Petanque New Zealand

Petanque New Zealand Magazine, Issue 6, Summer 2007

2006 World Championships, Grenoble, France

• New Zealand Team

  Men: Ian Baker, Christian Fouquet, Michael Rocks, Dirk Winnie

  Women: Sharon Cannon, Barbara Johnston, Laurel Priestley

Player Profiles

• Ian Baker

  Member of the Herne Bay Petanque Club. Won the Peugeot National doubles Championship in 2004 and 2005 and the Peugeot National Triples Championship in 2005. Has also been successful in a number of open tournaments winning the 2006 Masterton Mid Winter Doubles and placing third in the 2006 New Zealand Open.

   

  Represented New Zealand at the Oceania Championships in 1998 and 2000, the Trans Trans 2005 and 2006, the 2005 Pan Pacific Championships in Vietnam, the 2005 Singapore International and the 2004 World Championships. Served on the PNZ Committee from 2000 to 2005.

   

• Christian Fouquet

  Member of the Herne Bay Petanque Club. Started playing petanque at the age of 6. Played in the French junior league until the age of 16. Emigrated to New Zealand. In 1993 was instrumental in setting up PNZ. Served on the PNZ Committee for 8 years and was President for 3 years.

   

  Won the Peugeot National Doubles Championship in 2001 and 2002 and the Peugeot National Triples Championship in 2004. Represented New Zealand at the World Petanque Championships 8 times between 1999 and 2006 as either a player or manager. Was in the New Zealand team for the 2000 and 2005 Oceania Championships and the 2005 and 2006 Trans Tasman.

   

• Michael Rocks

  Joined the Christchurch Petanque Club in 1995. Moved to Wellington and joined the Khandallah Petanque Club. Has won the Wellington Triples Championship five times and the Wellington Doubles Championship once. Won the Peugeot National Triples Championship in 2004.

   

  Has also been successful in several open tournaments winning the Masterton WBS Triples (4 times), the 2006 Masterton Mid Winter Doubles and placing third in the 2006 New Zealand Open.

  Represented New Zealand in all four Tran Tasman matches (2003 - 2006), the 2002 Oceania Championships and at the 2005 Singapore International.

   

  Wellington Petanque Association President 2003 - 2005 and is currently the Wellington Regional representative on the PNZ Council.

   

• Dirk Winnie

  Picked up his first petanque boule in 1996 and was hooked. He has won 12 Wellington Regional Championships (6 triples, 4 doubles and 2 singles) plus numerous other tournaments such as the Kapiti Doubles (4 times), the Masterton Triples and the Rotorua ANZAC Doubles. In 1999 Dirk won the Peugeot National Singles Championship and in 2004 the Peugeot National Triples Championship.

   

  Represented New Zealand at the 2005 Pan Pacific Championships in Vietnam, the 2005 Oceania Championships and three Trans Tasmans (2004 - 2006). Would like to thank all those people who have supported the team. Hopes to share what he learns at this years World Championships with as many people as possible.

   

• Sharon Cannon

  Started playing petanque in 1997. A member of the Bay View Petanque Club, Napier. Placed second in the 2003 Peugeot National Triples Championship and third in the 2005 event. Has also performed credibility in a number of regional tournaments. Represented New Zealand in all four Tran Tasman matches (2003 - 2006).

   

  Won the award for the most valuable female player in the 2005 Trans Tasman. In 2005 represented New Zealand at the Pan Pacific Championships in Vietnam and the Oceania Championships. At the Oceania Championships Sharon the the Womens Shooting gold medal.

   

• Barbara Johnston

  Started playing petanque about 9 years ago. Member of the Masterton Petanque Club. Won the Hawkes Bay Classic doubles in 1999. Has competed in regional and national tournaments with the best result a third placing in the 2003 Peugeot National Singles Championship.

   

  Represented New Zealand at both the 2002 and 2005 Oceania Championships and the 2006 Trans Tasman. Won the Womens Singles gold medal at the 2002 Oceania Championships and was runner up in the Womens Triples at the 2005 Oceania Championships.

