Club
Profile
-
Epsom
Petanque Club
The club is
situated in the heart of the
Auckland isthmus, on the
corner of Bowling Ave and
The Drive. In the summer of
1994/95 the terrain was put
down, converted from one of
the four bowling greens of
the Epsom Bowling Club. It
now has approximately 63
members.
The Club came
into being due to the hard
work of a few keen players,
I particularly remember the
efforts of Geoff Hughes,
Malcolm Macaskill, Liz Glenn
and the late Yuen Sun Him.
Epsom has also benefited
from the ongoing support of
the Bowling Club.
There are 14
terrains of approximately
11m x 3m, with a hard and
slightly uneven lime base
and fine scoria as a thin
top layer. In the summer the
Club Day is Monday evenings
from 6pm, in Winter from
1.3Opm Sundays. Visitors are
always welcome.
The club
hosts a number of Auckland
open tournaments each
summer, the highlight of
which is the Waitangi Day
Triples. In-club singles,
doubles and triples
tournaments are also run,
the feature being the
doubles tournament for the
‘Yuen Sun Him Memorial’
trophy.
Epsom members
have also been supportive of
Regional and National
Pétanque oganisations. Jim
Shields has single handedly
kick-started the Auckland
Pétanque Association and I
am currently on the NZPA
Committee.
Michael
Emerson
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Christchurch
Petanque Club
It all
started in 1993 when Helen
Hargreaves acquired a set of
leisure boules. Her early
experiences, while providing
a lot of fun, did not
improve the visual effect of
her lawn. An approach was
made to the City Council and
public meeting was held
which subsequently saw the
formation of the
Christchurch Petanque
Association which became
incorporated in 1994.
The first
club sessions were played on
grass under the oak trees
and early efforts were
channeled towards the change
front grass to a
constructed terrain. The
Council laid a small public
terrain beside the tennis
courts in North Hagley Park
and members brought their
chairs, wine, picnics, and
friends to enjoy this new
game.
The sloping
terrain, dropping acorns and
visits from over friendly
ducks were quite unique
natural hazards. By 1996 the
club quickly outgrew the
original five terrains and
the Club decided to look
around for an alternative
venue.
An approach
was made to the RSA Bowling
Club - the response was
positive and discussions
were held. Both memberships
joined forces and
Christchurch Petanque set
about raising the finance to
fund the construction of 20
terrains on one of the
former RSA greens moving to
their new playing
headquarters in September
1996.
The marriage
the two clubs was not a
happy one and by March 1999
relationships were at an all
time low, with the Bowling
Club going into recess and
Christchurch Petanque having
to negotiate with the
Council to lease the terrain
and part of the pavilion.
Christchurch
Petanque is situated in a
magnificent setting beside
Victoria Lake in North
Hagley Park. The club has 20
sheltered terrains with
plans under way to make an
application to the Lotteries
Commission, Westpac
Community Trust and the
Canterbury Community Trust
to help fund landscaping and
upgrading of the leased
portion of the pavilion.
Christchurch
Petanque, the largest club
in the country with 130
players, invites visitors to
their terrain fur a friendly
game. Playing sessions are
Thursday 1-3pm and Sunday
11.00am - 2.00pm.
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Regional Roundups
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Auckland
Region
Another
successful winter tournament
in Auckland has just found
the 4 winners who win enjoy
4 days at Club Med New
Caledonia at Chateau Royal,
next to the petanque club of
L’ance Vata.
The winners
were 1. Georgio Vakauta, 2.
Charles Peni, 3. Steve
Lawry, 4. Seti Mailei The
next 16 players received
prizes ranging from $200 to
a set of wine glasses with a
nice bottle of red.
This event
was played over 9 weeks with
4 games played each Sunday
afternoon - 4 triples, 4
doubles and I single, with
drawn partners.
Participation has been
between 30 and 40 players,
and they could afford to
miss a day or two as only
the best 6 results count.
Thank you to
our sponsors Club Med and
Air Calin for supporting
pétanque.
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Canterbury/Marlborough
Region
Christchurch
Petanque players have just
finished another very
competitive Winter Doubles
Tournament run over several
months ending with a victory
to Neil Satherley & Steve
Thwaites who defeated Ivan
Hansen & Bruce Hoffman.
