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The New Zealand Team for 43rd World Petanque
Championships in Pattaya,
Thailand
The winner of this year's PNZ,
Peugeot National Triples
Championship, held in Rotorua on
31st March and 1st April, was a
team of three gentlemen in our
sport, Simon Faby, Murray Porter
and Ron Sandilands.
This win
allowed the team to be invited
to represent
New Zealand
as the national team for the
43rd Petanque World Championship
2007 which will be held at the
Indoor Athletics Stadium,
Pattaya,
Thailand during 18 - 23
September 2007.
And of the invite, of course the
team said "oh, OK"
For those of you who don't know
Murray Porter, the team captain;
simply look out for the fella
wearing the kiwi uniform of
stubby shorts and jandals!
Murray is a true Kiwi, born in New Plymouth although he has
lived most of his life in
Napier. On leaving university
(with a mathematics degree) he
raised a few eyebrows after
deciding to buy a fish and chip
shop.
A few years later he
became the owner operator of an
export fish factory, which he
operated until recently and now,
as we all know, he is employed
by Heinz Watties Ltd.
Together with his wife, Joanne
and their two children Michelle
14 years and Grant 12 years, he
enjoys the Napier lifestyle and
is a very active member of the
petanque community as the very
successful and respected senior
selector and Editor of the
petanque magazine.
Murray has been playing petanque since 1996, when he
discovered the game by chance
when one day he noticed his
neighbour, a past National
Singles Bowls Champion, raking a
limestone area where his garden
used to be.
The neighbour
invited
Murray to join him and another neighbour in an upcoming
triples tournament to be held at
one of the local wineries.
Somehow,
Murray says "we came 6th out of
50 teams and so I concluded that
this sport must be for me".
Since this time Murray has been
a regular in the top echelons of
the sport here in New Zealand.
Murray has had a string of
petanque successes, most
notably:
-
1999: National triples title
with Bayview club mates Geoff
Greer and Denise Bavidge
followed by playing in the World
Championships on Reunion Island.
-
2003: Manager of the National
Team that won the inaugural
Trans Tasman Challenge in
Melbourne.
-
2004: Member of the National
Team for the Trans Tasman Series
in Masterton
-
2006: Manager/Selector of the
successful National Seniors Team
in the Trans Tasman series in
Levin
-
2007: National triples title
with Ron Sandilands and Simon
Faby
Murray is excited and keen to return to the world stage of
petanque as a player once more.
He will partner fellow player
Geoff Greer for some serious
training and practise in the
coming months.
Murray is also a philosophical
guy and although he will strive
to do his very best, his focus
is never on the outcome; as he
says, of the recent national
triples final which qualified
him for the World Championships
"In the final of the national
triples with Ron and Simon I
felt very relaxed and we all had
the attitude to not worry about
the possible outcome but to just
enjoy the moment. Actually the
first game of the tournament was
our most stressful where we had
to come back from 6 - 12 down
against a Wanganui team, to
clinch the game 13 – 12".
Murray has a similar attitude for the World Championships
where he states he will
"obviously be trying my best for
myself and the team but most
importantly I want to enjoy the
experience. The results will
follow".
Mind over matter is right!
His team mate and shooter Ron
Sandilands is also a kiwi born
and bred from Petone.
Ron has enjoyed an exciting
working life in sporting goods
companies including 40 years
with worldwide company,
Slazenger. He has been President
of New Zealand Sports Goods
Industries Association.
Having
already represented New Zealand
in tennis, squash and table
tennis, he laments that "his
joints suffered accordingly
resulting in two new knee
joints, hip replacement and
spinal fusion. A triple heart
bypass in recent years then set
me up as ‘fully reconditioned'
for petanque".
Ron has
celebrated 51 years of marriage
to his wife Judi and they have 3
children, 6 grandchildren and 2
great-grandchildren.
Like Murray the game was
introduced to Ron during a visit
to
New Caledonia
and, being really keen, he
joined the Cockle Bay Club upon
his return to Auckland. Anyone
who knows Ron would attest to
his intense competitiveness and
Ron attributes much of his
petanque successes to this.
Key petanque accomplishments -
over a period of 6 - 8 years:
-
Runner up New Zealand Doubles
-
Third equal New Zealand Doubles
twice
-
Represented New Zealand twice in Trans Tasman
-
National triples winner - plus a
healthy mixture of provincial
titles
Having played a range of sport
at national and international
level, Ron has realistic goals
for the world petanque
championships:
As Ron knows too well "the
results will be what they will
be, but other sporting
experiences in overseas events
will again hopefully prove that
we can all lift our game to
heights we would not have
thoughtpossible".
