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Congratulations
to new New Zealand Champions
Laurel Priestley
continued the tradition started
by husband Chris when she, Steve
Lawry and Clem Boer won the 1995
NZ National Petanque
Championships held at Victoria
Park, Auckland on November 11th
and 12th.
The team proved the
truth of the old adage of the 3
keys to success being practice,
practice, practice - having
spent many hours at the Herne
Bay Petanque Club in the months
preceeding the Nationals honing
their game.
On the day it all
came together. A particular
strength of their game and one
which will be of great value at
next year’s World Champs was
their depth of shooting skills.
Congratulations
are also due to Carl Sietses,
Gavin Campbell and Tony
Christiansen who played their
way through to the finals with
some precision petanque. These
two teams will represent NZ at
Essen in 1996. Carl will be come
a double international having
represented Netherlands at the
1979 World Petanque Champs.
Reserves for the
NZ team will come from the 3rd
placed team of Jean-Pierre Bedel,
Patrick Bon and Chris Ball who
edged out Chris Priestley, Jorg
Schultze and Christian Fouquet
in the play offs.
An interesting
feature of the competition which
was blessed with fine weather,
despite a very poor forecast,
was the number of close games
given more experienced teams by
players relatively new to the
game.
This is a feature of petanque, a brief lapse of
concentration and the opposing
team can collect a bunch of
points in one end and turn a
game around. I guess the message
is - whatever ones level of
experience it is certainly worth
taking part in tournaments.
The committee -
responding to suggestions made
by members set up a round robin
system this year to
theoretically give all teams a
minimum of 4 games, regrettably
though the general standard of
play throughout the competition
was up the number of teams
entering was down on last year
and this meant that some players
were knocked out after playing
only 2 games, a la Wimbledon.
The simple solution for this of
course is to canvass fellow
members and ensure they take
part. Everyone benefits.
Thanks to all
those who helped in organising
the event, preparing the terrain
etc particularly Chris Priestley
on whose shoulders fell most of
the burden of supervising the
progression of teams through the
competition.
Points for
Members Consideration
-
The game is
evolving rapidly in NZ. The NZPA
has always maintained a wish for
the Nationals to be held outside
of Auckland on occasions,
recognising that while the bulk
of members currently live in the
North it is a New Zealand
Championship and it is only
reason able for the travelling
to be shared. The NZPA would be
keen to hear from any clubs able
and willing to host future
national events - a terrain of
30m x 30m would be a pre
requisite.
-
Timing of
National Champs. November is
very early in the season - with
the best will in the world it is
often hard to get many games in
over the winter. Perhaps the
National Champs could be shifted
to January or February. Feedback
welcome.
-
NZ Team
Selection - the basic criteria
is that selection must be open
to all players the length and
breadth of the country. It must
be fair and must be seen to be
fair. The current
method fulfils these criteria -
no doubt as the game evolves so
will the selection process. The
committee is happy to receive
any practical suggestions.
New Caledonian
Visit
A men’s and
women’s team visited for a stay
of a week or so co-ordinated by
Chris and Laurel Priestley. NZPA
members had the opportunity to
meet with and play the visitors
both at the Herne Bay Club and
also at the Nationals.
The
consistency of their play both
in pointing and shooting was of
a high standard but
interestingly several local
teams pushed them hard. Despite
the language difficulties it was
very enjoyable to meet socially
with the visitors - it is hoped
a NZ contingent will make a
return visit at some stage.
The Brussels
Experience
For the first
time NZ was represented at the
World Petanque Championships.
This year held in Brussels, the
championship attracted 65 teams
from 33 countries. NZ had the
smallest contingent present,
comprising Mick Sharpe,
Christian Fouquet and Cam Calder
who shared the responsibilities
of players, coaches, managers
and delegates to the annual
congress of the FIPJP.
We had to call
upon, at different times, the
services of Peter de Beer, our
first overseas member who is
based in UK, Rory O’Brien, to
act as score keepers during
actual games, each team being
responsible for appointing one
score keeper for each game they
were involved in. We managed to
fulfil all our obligations bar
one - a reception with the
Burgomaster of Brussels which
took place when New Zealand was
about to play it’s first game.
It is good, that
this year, all who have
qualified to represent NZ have
indicated their availability and
enthusiasm to do so. Our
experience would suggest however
that it would be useful to have
some support personnel in the
team in addition to the players.
Preparation
In the months
leading up to departure the team
enlisted the help of Robin
McConnell who is completing his
Doctorate in Sports Team
Leadership, Massey University
Albany Campus. Robin who had
spent some time working with the
All Blacks led a number of
sessions with the team looking
at techniques of concentration,
motivation and dealing with
competitive stress. His
suggestions proved invaluable
when playing in front of a 7000
strong crowd of banner bearing,
flag waving, trumpet blowing,
drum beating, chanting Belgiums!
The secretary
approached a number of firms for
sponsorship and we were
fortunate to receive for a
tracksuit and 3 T shirts for
each team member from London
Marketing/BIA Active Wear who
were then equipping a NZ
Universities contingent,
Canterbury (NZ) and Nike
provided gear at wholesale
prices as did Cambridge Clothing
who made the teams black
blazers. Peugeot provided some
jackets.
This support was
much appreciated, ensuring the
team was always well turned out.
We received compliments on our
kit from a number of quarters,
perhaps the most appreciated
being one from those arbiters of
sartorial elegance - the Italian
team.
Michael Clark
helped with some sturdy travel
bags and Air NZ sponsorship
meant that team members personal
travel costs were considerably
reduced. Thank you to all the
above.