   

• Laurel Priestley

  Started playing petanque in 1991. Won the first ever New Zealand tournament (Devonport Doubles 1992). Won the Peugeot National Triples Championship in 1995. Represented New Zealand at the 1996 World Championships. Placed third in the 1998 National Triples and second in the 1998 National Doubles Championship. Won various regional tiles including the 1996 North Harbour Masters.

   

  Had a break from petanque while travelling and living in Golden Bay. Came back into petanque and represented New Zealand at 2005 Oceania Championships and the 2006 Trans Tasman.

Manager's Report

Sunday 10th September

Well, it was great to meet up with the team at the Atomic (now 121 Cafe) for breakfast before heading off to the airport. Thanks to David and Joanne for hosting us overnight and joining us for breakfast, along with Rolinka and Clem. Alan and Anita came to see us off and to wish us all the best.

We flew with Emirates via Brisbane and Singapore, just transit stops, and on to Dubai for a one night stopover, arriving in Dubai at around 7.00am Monday morning.

Monday 11th

Dubai was very hot - 44C. The outside of the airport building had jets of water spraying out to keep people who were waiting to be collected from collapsing in the heat. Much like the vegetable spray in the supermarket!

Had breakfast at the hotel and some of the team had a swim then went for a walk, and took a boat ride on the river up to the older part of the city where the gold souk is.

Later in the afternoon, about 4.00pm, we were all picked up in four wheel drive vehicles to head off for our ‘Dinner in the Desert’ experience. This started with a crazy form of something called dune bashing, where they let the tyres down and then drive up and down and around the dunes as fast as possible! There were about ten vehicles in our party.

Next was camel riding, which Sharon and Dirk showed the rest of us how to do!

Dirk and Christian dressed in Arab robes and had some rather dubious looking photos taken and some of us had henna tattoos painted on our arms. Dinner followed, after which there was a display of dancing and the usual effort to get others up to dance. The only person to have a go (it was still very hot) was yours truly - probably a truly awful sight! Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be any photographic evidence.

Tuesday 12th

Some of the team got up and went on a river cruise before heading back to the airport to fly on to Paris. Arrived in Paris around 8.30pm, and after checking in, we all headed off for dinner and then bed.

Wednesday 13th

Christian came to the hotel to meet up with the team (he was staying with his parents) and to take us back to near his parent's apartment, where there is a sports shop with petanque equipment for sale.

Some of the team purchased new boules and other petanque gear and then it was back to his parents for an aperitif and lunch in a favourite local Italian restaurant, where we were joined by Christian's parents, brother and nephews.

After lunch the team went to a nearby carpark where they practised for several hours. We then adjourned (Camelia and I a bit earlier as we were in need of coffee) to a nearby cafe/bar with a petanque terrain out the back.

The men's team discussed the team for the weekend tournament and also the shooting competition. Dirk and Murray played pool with some locals and the team had some games out the back before heading off back to the hotel.

Thursday 14th

This was a free day until later in the afternoon when we all went down the road for a practise by the Seine. Rather a picturesque setting with river boats, people walking, a couple practicing their ballroom dancing and a band playing. Needless to say, the weather was lovely and warm.

Friday 15th

Up early and off to the train at 6.15am to Grenoble. Three hours on the TGV, then checked into our hotel and off to a reception and lunch followed by three exhibition games at the Eybens Club. This was played in the carpark of the Hewlett Packard company.

The terrain was strung up for over 120 pistes! The invited countries were France, Thailand and New Zealand, plus teams from the Eybens Club.

The terrain was very tricky, ranging from damp clay/lime at one end and large stones, clumps of grass and moss at the other.

Men's first game was lost against an Eybens club team. Their second was won against France 12 - 0, (time limit) although the French team insisted they got a point! Game three against Thailand, lost

13 - 0.

The women had a win against an Eybens team and lost to France and Thailand.

The evening was a dinner/dance put on by the club where all the players were given a trophy and three bottles of wine! The men did a pretty reasonable haka before we retired back to the hotel.