The milieur in the team, Simon
Faby was also introduced to the
game by a neighbour, non other
than John Pettit, about nine
years ago. Simon is a very
talented petanque player, as
those who play at the Atomic
cafe on a Saturday morning will
confirm.
His no nonsense style
of play always ensures the game
is played at a fast pace and to
a high intensity - Attack,
Attack, Attack!
Simon came to New Zealand over ten years ago with his beautiful wife Anna. Having spent many
years running very busy
restaurants in Tahiti and
Vietnam (which seated over 300
people) and with three adult
children living in various
countries, they eventually
settled in New Zealand to enjoy a quieter retirement.
However, Simon and Anna, being
the active people they were,
soon carved out a life of
routine involving traveling to
many petanque tournaments around
the country where they would
often feed any an stray player
with the most delicious and
wholesome dinners ever, yum!
Somehow, Terry Lambert and Ian
Baker always seemed to be some
of those stray players!
Sadly Anna passed away
unexpectedly two years ago and
Simon's loss is felt strongly by
the petanque community. Simon is
such a gentleman and the whole
petanque community is behind him
as he embarks on this lifetime
opportunity. He will certainly
be dedicating this experience to
his lovely wife Anna.
This year Simon had a string of
successes with his regular
partner Ron:
-
Epson centennial triples with
Ron and Murray
-
Kennedy Park triples (with
fellow Aucklander, David
Lippard)
-
Finalist of the
Auckland regional triples with Ron and David
-
National triples winner
Simon's outlook on this
experience is simple. He will
produce some "Papi magic" and
try his very best. I am sure
there will be a number of "no
problem" remarks to his team
throughout the tournament.
Fourth Player
This team has never been a
strong advocate of the 'fourth
player' (Murray's team did not
have a fourth player in 1999).
This year they had the option of
taking a fourth player, selected
from the semi finalists of the
nationals, as per the PNZ
eligibility criteria.
However,
the players available, who could
provide absolute added value and
overall contribution in terms of
leadership, international
experience and skill, at this
level were limited.
To choose a player just because
they were available was
considered by the team to be
unfair on the player and on the
team, especially when the player
would be required to self fund
the event and would undoubtedly
be under pressure to perform
some ‘magic’ when the team
called upon them, or if all went
well, may not even get a game.
In essence the team felt that to
sacrifice the fourth player, in
this instance outweighed any
potential benefit and on that
basis decided against this
option.
Manager
David Lippard has been appointed
as the Manager of the team.
David is a familiar figure to
many people on the national
petanque scene. For those of you
who don't know him:
-
David is a member of the Herne
Bay Petanque Club.
-
He has played petanque at an
international level and coached
the sport for over 15 years.
-
In ‘real life’ he is a project
manager and company director, so
brings excellent organisational
and leadership skills to the
role
David is already working closely
with the team on preparations
for the trip. An action plan and
training schedule has been
developed and the team is
underway organising sponsorship.
Delegate
PNZ has decided to appoint a
delegate this year and this role
has been given to Christian
Fouquet. Most of the petanque
community know Christian and
will have a level of confidence
in his capability in this role.
Christian will also be on hand
throughout the World
Championships to assist David
and the team where necessary.
There's more.....
The next article in the Winter
issue of PNZ magazine will
comprise a collection of
interviews with players who have
experienced representing New
Zealand at the World
Championships in recent years.
Their experiences, advice and
general commentary about this
event will provide good insight
for this year's team.
A must read!
Joanne Lippard
PNZ PR and Sponsorship
Coaching in Australia
The Australian Federation
organised a coaching course to
upskill their current crop of
coaches and fit around the Trans
Tasman Challenge.
My
understanding (not to be taken
as fact) is that this was a
divisive strategy following
their disappointing loss at the
hands of New Zealand in the 2006
Trans Tasman challenge; the
losing margin being the biggest
in the tournaments history. I
applaud them on their
initiative.
PNZ were invited to send
delegates from New Zealand and
accordingly advertised the
course on the PNZ website. I put
my application of consideration
in writing to the PNZ secretary
and like an eager schoolboy at
Christmas waited for the postie
to arrive.
The trainers, both
known to me are typical French
and during my previous
acquaintance I concluded that
they are as near to God as one
can get in the world of petanque.
The Australian Federation touted
the course as a Level 2, Train
the Trainer. As one might
reasonably expect Level 2
follows Level 1 and in
preparation Michael Rocks booked
into a Level 1 course in
Thailand.
