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Another great year for Pétanque
in New Zealand. Things are
looking good all round. The
atmosphere at tournaments around
the country is fantastic, and
great friendships are being
forged all over. The number of
entries for our national
tournaments continues to grow,
and the quality of play is
correspondingly increasing in
leaps and bounds — no easy wins
these days!
Thanks to all the organisers and
volunteers for their hard work
in making us all welcome in
their regions. As long as we
have a good time petanque will
grow in this country.
Peugeot, our main sponsor, has
again been very generous to us,
increasing their annual donation
and providing a great range of
prizes for our national
tournaments. We also received an
increased in funding from the
Hillary Commission, and I would
like to thank both these
organisations for their
continued support of our sport.
On the competition front, we had
great results at the World
Championships in Portugal, and
the Oceania Championships in
Tahiti. The invitations to
overseas tournaments keep coming
in, testifying to our acceptance
in the world of petanque.
Given this situation, I am a bit
disappointed with the New
Zealand media, who don’t seem to
recognise petanque as a sport,
even though it is so similar to
bowls. If any of you have media
contacts, please talk to them —
we need a higher profile!
Looking ahead, the year 2001
promises to be even busier,
bigger and brighter for petanque.
In line with the evolving nature
of our sport, the NZPA has made
some changes to the national
tournaments, the main one being
to hold the Singles and Doubles
Championships at the same time.
It is hoped that this will make
the tournaments more accessible
to more people.
We are also increasing and
improving our use of the
internet for communication with
members and Clubs, and I would
urge all of you with computer
access to have a look at our
website, there’s heaps of
interesting and useful stuff.
But don’t worry, the printed
page is not yet obsolete, and
our wonderful magazine (thanks
to our hard-working Editor) will
keep you informed of petanque
goings-on for some time yet.
I look forward to seeing you all
at the AGM, and on the piste, in
Rotorua. A bientot!
Christian Fouquet
President |