Saturday 16th

Christian, Dirk and Ian played together for the weekend and Michael joined up with a couple of local French players.

Men lost their first game and were down 2 - 6 in their second when everyone stopped for the two hour lunch break. They then took a bit long to get going again after an unaccustomed break and a rather large lunch, and lost.

Women played in a doubles event, Barbara playing with Laurel and Sharon with Liz. Both teams lost their first two games and were out of the competition.

Men played in the first consolation event, won their first game and lost the second.

Sunday 17th

In the second consolation Barbara, Laurel and Sharon played as a triple to get some more playing time together. They lost to a French/Thailand combination in their first game and lost to a local team in the second.

Dirk played with two of the Finland team (shooter and coach). They won their first game and then lost to Armenia.

Christian, Ian and Michael won against a local team, had a bye in their second and lost the third to Armenia. That was the end of it for New Zealand.

This tournament was wonderfully catered, and as lunch was a two hour event, it was a great chance to have a chat with players and officials from other countries.

Attended the presentation and, with Christian as interpreter, made a speech thanking the Eybens Club and presented their president with a gift from New Zealand.

Monday 18th

Christian had managed to get in touch with his contact at Renault who very generously provided us with a van for the whole week, right through to the next Monday, for free.

As this was the only day we had to look at the area around Grenoble, Christian took us for a wonderful drive up into the surrounding hills and through little villages. Stopped at Monestier de Clermont for lunch, and ate outside on a lovely warm sunny day.

Had a brief visit to the Seyssins Club at the end of the day and a few games outside with members of the club plus the Czech team.

Tuesday 19th

Drove into town in the morning as this was the first opportunity for Dirk to do his washing! It was also an opportunity for people to take the gondola to the Bastille and have a look at the city.

Before the team registered for the World Championships in the afternoon I stepped outside the PNZ directive regarding registering as the fourth player. I did this based on what I thought were purely precautionary lines, after a discussion with the whole team regarding the impact on the women's team in the event of injury or illness.

The team had not been informed by the PNZ executive that in the event of illness or injury to a player, they were to withdraw. The women were sure that they would prefer to continue playing in the unlikely event that one of them was unable to play, and the whole team was in support of me making a call to the executive to ask that I register as a player.

This call was made in front of the team and the response was "that it was the sensible thing to do". Approval to register as a player was given after I closely questioned the consequences of me going against a PNZ executive decision.

I was assured that I was to proceed according to the wishes of the team and that is exactly what I did and was registered as player/chef de mission. In the event, exactly what I was hoping for happened, everyone stayed fit and well and I never needed to play a boule in the Palais des Sports de Grenoble.

The question has been asked as to why we did not send a fourth women player and the answer to that is that we did not have anyone available who had produced results of any significance at regional or national level, nor did we have anyone who had previous experience in representing New Zealand.

At 2.00pm we went to the Palais des Sports to register the team - we were the fifth team to register - thank you Graeme for your good advice to register early.

We were expected at the Seyssins Club later in the afternoon for practise on their indoor terrain, followed by a reception.

Wednesday 20th

Packed and shifted out of the hotel we had shared with the French team and into the hotel for the duration of the World Championships, a very modern place half an hour out of Grenoble.

Back to the Palais des Sports for the Opening Ceremony. The team marched in according to their height. I carried in the country name and Sharon the New Zealand flag. After all the countries had marched in, the draw took place to determine which pool each country was in.

Women's shooting competition started about 8.45pm. Sharon scored 14 points. The Men’s shooting followed and Michael scored 15 points.

We arrived back at the hotel just after midnight.

Thursday 21

Each country has a pigeonhole where the organisers put information, results and suchlike. We had a results sheet for the shooting at the end of the previous evening showing that Sharon was in the reperchage the next morning. Unfortunately when we arrived in the morning we found that the information was incorrect. As this affected a number of countries we all received a written apology from the organisers.