Having gained his
certificate he was eager for
more knowledge and joined us on
this course. Cynically, you
might say we were then delivered
an underarm bowl. As it turned
out the course was Level 1 and
Michael confirmed that much of
the material had already been
covered in his course in
Thailand.
Never mind, I view this as an
opportunity to reinforce what we
already know, and put the
miscommunication down to "Lost
in Translation", something that
happened frequently over the
four days!
The week provided an ideal
opportunity for Neil Goodwin our
Coaching Director ("Director of
Talent") Michael Emerson,
Michael Rocks and myself to
re-acquaint with the Australians
and their Coaches of which there
are many, along with the two
French "Gods" and for us to
learn more about sport structure
and how we might apply this in
New Zealand.
The full details of the course
have been covered in the report
by Neil Goodwin, "CIEP Coaching
Course in Melbourne".
The teaching was a mixture of
class room and practical
sessions and concluded with a
series of practical tests and a
written exam. Neil confessed to
me later that he wrote his exam
question in Latin to disguise
his awful hand writing (a throw
back to his medical days I
expect); yet still he was
awarded the certificate.
We were
given one hour to answer a
question which concluded the
four days. The Australian
coaches all left the room after
10 minutes followed by Neil at
45 minutes and Michael Rocks at
50 minutes. Michael Emerson and
I were still scribing on the
hour and were asked to stop.
We looked at each other in
amazement, how an hour could
pass so quickly (time flies when
you are having fun). The course
content was exactly what you
would expected (most of which
will be covered on the PNZ
"Train the Trainer road show")
but what I personally took from
the week was the following key
words: Planning is everything,
structure is key, - selection is
the way forward.
Some serious facts bestowed upon
us by the French Gods:
-
Never play petanque for fun,
always play to win.
-
You must play 50 hard games per
year to succeed.
-
The notion of three shooters
forming a team is fool hardy,
you must have a specialist
pointer, specialist middle and a
specialist shooter to succeed.
-
If you train hard you will play
hard.
-
It is easier to learn how to
shoot than to learn how to be a
good tactician.
-
Tacticians are born not made and
it takes 20 years to become
good.
David Lippard
Foot Petanque
In Melbourne this year after the
Trans Tasman Challenge a group
of fortunate Kiwi and Australian
players experienced an amazing
display of Petanque- played with
the feet.
Claude Raluy from FIPJP was in
Melbourne
to run a Level 1 coaching course
which included four
New Zealand
players, Neil Goodwin, Michael
Rocks, Michael Emerson and David
Lippard. Claude not only had
amazing presence on the terrain,
he also regaled us in the
evening with wonderful petanque
stories involving Suchaud, Le
Croix and Quantais.
During one of his stories, he
explained that he could
challenge anyone to a game of
petanque. This game however
would have a slight variation:
-
The opposition would start
with a score of 10. Claude at
zero
-
Each player would have six boules each
-
Claude would play with his
feet!
-
Claude would kick each of his boule twice.
Of course no one believed him.
During the Trans Tasman
challenge, Claude identified
Dirk Winnie as the player of the
match. Claude explained that
Dirk was a real team player, was
the only player to consistently
check the terrain and his
landing spot every time.
In
fact, Claude nicknamed Dirk;
Mange Caillout (stone eater)
because Dirk would walk
backwards looking at every inch
of the terrain before throwing
his boule.
And so it came as no surprise
when Claude challenged Dirk to a
game of foot petanque. For those
who witnessed the game, we had a
real treat.
We all held our
breath in anticipation of Dirk's
first boule. But no need, Dirk,
pointed very well which meant
that Claude had to play a few
trick shots to win the game. We
saw, an amazing display of skill
from Claude as he lined every
boule up perfectly and with his
second kick would snooker Dirk's
boule away leaving a carreau.
If
this shot was not suitable,
Claude would grab his boule
between both feet and jump over
Dirk's boule making a spot
carreau. In four ends the game
was over 13-10 to Claude.
It was definitely a special
moment for those who witnessed
the exhibition and well done to
Dirk for having the courage to
put himself out there.
