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1997 World Championships,
Montpellier, France
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New Zealand Teams
Jean-Pierre
Bedel, Phillippe Bourel, Pam Jenkins
Christian
Fouquet, Jean Peni, Niau Ruta
Report
Well, another
World Champs has come again with
it’s share of drama and glory
with a French crowd of 4,100
which could have been tripled if
the hall was larger.
The biggest upset
came from the local team of
Marco Foyot, Michel Passo and
Jose Farre, who lost to
France(2) at 2.00am, after
leading 12- 8, when France(2)
scored 5 points at the
next end and won 13-12 against
the run of play.
The other upset
of course was that a very
deserving Tunisian team who lost
last year in the final against
France(1), had a sweet revenge
by beating France(2).
For the two New
Zealand teams the results were
satisfying as we beat the
Seychelles Islands 13 - 2,
Senegal 13 - 8 and Andorra 13-0.
We could have
done a bit better, but the
conditions were not easy and the
pitch was hard to master, the
heat was extreme over 30°C and
the play was going from 8.00am
to 2.30am the next day.
Despite all that
we had a great time and enjoyed
the experience and were all
proud to represent New Zealand
in 1997. Good luck to the New
Zealand team for 1998, who will
play in Los Palmas in the Canary
Islands, off the coast of
Morocco. See you on the petanque
pitches.
Christian Fouquet
Memo from Montpellier
All who went to
the 33rd World Petanque
Championships gained immensely
from doing so, the experience of
playing in the cauldron of an
international competition (or
sauna as the sun-baked, black,
ill ventilated venue proved to
be) is unique, descriptions can
partially prepare one but there
is nothing like first hand
experience, equally the many
international friendships made
are beyond price.
The highlight for
me as 'chef delegation' after
New Zealand’s epic game against
Morocco, a loss but a game which
commanded the respect of the
spectator gallery and a very
positive Congress attended by
delegates from all the countries
participating, was being
threatened with being made an
honorary member of the Irish
Petanque Association! I am
keeping a wary eye on the post.
Friendships made
at the one annual event where
all countries can meet serve to
bind the greater petanque family
together and the game and
players of all countries benefit
as a result of subsequent
exchange of correspondence and
visits.
As earlier
alluded to the Congress of
delegates was very worthwhile.
Headphones provided simultaneous
translation of French into
English and vice versa. The
Congress started with two
sessions where delegates could
discuss promotion of the game or
changes to the structure of the
World Championships, Rules of
the Game, etc.
After much useful
discussion, voting by the
assembled countries decided that
in future World Championships -
each country would be
represented by one team only (in
1998 the World Championships
Tunisia and organising country
Spain are allowed two teams but
this allowance will be voted
upon at the 1998 Congress).
The host
country will cover the
expenses of four persons
e.g. three players and one
delegate.
A reserve
player will be allowed ie.
teams can consist of four
players.
All these remits
were passed with significant
majorities. At this point Spain
then announced that she would
hold the 1998 World
Championships in Las Palmas,
Canary Islands, 23rd - 27th
September 1998.
Morocco &
Australia registered an interest
for 1999 and the United States
for 2000. Obviously the 1999 and
2000 have yet to be confirmed
but it seems the revised format
has meant that more countries
can contemplate grappling with
the logistics of lodging,
transport, catering, terrain
provision for the one team / one
country competition.
With Petanque
continuing to grow worldwide -
the respite may be temporary -
Mauritius, Seychelles and Mali
are now full members of the
FIPJP with Vanuatu, Burkina
Faso, Laos and Poland seeking
provisional membership.
Closer to home
New Zealand will have the
opportunity to send teams to the
first Oceania Championship to be
held towards the end of 1998 in
Sydney, Australia.
Cam
Calder
Coaching material is now
available
Cam Calder sought and obtained
permission from the FIPJP
President, Claude Azema, to
reproduce their excellent
Petanque Coaching Manual. New
Zealand’s task is made much
easier by the fact Gillian
Freeman of the BPA has produced
an excellent translation of this
work. Thank you to Dudley Lewin
President of the BPA for this
translation.
Peugeot are sponsoring the
production which will be
available to NZPA Members at
$10.00 & $1.00 p&p and non
members at $20.00, plus $1.00
p&p.
Hillary Commission eligibility
for funding secured
Since the NZPA
founding in 1993, the Secretary
has been working on ensuring all
the manifold requirements for
funding eligibility were met as
the Association grew nationally.
The application
was lodged earlier this year and
has been duly approved. The NZPA
is now in a position to seek
assistance from Hillary
Commission funds should we
choose to do so.
Coaching New Zealand courses
good value
Coaching New
Zealand run courses at all
levels to help one coach
effectively. Enquire at your
local Sports Trust. Christian
Fouquet, National Coach and Cam
Calder successfully completed
the CNZ Level 1 Course in
August.