The region
welcomes a new Club -
Richmond Petanque which is a
section of the Richmond
Croquet Club. Christchurch
Petanque is currently
promoting the formation of a
new club at Halswell Quarry
Park in Christchurch and has
assisted with several other
projects including a public
meeting to form a new club
at Akaroa and is currently
advising on the construction
of a new terrain at Lake
Coleridge.
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National Team - Progress Report
It has been
fairly full on petanque wise for
the last 5 months, including,
talking, thinking, watching
videos and some play. Because
petanque activity drops off in
Hawke’s Bay during winter there
are not many players to get any
serious competition. Experience
and lots of it was required.
First was a local
tournament, followed by a visit
to Wellington, playing in
freezing southerly conditions,
wearing shoes, not jandels - a
first for the team. While Murray
and I suffered feet wise, Denise
experienced a mild case of
hypothermia! The Wellingtonians
assured us that this was all
part of the plan - to toughen us
up.
The trip to
tropical but wet Auckland, was
more to our liking and while
there played some of NZ’s best -
the highlight being the chance
to confer with last years team.
The last real
game practice was when 17
Hawke’s Bay players accompanied
us to Rotorua for inter club
competition, giving us the
opportunity to try out another
terrain.
All in all we
have been to four major areas in
the North Island, having enjoyed
the experience and greatly
appreciated the support of those
who came out in all conditions
especially players from
Wellington and Auckland.
The thought of
competing overseas tends to add
a bit of pressure, so at times
we fuel as though we have lost
some of the pleasure of the game
and have been some what
frustrated with ourselves and
our performance. Having said
this the struggle will hopefully
pay off in the long term. We
continue on our steep learning
curve and learn more from the
games we loose than those we
win.
We continue with
our fund raising and appreciate
the excellent support team we
have in Gary and Karen Tayler
and Joanne Porter. The Bay View
Club has also coordinated a
range of successful fund raising
activities and to all members, a
big thank you. We appreciate the
support NZPA and other clubs and
players have provided and we
continue to fund raise on our
own.
Geoff Greer
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Personality Profile - Steve
Lawry
Steve Lawry
started playing petanque in the
winter of 1993 when a friend,
Ross Malcolm, came back from
Europe where he had seen the
game played and brought back
some boules. Ross and Steve
played in the garden and after a
little while built their own
terrain.
A few months
later they met Chris Priestley
and found that others were also
starting to play the game. These
infbnnal groups met and played
at the back of the Atomic Cafe
in Ponsonby.
Steve played his
first official tournament at the
National Triples in 1994, in his
own words he “didn’t do well”.
After this tournament he
realised there was a lot to
learn about the game and started
practicing in earnest, forming a
team with Laurel Priestley and
Clem Boer.
Training together
in 1995, their goal was to win
the National Triples. They
succeeded. This team represented
New Zealand at the World
Championships in Essen in 1996.
Steve has put a
lot into the game and served on
the NZPA Committee from 1996 -
1999 and has also been a
committee member of the Herne
Bay Club since its inception in
1994.
Believing we must
continue to encourage beginners
into tournament play Steve, puts
much of his energy into this
area. He also believes the more
experienced players need to have
their skills honed and the best
way to do this is through
international tournaments, as
all competitive players can
benefit from the ‘trickle down’
effect
Steve thinks
today’s players are lucky in
having well organised
tournaments, with a format that
is fair to everyone. In the
early days of the game you had
to be a good player to succeed
at these competitions, as most
of the tournaments were run as a
knockout. Lesser skilled players
could only hope to get one or
two games before being
eliminated. Today’s tournaments
usually run as a round robin,
providing most teams with a good
number of games.
Steve is also
proud of having helped in the
establishment of many of the
clubs around the country. He has
attended many opening days for
clubs and has been active in the
instructing and the coaching of
new players.
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President’s Report
Most of the
country has enjoyed the start of
spring weather in the last few
weeks. I hope this weather is
encouraging you all back down to
the local terrain for a few
games and catch up with your
Pétanque friends.