Joanne Lippard
2007
Trans Tasman Challenge,
Melbourne, Australia
-
New Zealand Team
-
Open:
Ian Baker, Maurice Belz, Nicola Brock, Sharon
Cannon,
Christian
Fouquet,
Barbara
Johnston, Joanne Lippard, Andre Noel,
Bethne Rouse, Ron Sandilands, Claire Wilson,
Dirk
Winnie
Manager: Liz Rocks
-
Senior: Dave Bosley,
Claire Bradburn, Charles Brock, Diane Findlay,
Dawn Gardner,
Rex
Hayes,
Terry Lambert,
Margaret Maher, Joan Miller,
Jean Parley,
Bill Peachey, Ralph Priddle
Manager: Murray Porter
-
Australian Team
-
Open: Patrick
Dufresne, Sebastian
Edouard, Louis Fenolar, Stephane
Langlois,
Eric Leconte, Julie Leconte, Pierrot Lubin,
Kate Mangan, Josie Petrolo, Tatiana Terbah, Ryma Terbah, Sabrina Terbah
Coach: Jean Francois
Veyssiere
-
Senior:
Judith Brown, Glenis Head, Pam Mitchell, Trudy Morris,
Mike Mulvihill,
Valmai Nicoll, Allan Sanderson,
Peter
Sharpe, Arwed Turon,
Dave Ward,
Brett Williams, Claude Wright
Coach: Dave Ward
-
Results
Australia
won both the Open and Senior
Trans Tasman Challenge held on
21 & 22 April at the St Kilda
Petanque Club, Melbourne.
At the end of the first day in
the Open, Australia lead by 33
points to 27 points and in the
Senior section New Zealand lead
33 points to 27 points.
On the second day
Australia went on to consolidate its position in the Open, finishing
with a final score of 70 points
to 50 points. In the Senior
section
Australia won the final game 13
- 12 to secure a close victory
62 points to 58 points.
Manager's Report
-
Thursday 19th April
The New Zealand Open Team had all arrived in
Melbourne and had a free evening before
practice sessions the next day at the St
Kilda terrain. The accommodation was very
good, nice spacious rooms and only a five
minute walk down the road to the St Kilda
club.
-
Friday 20th April
We were all at the St Kilda club by 10.00am,
with the seniors arriving at 9.00am to start
their practice - the reason for their
earlier start and only one practice session
was rather unkindly suggested by some to be
so they could all have an afternoon nap!!
We started our morning with a rather fun
shooting competition, men against the women,
and after a slow start, the women came from
behind to snatch victory. The heroine was
Bethne, who single-handedly took out the
remaining men with a great display of her
shooting ability.
We then had some practice games until a
lunch break around 12.00pm with the players
free until a return at 3.00pm for another
two hours practice. The weather on Friday
was clear and sunny but we heard the
forecast for the weekend was not that good.
Practice finished and there was a welcome by
the locals in the evening at the clubhouse
for a short time. Michael Rocks, as the New
Zealand delegate, presented the trophy to
the St Kilda club president, Jean Claude
Dufroux, to hold for the weekend. The rest
of the evening was free for the players to
spend as they wished.
-
Saturday 21 April
Saturday morning was cool with showers
threatening on arrival at the terrain. Both
teams assembled on the piste and the
deputy mayor of Port Phillip welcomed
everyone to the event, and threw the first
boule.
The umpire for the weekend, Ray Beaumont,
spoke about tournament conditions. Because
of the layout of the terrain, there was no
walkway around the terrain, so no
opportunity for supporters to get near the
teams, apart from either end of the terrain,
where there was a small area to watch from.
This meant that over the weekend, with the
seniors down one end and the open team down
the other, it was very difficult to get any
idea of how the games were going at the
far end.
There were no scoreboards set up until
Michael Rocks took the initiative and began
bringing the boards up from the bowling
green. This at least meant we were able to
see how most of the teams were doing during
their games, but not get a real feel for how
they were playing, apart from whoever was
playing next to the end of the terrain.
The weather did not help, as it started to
pour during play in the morning and the rest
of the day was very wet.
The terrain itself was very challenging for
both teams - I have given photos that
Michael Rocks was able to take, to
Brian Smith and they will show the surface -
quite sizeable chip on a very hard base.
At the end of play on Saturday, the score
was Australia 33 New Zealand 27. Honours
were even in the doubles with the
Australians holding the advantage by one
game in the triples.
Saturday evening there was a dinner at the
clubhouse which started with huge platters
of fresh prawns. This was followed by
equally huge platters of various meats,
potato and sauerkraut, and bottles of wine
from the local region.
-
Sunday 22 April
The weather much better than the previous
day, but still fairly cool.
After three rounds of the doubles, there was
a lunch break, with the scores, Australia 55
New Zealand 41. It was agreed that both
rounds of triples would be played, no matter
what the outcome after the first round.
At the end of round one of the triples, the
games were tied, with the New Zealand men
winning two and the New Zealand women losing
two. This gave Australia the 61 points they
needed to win the match. After the final
round of triples the score was Australia 70
New Zealand 50.
The Australian manager/coach Jean Francois
Veyssiere and I joined forces over the
weekend to make sure we had the correct game
scores, to decide where the teams played and
the order of play. This was his first
experience in the role and he was a pleasure
to work with.