Michael left the hotel early on the bus to attend the delegate's meeting. The meeting is in French with English translation. The meeting started at 9.00am and finished at 12.30pm.

It was wonderful to have the van to get to the Palais des Sports and back at the end of the day although our first arrival was not without incident. There was a very strong security presence all through the tournament and this included where Christian dropped us off before going to find a park.

We were always in a hurry to get out and let him get away before the guard hurried us up and this may account for what happened. People had bags in the back, and Ian was reaching in for the last bag when, with the doors still open, Christian took off very suddenly with Ian half in and half out. Ian manages to escape being dragged off and the last sight is of Christian driving off with the doors flapping, completely oblivious to the drama!

Of course, there were other times when our map readers lead us into unknown territory, but my lips are sealed!

The team practised in the grounds of the Palais des Sports, had lunch, and then everyone was allowed inside at 2.30pm.

The men played five rounds of the pool today, finishing around 11.00pm. Malaysia - won 13 – 6, Luxembourg - lost 8 - 13 Tahiti - fought back after being 1 - 10 down only to lose 10 - 13. Next round was a bye, followed by Benin – lost 2 - 13.

Friday 22nd

First game for the men was against Japan who lost all their games yesterday and then thrashed us horribly, 1 - 13. They then went on to beat Tahiti to qualify, after which they beat Thailand!! Played France (2) and lost in six ends and were then into the Coupe des Nations, having finished 6 / 7 in the pool.

The women started with a win against Monaco 13 - 10, Thailand - lost 11 - 13 after being in a winning position.

France (2) - lost 2 - 13, Portugal - lost 5 - 13 and Algeria - lost 2 - 13. They too then went into the Coupe des Nations, having finished 5 / 6 in their pool.

The men's first game was against Singapore, a loss 3 - 13. Next was a bye and as Seychelles beat Singapore we played Singapore again and won 13 - 12. This qualified us for the second round. This game finished after midnight.

The President's dinner took place on this evening, however New Zealand did not attend as our teams were playing and this definitely took precedence.

Saturday 23rd

First game against Morocco for the men and New Zealand was never really in this game. Lost 3 - 13. Next up were Slovakia and this game was dominated by New Zealand winning 13 - 1. A good battle against Monaco but a loss nevertheless, 8 - 13 and the end of the tournament for the men.

Our women played Germany first up and played very well to win 13 - 6. Next were Malaysia and they outplayed our team. Lost 3 - 13. We then played German, again and after a few nail biting moments, won 13 - 12, qualifying for the next round.

The women then played Estonia and had every/several chance/chances to win this game but lost

12 - 13. The end for the women.

This was the first time we had a women's team, and I feel we were more competitive than some people may have thought. However, the last game against Estonia, which finished at 1.30am, was the most disappointing of the tournament and highlighted some of the areas we need to look at for the future of the women's game.

Photographs: Ian Baker & Liz Rocks

Sunday 24th

Back to the Palais des Sports for lunch and to watch the semi finals and finals. Wonderful games to watch, with so much tension and excitement.

Maybe the most lasting memory for me of the World Championships would be the Women's Shooting semi final between France and England when, with the most amazing display of shooting I may ever be privileged to see, France shot 61 for a new record, on the way shooting all four cochonnet. France went on to take the title in the final with another awesome performance over Thailand.

Back to the hotel to change for the Presentation dinner. A lovely meal, lots of shirt swapping and a special end to a wonderful, exhausting, exciting adventure.

A big thank you to the team, I could not have had a better group of people to travel with. Everyone did their best, worked together as a team, men and women together. No one lost their luggage, missed a connection, got sick, got drunk, had a fight or fell off a camel/water taxi!

Thanks must also go to Murray Johnston and Camelia Pettus for their help and support.

Finally, a special mention must be made of Christian, who worked tirelessly for all of us to get the best deals he could for the team, both before we left the country and on tour. He negotiated a van, drove the van, arranged sponsorship for the team with the Eybens Club, arranged for us to practise at the Seyssins Club, communicated for us and translated for us.

