The 2015 Midwest Croquet Association Annual General Meeting was hosted at the home of Ron and Deborah Millican in Lee's Summit, MO on February 7, 2015. The meeting began at 11:00 a.m. with a look at financials and membership. The MCA set records in both revenue ($1815) and members in 2014. The MCA had 32 members in 2014, which was up from the record of 22 in 2013 (2012 had nine members).

The Second Annual MCA President's Awards were presented (results here) and then agenda topics began.

MCA President Dylan Goodwin began the meeting by announcing a desire to back off the concept of taking the MCA Nine Wicket Series to California and Canada for the 2015 season. The group agreed to focus the series on events closer to the Kansas City Metro area in order to develop and perfect the model prior to expansion. That also means that the Oklahoma Open was also pulled from the schedule.

"Frankly, we were getting tight on our window for California and our Tulsa contacts hadn't shown any interest in hosting a 2015 event," said Goodwin. "The Toronto area event showed more promise and I see that as the most likely expansion target for 2016."

With clarification on the scale of the organization for 2015, the MCA opted to organize as a non-profit entity and the goal is to get the structure in place by the summer. It was also stated that a waiver would be introduced for all events for 2015.

Annual membership fees were bumped by $5.00 for both singles and family/couple memberships. Fees will now be $25 for singles and $35 for family/couple memberships. Membership forms for 2015 are available here.

The MCA also opted to continue to utilize the USCA Nine-Wicket Rules despite reservations related to the current out of bounds rule. However, the MCA will perform a trial for the first two tournaments of 2015 with a modified wiring rule. The modified rule allows a wired ball to be lifted to any of the four legal corner locations to allow for a better shot opportunity.

After an active discussion, the MCA agreed to purchase eight sets of the more active 16 ounce balls sold by Oakley Woods. The purchase is estimated to be $800 excluding shipping. The MCA will need to stripe four of the sets. Due to concerns about the durability of the balls, they will only be utilized for tournaments.

Rules were put into place regarding both the president and board members. The four Board members are subject to two-year terms and the positions are set to have elections in alternate years at the AGM. The president is not subject to a set term and appointments and/or removals for the position of the MCA President are enacted by the overall board. The president is also a member of the board.

In accordance with the new two-year board member terms, Ron Millican and Debbie Breeden were put up for re-election. Breeden opted leave her seat and Bill Berg was nominated and elected as her replacement. Millican was un-opposed and elected for a two-year term. Current terms for Jodi Adams and Greg Clouse will end in 2016 and an election will be held at the 2016 AGM.

Goodwin announced that several people have agreed to serve in specific roles for the MCA:

• Bill Berg - Director of Club Development
• Greg Adams - Director of Fundraisers
• Justin Marciniak - Director of Content/Marketing
• Jodi Adams - Treasurer
• Gwyneth Bowen - Director of Merchandising

One specific role that Goodwin mentioned needed to be filled was Director of Events.

"After two years, we've actually got the 9WS tournament management down," said Goodwin. "But we need improvement on the event presentation. To be successful long-term, we need to create a more festive atmosphere and we need to continue to enhance the spectator experience." 

It was agreed that Goodwin World Media would continue to partner with the MCA to provide tournament publications, tournament management/marketing and website-enewsletter management in exchange for marketing opportunities. GWM also plans to provide a purse again for the 2015 points race. That amount will be announced prior to the start of the series in May.