Results
The team left NZ
determined to do their best but
expecting they may be lucky to
score a point. The end result,
NZ won 2 games and came 49 out
of 65 teams. Obviously huge room
for improvement but at least NZ
now has its foot on the ladder
of international competition and
it is reasonable to hope for a
steady improvement in results
over future years as players
gain more experience.
Lessons learnt
were many and varied and all
team members are happy to
discuss our experience with any
interested parties. The biggest
need currently in the NZ game is
for players who can shoot
successfully, consistently.
Forgetting the
delight of the couple of wins
and several of the close games a
major pleasure from competing in
the Worlds was the camaraderie
among teams. I will never forget
post final celebrations – 4.00am
in the morning, a couple of the
new World Champions, Germany and
Dutch players members of the
Irish and NZ teams all together
in convivial celebration of the
conclusion of a memorable
tournament.
The 1995 NZ Team
Members will have a tangible
reminder of the 31st World
Petanque Championships
Hervé Rofristch
of La Boule Bleue organised the
hand making of a set of boules
to each team members
specifications to mark NZ’s
first in ternational victory. A
generous gesture, much
appreciated by the team.
NZPA AGM
6.30pm April 11th
1996, Herne Bay Club, Salisbury
Street, Herne Bay. Mark it in your
diary. Come and have your moans
or cast your bouquets.
News from the
Clubs
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Cockle Bay
Petanque Club
Buster and Bev
and Peter and Rita continue to
oversee a flourishing club. Club
meetings 5.30 – 8.00pm Wednesday
and Sunday. 3 games mixed draw
lots of fun. Bring your own
meal. CBPC run tournaments first
Sunday each month.
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Manukau Festival
of Sport
Petanque
Tournament, March 3, 10.00am.
Cockle Bay Petanque Club,
Triples. Phone Buster.
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Hibiscus
Coast Petanque
Club
Meets Sunday
2.00pm. Stanmore Bay carpark
unless new terrain complete.
Doubles tournament, January
14th. Phone Louis Mesnage.
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Upper Hutt
Petanque Club
Congratulations
to club members Peter Denee and
Phillippa Boy who apprently have
been instrumental in convincing
the Wellington Council to put in
a terrain in Charles Plimmer
Park. (This is great news. The
secretary and I’m sure others
has been lobbying the Wellington
City Council for over 2 years.
Until now absolutely positively
nothing has happened!)
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Herne Bay
Petanque Club
A successful
video/Boullabaise evening, the
latter courtesy of Jean- Claude
Rapon and friends was held on
December 2. We are still
awaiting our copy of the 1995
World Champs video. We will show
that as soon as it arrives.
A singles ladder
is now in operation in the club
with Laurel and Clem currently
holding top spots.
Starting 3rd
Sunday in January at 10.00 the
club will hold a regular monthly
tournament.
Club meets Friday
5.00pm onwards and Sunday 2.00pm
onwards.
The club has
hosted a number of corporate
events prior to Christmas to
raise funds for helping defray
costs for club members
travelling overseas to represent
NZ at the Worlds. Anyone wishing
to hire the club facilities can
enquire as to availability by
ringing Chris or Cam.
Good news - after
nearly a year of negotiation Cam
has received a cheque from
Peugeot as the start of their
sponsorship of the Herne Bay
Club. Peugeot are committed to
sponsoring petanque
throughout NZ and have also
agreed to help North Shore City
construct a terrain at Kennedy
Park, Castor Bay.
Clubs or
interested community groups NZ
wide are invited to send their
proposals to the Secretary,
NZPA, regarding construction of
terrain in their communities. The
secretary will pass them on to-
Peugeot for their consideration
Tournaments
Wellington
Anniversary Doubles Tournament
9.30 Sunday 21st
January 1996, Maidstone
Park. Max 20
teams
Linda Millard 04
526 4294
NZ Open
Petanque Tournament
February
10th & 11th, 10.00am Victoria
Park, Auckland. Doubles, $10 per
player
Tahiti has
confirmed the entry of several
teams. Players from
France and
UK have also
indicated they will be
appearing. The secretary spoke
to the Presidents of a number of
European Petanque Federations
regarding the Open whilst
attending the Congress in
Brussels so with luck in years
to come the number of Europeans
attending will increase.
Jorg
Schulze wrote a long article
publicising the event in “au fer”
the German petanque magazine and
is hopeful we may get some
German entries.
Invitations have
also been extended by the
secretary to Singapore and
Australia - these countries have
yet to indicate whether or not
they will attend. With regard to
Australia discussions have been
proceeding for almost a year
with respect to organising an
annual Trans-Tasman
encounter. Watch this space.
The Open will
once again be a round robin
affair with a view to maximising
the number of games each team
gets - where have we heard this
before? For this to happen
easily we need a good number of
entries so put pen to paper,
ring your friends, and let’s
make this the best event yet.
The Tahitians are hot players
so barring acts of God or
airline strikes preventing their
arrival we should be in for a
feast of petanque.
North Harbour
Masters Games
March 3rd,
10.00am, Peugeot Terrain,
Kennedy Park, Castor Bay. Teams
of 3, Phone Cam
Coaching Day
Saturday 20th
January, 1 .00pm, Victoria Park,
Auckland.
Interested in
improving your game, or helping
new players learn the game? Come
and speak and play with
experienced players. We can all
benefit from critical appraisal
of our game.
Those of us who
have played overseas or with
overseas players will try and
pass on any tips we have picked
up. This day is aimed
at all players, NZPA members and
non-members, new and experienced
players.
Note we hope to
organise Coaching Clinics when
the Tahitians come also -
probably after the Open.
Finally let us
remember the pleasure of a
casual game of petanque - may we
all enjoy many of these over the
summer.
Cam Calder
Secretary NZPA
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