Thank you Christian, you were the most wonderful support for me and I will always remember and appreciate how much effort you made to make this trip to the World Championships a very positive experience.

Liz Rocks

2006 Peugeot National Senior Doubles, Kapiti, 9 & 10 December

With a 'spine tingling','breath taking' senior version of the haka completed, the inaugural Peugeot National Senior Doubles Championship officially got under way.

Thirty four teams were not only competing for National honours but also many were hoping for good results to enhance their chances of being selected for the National Seniors team to compete in the Trans Tasman Series, to be held in Melbourne in April.

The tournament hosts, the Kapiti Club created a party atmosphere for the players throughout the weekend. There were balloons decorating the club room and surroundings, the stereo continually pumped out old time favourites and there were an abundance of complimentary cakes and scones for the players to snack on between games.

Lunch was also provided at no charge with head chef Myles Cowper in strong demand, feeding the hungry masses with another old time favourite - the barbequed sausage with onions in bread.

On the Saturday night, after a hectic day of fierce, good spirited competition, near on seventy competitors and friends got together at Cookies restaurant for a meal, plenty of laughs and time to catch up with old friends and meet a few new ones. After the meal the top 16 qualifiers to do battle on Day 2 were announced, which created further discussion.

Photographs: Brian Smith

The final was between Rex Hayes and Terry Lambert against Ralph Priddle and Joan Miller with the former coming out the victor and earning the title of 2006 National Doubles Senior Champions.

Results:

Championship

1st: Rex Hayes & Terry Lambert

2nd: Ralph Priddle & Joan Miller

3rd= Bill Peachey & Charles Brock; Arnold Lander & Lorne Gordon-Watkins

Plate

1st: Kath Alison & Kaye Alison

2nd: Doug Hay & Helene Hay

Bowl

1st: Andrew Findlay & Malcolm Pfahlert

2nd: Margaret Maher& Myrine Fergusson

Murray Porter

Senior Teams Down South

Getting a group of free spirited petanque players organised for their first games is like herding cats! The downside of the 70+ entries received for our Seniors tournament was trying to get petanque players with the concentration span of a gnat to not only remember what team they were in, where they were to assemble but on which terrain they were to play!

Some players had to walk back to the board two or three times before even getting close to finding their team mates. CRS reigns! Lucky they were not Emperor penguins in a previous existence.

Christchurch has fully embraced the Seniors concept and are especially proud of their Trans Tasman representatives over the past two years. Pat & Reed Jamieson, Diane Findlay and Ivan Hansen have all proudly, worn the Silver Fern and their efforts and success has revitalised the Seniors' scene here in the South.

To encourage Senior participation in competitions we arranged a Seniors' team tournament as part of the Showtime Canterbury 2006 promotion. Due to the success of this format we have scheduled another two tournaments for 2007, the first on Waitangi Day and the second on Easter Monday. We have been heartened by the support and enthusiasm from the Papanui and Ascot groups.

We seeded the Christchurch players into teams of similar ability and some "Crusaders" were converted to Ascot Sea Eagles or Papanui Panthers. While nobody particularly cares about the overall results, competition is none the less very keen.

Teams consist of six players of varying ability. Less experienced players say they prefer playing against players of similar ability and enjoy team play even if their team doesn't win. It is noticeable that about twice as many players enter a team’s event compared to usual Club tournaments.

A match comprises 2 games of triples - 1,3,4 v 1,3,4 and 2,5,6 v 2,5,6 followed by 3 games of doubles 1,2 v 1,2 and 3,4 v 3,4 and 5,6 v 5,6. This means that players are playing against other players of similar ability. Later in the day as the "fitness" level falls, some seniors may choose to opt out of the triples match and have a rest leaving 2 teammates to play 3 boules each.

Another alternative is to have an extra player in the team and one player plays the triples and the other plays the doubles. One eyed Cantabrians use their "blind eye" when reading the rules covering the composition of teams.

