Author: Michael Wray

May Melee

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Our first melee at Oatlands took place on a fine but chilly evening on 2nd May.

The melees will now take place monthly through the Summer.

We shared some snacks and enjoyed 3 competitive games each, and our winner was Sue C. Congratulations!

How to Play Petanque

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If you are new to the game, here are the basic rules (more information available at Petanque England) –

Games can be played as either:

  • Singles: Two individual players, each with 3 boules;
  • or Doubles: Two teams of two players, with 3 boules per player;
  • or Triples: Two teams of three players, with 2 boules per player

Boules are supplied in sets of three, all with identical markings called striations. These help to identify each player’s boules during a game.

HOW TO PLAY A GAME

  1. The two teams toss a coin to decide who starts first.
  2. A player from the starting team draws a circle on the ground and then, standing with both feet in the circle, throws the target jack out to a distance of 6 to 10 meters.
  3. The starting team’s player then throws their first boule, trying to get it close to the jack.
  4. Next, a player from the second team stands in the circle and tries to get their boule closer to the jack than the opposing team. They can do this simply throwing their boule so it ends up closer; or by knocking into the opposing team’s boule and moving it away.
  5. If that team succeeds in getting their boule closer than all of its opponents boules, then the opposing team now has to attempt to throw a boule closer.
  6. The team which does not have the closest boule to the jack after each throw, keeps throwing their boules until either they get closest, or they run out of boules to throw, at which point it is the other team’s turn to play.
  7. When all boules from both teams have been thrown, that is the conclusion of an ‘end’. Points are awarded for each boule that is closer to the jack than the other team’s closest boule, and these points are are added to the running score. That is, if team A  has two of its boules closer to the jack than opposing team’s closest boule, then team A gets two points added to their score and is said to have ‘won the end’.
  8. The team who won the previous end, starts the next one by drawing a circle around the current position of the jack and using that as the starting position.
  9. Play continues in this way until one team reaches 13 points, at which point they have won the game. There is no limit on the number of ends that can be played in a game.

La Bouillabaisse est Championne

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The Final of the St Michael’s Cup took place on the evening of 9th September.

This is a Triples completion open to all, organised by HMPC. It raises money for St Michael’s Hospice, and this was the first holding of the event post COVID.

Following the League matches and semi-finals, the Final was between The Bouillabaisses and The Ale Trailers. Neither team had won the Cup before, so a new name on the Trophy was guaranteed. Both teams demonstrated the skills which had got them to the Final, but it was Bouillabaisses who took control of the match, with exceptional pointing, shooting and teamwork, and they went on to win convincingly.

The Trophy was presented by Felicity Wheeler, Fundraising Manager at St. Michael’s Hospice.

Congratulations to Sue, Maureen and Dennis.

We have a National Champion!

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Some good news for the Club……

Charles Stewart was part of the Triples teams that won the National Veterans Triples Trophy in Leicester on 23/24 July.

The team was also made up of Alan Swift (Wetherby PC) and Richard Burrow (Leeds PC)

Charles is also the Regional President for Yorkshire Petanque.

(His involvement at Regional level, both organisationally and competitively, explains why Charles is not a frequent visitor to Club sessions at the Pierhead, and despite living close by!)