I was pleased to be able to text the scores
back to Brian to keep people in New Zealand
up to date with progress.
The trophy to the winning team was presented
by Andre Deramond, president of Petanque
Australia. Christian Fouquet responded on
behalf of the New Zealand team, to express
the team's appreciation of all the hard work
which had gone into the running of a
successful tournament.
I was pleased that after quite a lot
of organisation prior to the
tournament, the event ran very smoothly.
I would like to thank Lorraine Brock for
organising the team gifts and putting them
all together beautifully, all ready for the
team to hand out.
Thanks must also go to Jan McHardy for yet
another wonderful handcrafted card,
beautifully presented in her exquisite
handwriting and with lovely words of
support to the team and manager.
I feel that Amy Bealing from Orbit
Corporate Travel did a great job with the
numbers of people she had to deal with and
the diverse arrangements they needed to have
made.
A1 Embroidery and Screenprint Ltd got all
the uniforms organised and have subsequently
agreed to take out a year's advertising in
the PNZ magazine.
I would like to apologise to Nicola Brock
for the failure of the St Kilda club to
provide her with a special meal, despite my
best efforts to arrange this and contrary to
the information in their email.
Photographs: Michael Rocks & Rex
Hayes
-
Performance
-
Day One
Sharon Cannon and Barbara Johnston had a
good win first up against the top Australian
doubles team 13 - 9, a 12 - 13 loss in their
second round game and a 13 - 12 win in the
third round.
Bethne Rouse and Nicola Brock(playing in her
first international for New Zealand) lost
their first two games
4 - 13, 7 - 13 but
then had a good win 13 - 5 in the third
round.
Claire Wilson and Joanne Lippard lost their
first round game 12 - 13, won their second
round game
13 - 11 and lost their third round game 9 -
13.
In the triples, Sharon joined Joanne and
Claire, and they lost both their games 9 -
13, 9 - 13. Barbara joined Nicola and Bethne and they had two losses, 5 - 13 and 4
- 13.
Christian Fouquet and Andre Noel had a first
round loss 4 - 13, but won their next two
games 13 - 6, 13 - 8.
Dirk Winnie and Ian Baker started with a 12
- 13 loss, won their second and third games
13 - 1,
13 - 3.
Maurice and Ron lost their first two games
10 - 13, 8 - 13 and won their third 13 -
11.
In the triples, Maurice joined Christian and
Andre, winning the first game 13 - 9 and
losing the second 6 - 13. Ron joined Ian
and Dirk to record two wins, 13 - 12, 13 -
12.
-
Day Two
Sharon and Barbara lost their first round
game 3 - 13, and won their second and third
round games
13 - 7,
13 - 7.
Bethne and Nicola lost their three rounds 5
- 13, 6 - 13, 6 - 13.
Claire and Joanne won their first game 13-5,
lost the second and third rounds 10 - 13, 4 - 13.
Sharon Joanne and Claire lost their first
game 10 - 13 and won their second 13 - 8.
Barbara Bethne and Nicola lost both their
games 2 - 13 4 - 13.
Christian and Andre lost their first round
game 8 - 13, won their second 13 - 5 and
lost their third
9 - 13.
Dirk and Ian won their first two games 13 -
9 13 - 9 and lost their third 11 - 13.
Maurice and Ron lost their first two games 3
- 13, 7 - 13 and won their third game 13 -
2.
Ron Dirk and Ian won their first game 13 - 9
and lost their second 11 - 13.
Maurice Christian and Andre won their first
game 13 - 2 and lost their second 12 - 13.
Overall this was a reasonably satisfying
result by the men, winning fourteen games to
the Australian's twelve, however the result
by the women was a little disappointing.
One of the aspects of this tournament which
could have changed the result for us were
the number of games which we lost
12 - 13 or 11 - 13.
I would like to thank the
team for the effort they
made and the way they played
the game. All team members
displayed excellent
sportsmanship and were very
good ambassadors for their
country.
Liz
Rocks
To Be (a Team) or Not to Be
The following extract was found
at www.pycpetanque.com
To make more from a team than
the sum of their skills is
called synergy. This is the key
to any team sport. So how can
you get this mythical ether of
team and skill to blend to a
game winning team? There are a
number of factors to consider:
-
Look like a team. So often
ignored and a trend constantly
bucked by top teams. At the
Junior World championships the
Thailand team even had matching
shoes. We do not want to go that
far, Why not?
Anyway matching
strip is essential to look the
part of a team. Not just polo
shirts and sweatshirts but also
jackets and waterproofs. The
decent into a rabble because it
starts to rain is a
disappointing result of the poor
weather and lack of preparation.