Prizegiving

Players pay a nominal entry fee which goes into a prize pool enabling every player to receive a small prize at the end of the tournament. Club members donated books and other goodies to the prize table, a sponsor donated cheeses and spreads and the entry fees were used to buy small bottles of wine etc. Each player's name is listed and when drawn they select a prize of their choice.

Refreshments

Lunch is on a BYO basis and continuous tea and coffee are available.

Future Tournaments

For Waitangi Day we will "allow" the Juniors (under 60) to join us and by popular demand all players will enter as individuals, be seeded into levels and drawn into various teams of 6 over all the Clubs. Some Timaru clubs have also advised they intend to participate. With so many participants an increased level of chaos is expected so sheep dogs have been especially trained to marshall the teams to the correct terrain.

Diane Findlay

Player Profile: Dawn Gardner, Bay View Petanque Club

Born in 1932, I grew up in the war years on the northern outskirts of Christchurch. Always an avid reader, my favourite books in my teen years were war books - The Dam Busters; POW stories, the exploits of Douglas Bader and about other war heroes, especially pilots.

The Harewood Airport, as it was known then, was only a few miles away and in those years of my growing up there was always the sound of aircraft to be heard - Harvards mainly.

In 1952 I began nursing at Christchurch hospital and soon I joined the Canterbury Aero Club. Flying was not cheap and nor were nurses well paid but whenever I had enough money I would bike out to the airport from the hospital and back again after my flying lesson.

I must say that I spent more time cycling than I did in the air. Saturday nights at the Club house were fun and this is where I learnt how to walk on empty beer bottles.

Because I was short, when I was flying I needed extra cushions behind and beneath me. The normal joystick had to be replaced with a special one for me and that was always fitted before I took to the air. After eleven hours of training I finally flew solo and with that I had achieved my childhood dream.

Can you imagine how it felt, guiding the plane at speed down the runway and at the right moment pulling back on the joystick to be airborne - to be free as a bird. Even after fifty years I can still remember the sensation and the thrill.

Another childhood dream I had was parachuting so you imagine how excited I was when I heard that a Parachute Club was about to be formed. At ten pound per jump this was not a cheap sport either.

After some training I made my first jump but that was not without mishap. The static lines became tangled and I was descending too rapidly. Fortunately I recalled a vague memory from training on what to do in this situation so I kicked my legs the other way and the lines untangled which was rather comforting as the ground was preparing to greet me.

Not deterred I did 3 more jumps with the last one being just perfect with me landing gently on my feet in front of the Aero Club.

In my 60's I saw on TV a documentary on English villages and petanque was being played in a small village on the outskirts of London. In another doco I saw a running version of the game being played along a country road in France. I was captivated and I decided that this was the game for me.

In 1995 by sheer good luck I spotted an article about a promotion for petanque the following Labour weekend in Napier. That Sunday I bought some leisure boules and joined the Napier Club. A few months later I decided I needed good boules so off I went to Stirling Sports.

Those that caught my eye were black but I decided that I needed to try before I buy so I asked the shop assistant to put a sleeping bag on the shop floor and after I lobbed a few boules into it, I purchased my Black Magic Boules.

Now nearly twelve years on, the colour is long gone and they are rather battered and bruised - much like their owner. Instead of flying a plane after more than fifty years I can similarly make my boules fly through the air.

Sure they can behave erratically at times, spin out of control, come in for bumpy landings and sometimes overshoot the runway. But when they land smoothly right on target on an opponent's boule, what a thrill-a sweet feeling of satisfaction.

Through petanque I have met many people from all walks of life and made some wonderful friends.

The Atomic Coffee Roasters NZ Open

In its 11th year at Victoria Park, Auckland with 35 triples teams and 18 female doubles teams. After the round robin on day one, seven teams comprising one or more NZ players qualified in the triples and four in the female event.

The open triples saw some exciting tussles between NZ teams with close fought victories on either side. This only proves that whatever the combination, the skill and performance is pretty much equal among the top level players.

It always comes down to one boule or on the day, which stands us in good stead for some exciting matches at the national triples in April.