This issue of
Petanque New Zealand follows on
from the very well received
first issue from Brenda and
includes news of many of the
summer tournaments around the
country as well as items of
interest from both New Zealand
and overseas.
The NZPA
committee regretfully received
the resignation of Mick Sharpe
as Vice President due to work
and family commitments. I would
like in thank Mick for all his
work with the NZPA over many
years and I hope we see him
enjoining his petanque on the
terrains around Auckland this
summer.
The Auckland
petanque community was also
saddened to hear of the deaths
of Colin Jones and Les Thompson.
Colin was a keen player who had
formed the Papatoetoe Petanque
Club. Les had been the founder
of the Mt Albert Club.
The NZPA
committee had a very
constructive weekend meeting in
early August The most important
issue worked on was the new
draft constitution. The draft
proposal has membership of the
NZPA by clubs, rather than
individuals. it is hoped to have
a draft constitution circulated
well before the AGM in Easter
2000.
The NZPA has also
asked Brian Smith to seed
players from around the country.
Regional and national tournament
results are sent to Brian for
compilation. Thank you to the
clubs for sending all their
tournament results to Brian.
Keep this information coming.
Also many thanks
to all those clubs and
individuals who sold raffle
tickets to raise money for the
NZPA.
Looking forward
to seeing you around the
petanque terrains of New
Zealand.
Christian Fouquet
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New Zealand Petanque Association
News
A brief report -
Two Day Committee Meeting,
August 7 & 8 - Wellington
The full
Committee gathered at the
Khandallah Club rooms in
Wellington for a very intensive
two day meeting. The following
are some of the issues
discussed.
-
Resignation
Mick Sharpe
of Auckland has resigned
from the committee, because
of work commitments. The
committee acknowledges and
thanks Mick for all the time
and effort he has put into
petanque in the past few
years.
Michael
Emerson agreed to fill the
resultant vacant position of
Vice President.
-
Overseas
Tournaments
Arrangements
are well in hand for the
Napier triples team’s trip
to the World Champs and the
Auckland team’s visit to
Australia later in the year.
-
Oceania
Tournament
There are
5 countries involved in
this bi-annual
competition, of which NZ
is one. This means that
we can expect to host
the tournament some time
in the not too distant
future.
The next
one is in Tahiti in
September 2000. New
Zealand needs to send a
team of 6 men and 6
women, for Triples,
Doubles and Singles
play. The issue of
selecting was discussed.
It was agreed, after
discussion with Seeding
Coordinator Brian Smith,
performance in the 5
main national
tournaments would be
used as a guide, along
with Brian’s official
seeding information.
The
Selection panel for
Oceania will be the NZPA
Committee plus the
Seeding Coordinator they
will step aside from any
decision involving
themselves.
It was
also decided that the
NZPA will no longer
contribute directly to
funding overseas
representatives, except
for a playing strip
(uniform). Financial
support should come
through players’ clubs
and regions.
-
NZPA
Tournament Calendar
It was deed
to set the tournament
calendar further in advance
than has been the case up
till now, and invite dubs to
host specific events. This
means we can get a good
spread between those areas
able to hold national
tournaments geographically
and time wise, and give a
lot more certainty for
planning. The following
schedule was agreed:
-
1999
Doubles, Wellington
-
2000
Easter Triples,
Auckland; Singles,
Wellington (October);
Doubles Christchurch
(November)
-
2001
Easter Triples, Rotorua
Guidelines
for hosting national events
will be drawn up and sent to
host dubs, so that they are
dear about what is expected
of them, and what the NZPA
will do.
The NZ Open
Doubles will remain outside
this framework for the
meantime, and will continue
to be held in Auckland,
because of the international
aspect
-
Seeding
Brian Smith
joined the meeting to
discuss the seeding system.
He explained, he is
basically looking for
consistency in performance.
It is based on a points
system, eg 4 points per win,
seeding is in groups rather
than individually.
Singles
competitions are not
included at the moment.
Brian needs information on
interclub results (not intra
club), so that people are
assessed across a mix of
players and clubs. The
Committee agreed to
officially endorse the
resultant seedings.