-
Stand as a team. If the
opposition is throwing or just
discussing their next shot, all
your team should be at the head
standing to one side in
accordance with the rules. Two metres to one side of the jack
and behind it.
No movement
unless the opposition wants a
measure checked or request you
to move if you are in the eye
line of the thrower. Wait until
it is your turn to play. Do not
step forward to see if their
last boule is on unless invited
or they claim it is.
Do not
wander around the head and do
not wander off to talk to some
one else. This way you can make
decisions as a team and you all
know what is going on. Once it
is your turn to throw you can
use the whole piste if you like.
-
Captain. Each player has a
role, you should know who your
captain is and if you win the
toss which piste you all want to
play on, How long the first jack
is going to be and what tactics
you are going to use.
You may
even know what they will call,
heads of tails. You should also
have a designated measure
player. Their job is to measure
or check the opposition’s
measure. This way only one set
of measures are needed for your
team.
A scorer to put the score
on the board or keep in their
pocket. This players role is to
check the score with the
opposition after every, yes
every end! The captain should
call the umpire if required.
Roles are important, know yours
in your team. It may all fall to
one person but should be shared
through the team or rotated.
-
Work at being a team. You may
feel foolish when you first try
all these little tips but once
you reach International play
every team does it. At this time
it will be too late to start. By
using these tips it will become
second nature
-
Understand the competition
system. Again only one player
need to know what the hell is
going on but by knowing the
system you can predict when you
will be playing, where you will
be playing and who you will be
playing.
Keep your eyes and ears
open and you could be in the
warm and dry when you are not
playing or watching your next
opposition. It may prove very
helpful warming up to play an
important game and missing the
downpour.
Good luck.
Phil Boarder
Prospect Petanque Club
Shirley and Rex Hayes had the
pleasure of being invited to the
Prospect Petanque Club in
Adelaide, South Australia on 3rd
May 2007 after the Trans Tasman
Tournament, which was played 10
days earlier at St Kilda,
Melbourne, Victoria.
The
invitation was to have the
pleasure of meeting up again
with the Australian Senior Team
on their home terrain (six of
the twelve (South) Australian
team members are from the
Prospect Petanque Club.
We were picked up from our hotel
in the heart of Adelaide city by
Mike Mulvihill early evening,
and driven the 5.3kms north to
Buchanan Street, Nailsworth.
On meeting the South Australian
Seniors, we had so many
questions to ask of their club
and the Trans Tasman and
likewise from them to us. We
were able to play 2 games and
have a relaxing barbeque tea,
with ample red wine flowing...
It was interesting to note,
quite a few were keen followers
of the petanque websites in New
Zealand. The Prospect Petanque Club was officially opened on the 21st April
1996 and their clubrooms and
terrain are what used to be the
'Prospect Gardens Women's
Bowling Club'.
This is a great facility, a
clubhouse that can hold up to
200 for a function, with a bar
and air conditioning. They have
18 pistes divided into four
types of terrain surfaces.
Quarry sand; dolomite; gravel on
a sandy loam base and one area
they refer to as
North Africa,
which is very difficult to play
on, (scattered small rocks on a
hard clay surface).
These pistes are surrounded by
lovely gardens and trees. There
are coloured lights under their
large verandah and rolled up,
clear plastic walls can be
lowered in adverse weather
conditions. They had music
playing which created a
friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
Their club membership is
approximately 80 members. They
play mostly triples tournaments
and their Membership Fees are:
Family $50 (covers 2 adults and
no working children under 18
years); Single $40; and
Concession (Health Card) 50% of
above.
They are at present fundraising,
for one of their female juniors,
(Kirsty, from the Club De
Petanque D'Adelaide), who has
been selected to compete at the
World Junior Championship in
Japan, later this year.
They have a great website which
you can view on -
www.prospectpetanque.com.au
Shirley and I had a very
memorable night, and a special
'thanks' to Mike and his partner
Valmai; Dave; Brett; Susan;
Allan; and other members of the
Prospect Petanque Club.
Apologies from Pete accepted…..!
Rex Hayes
Kapiti Petanque Club
2007 Northern Schools Petanque
Triples Tournament
Held at the Herne Bay Petanque
Club Salisbury Reserve Friday 9
March 2007
The initiative for this
tournament again emanated from
Sonia Plantey of Alliance
Francaise du Auckland,
representing College Sport.
Although I had been involved
over the last two years as a
helper, a rush of blood to the
head saw me this year volunteer
on behalf of the Auckland
Petanque Association to organise
and convene this Tournament, it
wasn't as such, a learning curve
but a vertical climb, on the day
all went smoothly, so far I have
not had any complaints so I take
it as read all enjoyed
themselves.