Georgio Vakauta's team predictably had a storming final which was a much deserved win for our greatest player. Well done Georgio, the drinks are on you!

The females saw some tough games too with the two tenacious seniors Jean and Margaret out to impress the coach with a great result on day one and two great wins over Aussie and Imelda, and Joanne and Ariane.

They were eventually curtailed in the semi (I think) but overall a fantastic performance. Hope you were watching Murray!

Nikkie Winnie did extremely well on day one with her young team mate Kirsty from South Australia, enjoying four out of five wins.

Joanne and Ariane were bridesmaids once again losing 13 - 0 in the final to Tahiti.

Overall a great tournament, excellent petanque and very well behaved people.

Thanks to everyone who abided by the stringent alcohol rules imposed by the police. And a very special thanks for the enormous efforts and hard work of:

• Atomic Coffee Roasters and Harry for their kind sponsorship and coffee stand.

• Sarah Jane and Claire for catering (no reports of food poisoning yet)

• Lorraine as Tournament Director

• Andy as Arbiter

• Charles and co. for running the bar

• Orangina

• And last but not least, our wonderful Warren for his quiet and unassuming approach to doing everything else!

Joanne Lippard

Kings Top at Petanque Champs

Kings High School dominated the inaugural Otago Secondary Schools Petanque Championships and filled the top two places.

Thirteen-year olds Sam Roker and Oliver Houston won the event when they beat fellow Kings pupils Ricky Wilson and Aaron Ravenwood 13 - 6 in the final at the Caversham Petanque Club.

Roker, who started playing petanque at Macandrew Intermediate nearly three years ago used his experience to control the final. His strong shooting put his team on top from the start. Houston, who is a natural at the game , added the extra touches with accurate pointing.

"My mates played the game and that is why I started", Roker said. "I like it a lot"

Roker played in the annual Boules to You schools tournament for Macandrew Intermediate over the last two years and was always close to the top, but a win always eluded him.

"It was great winning this time because I have just missed out in similar competitions in the past" he said.

He encouraged his friend Oliver Houston to join him this year and the pair quickly developed into a formidable combination.

The French sport of petanque is popular with secondary school pupils because it is a relaxed game that lacks the formality of more traditional sports.

A combined primary, intermediate and secondary schools event has been held for the last seven years. This was the first secondary schools event and it attracted 30 teams form five schools.

Terry Holt, the organiser of the event, intends to pick two Otago secondary school teams to play against Canterbury schools in March. Holt hopes to expand this into a South Island Championship in the near future.

Alistar McMurran, Otago Daily Times 25.10.06

Caversham Petanque 10th Anniversary

The Caversham Petanque Club in Kew Park, was formed in 1996 by Terry Holt. The Dunedin man was the treasurer of the Caversham Bowling Club at the time.

"The idea of forming a petanque club was to get new members involved to help with the Caversham Bowling Club fees," he said." The bowling club thought it was a great idea. They were all for it."

Terry went ahead, set up a committee and gained resource consent from Dunedin Council to allow a helicopter to land on Kew Park to deliver materials to build the petanque terrain. The club had no suitable delivery access from the street.

He said that it was thanks to people like DCC chief executive officer Murray Douglas giving the permission to land the helicopter and Graham Gale's generosity and helicopter skills that the club was able to get the materials on site.

Terry recalls that there was a turn out of about 42 people on opening day.

In 1997, Caversham helped establish regional clubs. There are now clubs in Milton, Waikouaiti, Timaru, Oamaru, Alexandra, Naeseby, Invercargill and Queenstown.

Caversham held the Masters Games competition in 1998, which Terry said was a real boost, and ever since the club has held it biennially.

While Terry retired form playing petanque two years ago, he is still heavily involved in club and school coaching. He is also head of regional coaching and is a life member of the Caversham Petanque Club and Petanque New Zealand. Until last year he was the National Umpiring Coordinator.

There are three school tournaments held at the Caversham Club which run throughout the term.The club has 60 members and hosts games every Sunday and Tuesday evening.