-
Clubs
Database
Diane Findlay
and Dafyd Smith of
Christchurch have done a
wonderful job of collecting
and collating data on
petanque dubs throughout New
Zealand. At present, there
are approximately 55
clubs, 9 of which are
‘forming’ rather than
established. There are thus
around 46 active clubs, with
approximately 1300 members.
-
Publications
At present,
the NZPA puts out a number
of publications (Peugeot
Coaching Manual, Kiwi Sport
Manual, Newsletter).
The manuals in particular
need updating for both
content and presentation.
It was
decided to try and
rationalise these, both from
a publishing point of view
and in terms of content for
example to consider whether
to combine them into one
comprehensive resource kit
for clubs. Brenda agreed to
be the NZPA’s Publishing
Coordinator, and will look
into these matters.
-
Hillary
Commission
The NZPA has
again received some funding
from the Hillary Commission,
which will enable us to
continue to promote and
develop petanque in New
Zealand. We were fortunate
to have Carol Quirke from
the Commission join us at
our meeting, to discuss the
role and functions of the
Commission. She outlined the
way funding works, and what
other resources are
available from the
Commission. The main points
she made were:
-
Information
is important -
membership numbers, who,
where, growth patterns,
coach numbers etc.
-
Regional
sports trusts are a very
valuable resource, use
them.
-
Community
sports funds are another
source of funding
available to clubs.
-
Funding
is not tied to specific
initiatives; but it is
subject to audit so we
need to be able to show
what it was spent on.
-
All
organizations receiving
Hillary Commission
funding have to have a
drugs policy. (We didn’t
think this was going to
be a big issue for
petanque but it will be
in our rules)
-
Constitution
The main
issue discussed was the
structure of petanque in New
Zealand. In particular, it
didn’t seem to us to make
sense to have individual
membership of a national
governing body.
The game is
based around clubs, and the
role of the NZPA is one of
coordinator and
administrator, and to do
things which can be done
more effectively by a
national body rather than at
club level (eg generic
advertising and promotion).
The need to
have a licence to compete in
overseas tournaments was
seen as a separate issue.
On this
basis, a new proposed
structure is being
formulated, which will be
reflected in a redrafted
constitution. More
information on this will be
sent to members as it is
firmed up, but in essence
what we are looking at is:
-
Membership structure
will be clubs – regions
- NZPA, although
Regional associations
will not have a formal
relationship with the
NZPA, and voting will be
clubs - NZPA.
-
Votes to
be scaled according to
membership; 1 vote per
25 members or part
thereof.
-
Qualifying membership
based on number of
financial members as at
balance date of NZPA (31
December).
-
Clubs
will issue membership
cards to members.
Committee
will consist of Executive
office holders (President,
Vice-President, Treasurer,
Secretary) plus 5
regional
representatives. Regions
being Auckland (including
north of Auck!and),
Central North Island
(including Bay of Plenty,
Hawkes Bay, Taranaki,
Wanganui), Wellington
(including Wairarapa and
Palmerston North),
upper South Island, lower
South Island (dividing line
being Waimate).
Voting for
Committee will be by postal
vote, or direct vote at the
AGM, through the Clubs. All
Clubs will vote for the
Executive; regional
representatives will be
chosen by vows east by clubs
in that region.
There are
several issues which will
arise in changing from
individual to club
membership, including:
-
Need for
a ‘subscription’ or
affiliation fee, paid
through club membership
-
individuals will not be
able to belong to more
than one club
-
individual photo licence
for those needing such
to enter overseas
tournaments
-
(could be
purchased through clubs)
-
Definition of ‘club’ (it
is proposed that we use
the Incorporated Society
definition – at least 15
members joined together
for the purpose of
playing petanque)
-
Honorary/life members
(not an option under the
proposed structure)
-
magazine
distribution
-
Junior
members (proposed to
define as under 18; we
need to have information
on who they are, but
they would have no
voting rights and would
not be liable for the
NZPA affiliation fee).
The Committee
sees the proposed structure
as a much stronger vehicle
for the development of
pétanque in New Zealand.
Benefits of affiliating to
the national body would
include access to the
magazine; opportunities for
future membership
development through
involvement in Kiwi Sport;
access to information, eg
fundraising advice &
contacts; administrative
support; coaching and
resource manuals.
Barbara
Whittington - Secretary |
