taken the initiative in developing 9-wicket croquet. This is probably one of the largest untapped resources today. He’s looking into the YMCA to tap into young people as that’s where the growth of our sport is. In conclusion, please let him know if there is anything he can do at the State or Regional level.

Old Business

Conrad Haas asked that the CARVA Tournament be considered next year. This is a tournament between North & South Carolina and Virginia & West Virginia and they would like the trophy back!

New Business

Tournament Locations for 2006:

• Next year the SE Regional will be held sometime in late May/early June at Pinehurst. Danny thanked all the players who took advantage of Pinehurst Resort’s special room rate for accommodations. We have a special opportunity at Pinehurst with their 4 full-sized courts. If they can fill the rooms next year, they will open up the two new tees used for the US Open which can be used, making a total of 6 courts available at Pinehurst. Also, Longleaf Country Club is in the process of building two new croquet courts which would make 8 croquet courts available in one location.
• In talking about new croquet courts, Meadows Mallet Club now has 4 new courts under construction and will have 3 courts ready for the Meadows Invitational tournament at the end of August.
• NC Open—Pinehurst will host the Open, which is planned for March/April.
• NC Club Teams—will request that they again be held in the Linville area, for the 4th year.
• NC Singles Championship—No decision has been made. Pinehurst is usually available; we now have opportunity in the Winston-Salem/Lexington area, also possibly Etowah/Chattooga. In the next few months we will make an announcement as to where and when the tournament will be held.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Kuhasz
Secretary, USCA-NC District