Media interest in NZ team high
Possibly because
we are fairly new to the game
and come from the opposite end
of the earth the French media
were fascinated to learn about
petanque and it’s growth in our
country. Christian was
interviewed on French TV on
three separate stations, Pam had
a fine photo grace the sporting
pages of Midi Libre and Jean
Peni was interviewed by the same
paper.
The entire team appeared
on one program practising on the
terrain and Cam was interviewed
by one Israeli paper and The
Wall Street Journal. Needless to
say Air New Zealand and Peugeot
were mentioned at every
opportunity.
NZPA Website
Thanks to Regis
Gomez our web page is looking
bright and welcoming.
Opening of petanque terrain in
Timaru
We have been
playing on the new terrain since
mid-September and are
sufficiently at home to
challenge any ‘outsiders’ for a
game. We managed to construct a
terrain of 18m x 15m reasonably
level and have parking
practically alongside. It
involved a lot of hard work by a
few and it certainly reduced my
‘pot’ considerably.
My fellow club
mates have great ideas limited
only by available finances
(seating, lighting, gear storage
etc.). The Terrain will be
called: 'The Lloyd Moffat
Petanque Terrain' after my late
Vice President who died only a
few weeks ago and who was
instrumental in us joining the
SC RSA of which organisation he
was a staunch supporter and a
Gold Badge holder.
Lloyd’s widow
will unveil the 1.7m sign
engraved (routed) on a board 180
x 45 on the opening day. Hope to
send some photos of the opening
in the near future. - Peter
Spruyt
1998 Masters Games - Petanque
In the 1998 Masters
Games, petanque is being
hosted by the Caversham Petanque
Club, at the Caversham Sports
Club, Hazel Avenue, Dunedin, and
we would like as many people as
possible to attend.
Although we
originally intended to limit the
competition to 32 teams we have
now decided to leave it open.
Petanque will be played on
6 & 7 February, play commencing at
9.00am with registration at
8.45am. Competitors to provide
their own boules - leisure or
competition - 3 each of the same
design. Integrale boules and
equipment will be available for
sale during the week of the
Masters Games.
Morning and
afternoon teas will be provided
and a variety of food will be
available to buy for lunch. We
are unable to offer BYO
facilities as we are on
club-licensed premises. The bar
will be open both days.
The Waterloo
Hotel - 3 minutes walk - also
offers lunches and an extensive,
and reasonable, dinner menu in
their Bonaparte Restaurant. They
also have some bed and breakfast
accommodation.
After much
discussion the Caversham Bowling
Club has now become the
Caversham Sports Club Inc. with
Petanque being an integral part.
Our club has gone from strength
to strength and has over 60
members.
The opening day
for the 1997/98 season is being
held on 19th October and we are
expecting more new members after
this as interest has been very
high. Due to the mildness of the
winter there were very few
playing sessions that had to be
cancelled - the Tuesday evenings
under lights and with plenty of
warm clothing were a lot of fun.
With clubs now at
Milton and Oamaru, and pending
at Mosgiel, we are hoping for
plenty of inter-club challenges
this next year. If you have
further inquiries please
contact: Anne Sinclair or Jan
Warburton
Integrale Challenge Match: Herne
Bay vs Mt Albert
Warm sunny
conditions prevailed in the
idyllic surroundings at Cabbage
Tree Swamp Terrain as Herne Bay
repelled a very serious
challenge from Mt Albert.
Four
teams of triples from each Club
contested the first of what is
to become an annual event and as
a compliment to the strength of
a ‘fledgling club’, Herne Bay
selected a full strength team,
with 7 of their 12 players being
NZ Reps vs 3 NZ Reps in the
‘Swamp Foxes’.
At the lunch
break after two rounds the
scores were level at 4 - 4 with
some very tense and lengthy
games being the highlight of the
morning’s play. Steve’s team
were 5 - 5 after 1 hour 15
minutes against Charles’s
eventually winning 13 - 10, a
critical result in the final
count!
Another series of
tight games resulted in Herne
Bay gradually pulling away to
win 9 - 7, but 3 of the
afternoon games were 13 - 11 to
Herne Bay, any two of which
would have reversed the final
result.
A feature of the
day was Niau’s team winning all
four games and recording a ‘6’
in each match. Devastating to
play against that sort of form
and this augured well for his
chances at the approaching World
Champs in France. The best team
for Herne Bay was Steve’s who
won 3 out of 4 games, his only
loss obviously to Niau.
This match was
set up as a very serious event,
the intention being to give the
two NZ Teams some serious match
practice. This was very
definitely achieved and will
certainly become a hotly
contested annual event in the
future.
1998 ANZAC Tournament
Doubles competition.
25 - 26 April
1998. Rotorua Petanque Club
Government Gardens, Rotorua.
Trevor Nielson of
the Rotorua Petanque Club
advises you that Rotorua will be
heavily booked - those needing
accommodation need to book
before Xmas.
Cam Calder, Secretary NZPA
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