Five Questions: Andrea Pravettoni

As reported in the February Newsletter from the WCF, Italy has requested to move to observer status. I took the opportunity to connect with Italian representative Andrea Pravettoni to get additional perspective on the move and croquet in Italy:

#1 - Why is the Italian Federation wanting to move down to observer status in the WCF membership levels?
We asked to move down to “Observer” status because in 2015 we haven’t reached the number of affiliated players required to be an “Associate Member”, and we are not likely to reach that number in 2016 either.

#2 - How many members does the Italian Federation have and what is the requirement for Associate status?
The Italian Federation had about 15 members in 2015, while the threshold required by WCF Statute 102.1.2.1 is 20 Affiliated Players to obtain the Associate status.

Andrea Pravettoni (R) with Kevin Garrad (L) in 2007. Click for larger image.#3 - How many clubs do you have in Italy?
At the moment, only the club in Lucca is active and with two short size lawns with about 12 players. The other clubs still nominally exist, but they don’t have any playing facilities, so their number of players has fallen to one or nil each. They stay alive hoping to recruit other members, and so being able to find/build a lawn to restart playing.

We had some enquiries by sport centers and various associations to organize croquet events around Italy, but these kind of activities have never become more than words of appreciation for our sport.

#4 - What type of croquet is most prevalent in Italy (AC, GC or other)?
At the moment, GC is most prevalent in Italy, mainly because the players in Lucca play just GC.

#5 - Do you have tournaments planned for 2016?
There is an Open GC tournament planned on September 17-18, 2016 in Lucca. There will be a couple of other GC tournaments in Lucca during next Spring, but they will be reserved to local and Italian players.

Learn more about the Federazione Italia Sport Croquet at www.croquetitalia.it.