It was a joy to witness the
rapport & mutual respect that
was so evident between the
players and the helpers
throughout; to many of the
volunteers this aspect was the
feature of the tournament.
Friday 9th March dawned fine &
sunny & remained that way all
day. 174 competitors plus
teachers & parents gathered on
the adjacent grassed bank & with
the enthusiastic band of
volunteer helpers all eager to
start, we had the makings of an
ideal tournament in the
comparative privacy of this
delightful park-like setting.
A record number of 60 teams
(which, as soon became evident,
is the maximum that can be
accommodated logistically,
playing and catering wise) from
20 schools entered this in
itself created a bit of a panic
as this number required 30
pistes to make things run
smoothly and Herne Bay did not
have this number available.
A
working bee of Val and I on the
Thursday soon saw the required
30 pistes weeded strung out and
numbered.
On the day 58 teams from 19
Auckland
schools extending from
Whangaparoa College in the
north, Massey High School in the
west, Aorere College in the
south to Botany Downs Secondary
College in the east registered.
On registration all of the
players were issued with a
numbered stick on label, this
removed the necessity of asking
individuals who they were and
made it easier for teams to
identify each other.
The tournament format provided
for continuous play for all,
with a qualifying section play
of 3 games per team in the
morning & with a further 3 games
of championship / plate play in
the afternoon, a scheduled total
of 174 games. All games with the
exception of the cup final
(which was played to 13 points)
were played to 9 points.
Naturally playing standards
varied, with many keen tyros
having their first experience of
tournament play. In the hot &
dry conditions the terrains were
fast, but in keeping with
petanque tradition, did not
always run true. Nevertheless,
we were treated to some very
interesting and competitive
encounters and some very fine
bouling.
Since its inception in 1997,
this tournament has proved to be
the domain of Rangitoto College,
which had tasted success in all
but one year. 2007 proved to be
the exception with Westlake
Girls High number (2) team of
Hannah Beedie, Georgia Birch and
Georgia Cervin taking the
‘Boules To You’ Cup 13 points to
1, again proving "girls can do
anything”.
As an aside these young ladies
had never played the game
competitively before and
required some basic coaching
from Clifford Owler one of the
helpers from the Cockle Bay
Club.
Botany Downs Secondary number
(1) team of Ryan Cha, Sean Choi
and Peter You were second (this
was the third time in successive
years that Botany has been
second. Botany has had regular
coaching from the Cockle Bay
members).
Westlake Boys High number (1)
team of Jorden Bond, Jo Francis
and Andrew Muir were third.
Congratulations to all who took
part and we hope you return
again next year.
Warren Barrett
Convenor
President Cockle Bay Petanque
Club
We the organisers acknowledge
with thanks the support of the
following sponsors:
Aircalin, Orangina & Renault
Excelsior Petanque Club
Excelsior Petanque Club, Oamaru
is part of the Excelsior Rugby
and Sports Club Inc and covers
such other sports as Cricket
,Touch Rugby ,Squash and
Netball. We are pleased to be
able to share club rooms with
these other clubs.
Being a small club of 18 members
the social atmosphere is very
evident and the friendly
competitive spirit makes the
games challenging and enjoyable.
Six of our pistes are on the
flat and six are on a slope.
This variation makes for
interesting competition
especially when visitors attend
any function.
Being relatively central in the
North Otago area we attract
players from Christchurch,
Timaru, Alexander ,Waiakouiti
and Dunedin clubs who take part
in interclub and other social
games.
Visitors are always welcome to
our games which take place every
Sunday and Wednesday afternoon
at 1.30pm at the Excelsior Club
facility in the Centennial Park
complex Club Singles were held
on the 29th April with all but
two members taking part. A close
tussle took place for both the
womens and mens titles with the
honours going to Suzanne Tonkin
and the mens to Herb Tonkin.
A mixed triples tournament is to
be held on the 22nd and 23rd
September with entries closing
on the 15th at a cost of $15 per
team of three.
Morning and afternoon tea will
be provided and a mid day meal
at a nominal cost supplied for
those requiring it.
Further information on these
events will be sent to
interested Clubs in due course.
All enquiries to
Secretary/Treasurer Alister
Duncan.
Northcote Petanque Club, 10th
Anniversary, 17 February 2007
The Tenth Anniversary of the
Northcote Petanque club was
celebrated on 17 February with a
luncheon for present and former
members. It was a very
successful occasion with members
catching up with old friends,
looking at photograph albums and
enjoying the lunch provided by
member and caterer, Adie Betts.
Speeches from past Northcote
Bowling Club Presidents, Rowan
Morrison and Warren Taylor,
informed us about the formation
of our club including the
hiccups. Our President, Ella
Harris, then talked about our
achievements and comradeship
with the Bowling Club and their
help in making Northcote
Petanque Club a reality.
Highlight of the day was the
presentation by Ella Harris of
Life Membership Certificates to
foundation members, Des Jennings
and Pat Mallon for their hard
work and help in forming our
club. After lunch those that had
not taken too much wine went
outside for a roll up.
To achieve this milestone and
make it a memorable day, a lot
of hard work was put in by many
members. Firstly a sub committee
was formed of Adie Betts, Barrie
Anderson and Ian Wilson.
Their
job was to track down past
members and contact them.
Fortunately Des Jennings still
had a lot of earlier information
that helped them in their task.
Julie Leadbeater, who looks
after our photograph albums
(always has her camera with
her), spent many evenings
updating the albums which
brought back many memories.
Adie also had the task of
catering and she arranged some
great deals including the
donation of a beautiful tenth
anniversary cake. Another
member, Robyn Colley, did the
floral decorations for this
event and many more members
helped out in decorating the
tables, washing up and so on.
In closing, our club has had
many successes in tournaments
such as the Trans Tasman
Challenge, Seniors and Masters,
the Auckland Regional Women's
Doubles and Hamilton. Our
membership is also very social.
If you are on the North Shore or
considering joining a club in
Auckland please contact Ella
Harris 09 441 4039, John & Julie Leadbeater
09 441 9123 or Ian Wilson 09 482 2005
for social or competitive petanque.
Germans Show Bay Locals A Few
Tricks On Way To Title
German, Heide Loebers was
holidaying in France about 25
years ago with some friends when
a group of people chucking metal
balls caught her eye. The action
could best be described as
awkward but then the French
looked so relaxed with the wine
flutes in their hands.
It was a bewitched Loebers and
her friends first flirtation
with petanque and the beginning
of a life-long passion for the
game the French also call
boules.
Loebers returned to her
home town of
Heidleberg,
about 90km south of Frankfurt,
and with her friends established
the Heidelberg Petanque Club
with 10 members.
"It's a fascinating game, with a
good atmosphere, hard to win and
a game men and women can play
together" Loebers told Sport
Today, apologizing for not
having a full grasp of the
English language.
But there was nothing wrong with
her grasp of the metal boule
during the Hawke's Bay Summer
Open Doubles tournament at the
Bay View Petanque Club at the
weekend.
She and clubmate,
Christian Gross, clinched the
title after defeating the Napier
Petanque Club pair of Maurice
Belz and Lee Taffard 13 - 9 in
the final.
"The concentration is high and
the technique must be good," she
explained yesterday after the
conclusion of the tournament on
Sunday, which attracted a field
of 50 pairs from
Wellington to Auckland.
The secondary school teacher and
Gross, 39, a software engineer,
arrived in Christchurch from
Germany on December 4 and go
back home at the end of this
month after their New Zealand
tour.
Entrenched in their holiday
schedule is the goal of playing
in every petanque tournament in
the country over their three
month stay. They lost in their
semi finals of a
Kapiti Coast
tournament a fortnight ago.
Loebers, who is the president (boule
spieler) of her club, played in
a Masterton tournament five
years ago with another club
mate, Rhinehart Muller, and took
back some fond memories.
Gross said 12,500 Germans played
the game competitively but there
were more than a million social
players. He is ranked among the
top 30 males nationally while
Loebers is among the top 10 in
her gender.
In 2002 he competed
in the North Sea European
Championships, finishing third,
while she competed in the
Women's World Championship in
Canada in the same year as part
of a German triples team that
bowed out in the quarter finals.
In the Bay event, the Germans
overpowered the Bay View pair of
Dawn Gardner and Dave Bosley, 13
- 10 in the semi finals.
Organiser Murray Porter said the
Bay View Club's 13 members have
a proud tradition of
representing their country, with
Gardner playing against
Australia in Levin last year in
the over 60's grade. He, Geoff
Greer and Denise Bavidge
represented
New Zealand
in the World Champs at Reunion
Island in 1999.
Sharon Cannon flew the flag at
the Women's World Champs in
France last year and Roberta
Campbell at the Singapore Open.
Anendra,Vingh
Sport Today
2007 Peugeot National Triples
Championship, Rotorua Petanque
Club, Rotorua
2007
Peugeot National Championships Results
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Rags
Photograph: Brian
Smith |
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