ISSUE NO 58ISSUE NO 58 -- AUTUMN 2009AUTUMN 2009

CLUB COMPETITIONSBOB CARTER JUNIOR PAIRS

Three entries in the Bob Carter Centre JuniorPairs recorded a 75% success rate withpoints difference the deciding factor.Following the final round first place wasclaimed by James and Chloe Urquhart ofWanderers St Faiths pétanque club withDavid and Allen Kemp of the same clubsecond. Daniel Rushmere from the host clubpartnered by Joshua Wilcox of Wanderers StFaiths finished third and Fleur Guilmain-Beales with Joel Meredith from Fifty-Onepétanque club fourth.Noted that Wanderers St Faiths introducedanother new combination comprising CurtisMoney and Tom Turner.

WANDERERS 25TH ANNIVERSARY9 BOULE TRIPLES

Wanderers St Faiths Pétanque Clubcelebrated their 25th Anniversary year with aNine Boule Triples tournament at the StFaiths Centre on the day of their summerfayre. The event attracted 24 triplesincluding 65% present and past members,plus representatives from the Bob CarterCentre, Diss, Exning, Fifty-One, Norwich andSprowston clubs. Interesting to note thattwenty-four of the participants including fourjuniors have represented or qualified torepresent the Anglia Region this year.Proceedings commenced at noon withrefreshments served to participants,supporters and members of the St FaithsCentre Management Committee.Chairperson Louise Robinson, a CommitteeMember for 22 years welcomed all inattendance and summarised the Club's

history before presentations were made toher and the Club's founders Ted Hamlin andBob Urquhart.Following a random draw the first of fivetimed forty-five minute rounds commencedand how pleasing it was to see some of ourformer players returning to the game.It was apparent from the start that thecompetition would be evenly contested andthis proved to be the case with only twoteams boosting a 100% record after justthree rounds.At the conclusion three teams finished withfour wins and high points differentials.Graham Beales - Claudine Guilmain - FleurGuilmain-Beales finished fifth with plus 25including a narrow 9-10 defeat to the teamplaced sixteenth. In fourth place were GlenHarcourt - Paul Critten - Glen Fusco with aplus 29 that included a single point loss at 8-9 to the ultimate runners-up. After suffering afirst round 10-13 loss to the winners StuartPicton and comparative newcomers KimPicton and Jamie Rushmere recovered toclaim third place with plus 31.The runners-up were Daniel Brock (returningafter a long break from the game), GloriaSmith and Peter Walker with four wins, adraw and plus 26 points. Their drawn gamewas a low scoring 5-5 against formerNational Pairs Champion Sarah Urquhartpartnered by Dave Robinson and JoanBowman.It was probably fitting that the familycombination of Bob, Lynne and ChloeUrquhart should claim victory on thisoccasion, one being a founder member,another Secretary and the other depictingthe future of the Club.Needless to say that they with James were

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very much involved with pre-planning andterrain preparation. However they denydoctoring the surfaces to suit their style ofplay and neither were they involved with thetournament draw because results confirmthey played four of the top eight teams withonly two of the bottom five encounteringmarginally tougher opposition whichaccounts for a lower plus points differentialcompared to the next five teams.In fact they were losing heavily in three oftheir matches and had to apply muchpressure to recover, particularly in their lastmatch against a team without a win on theday.Presentation of trophies were made byChairperson Louise Robinson and the Club'syoungest member 7 year old Amee Kennett.Bob Urquhart Wanderers SF PC.

NORWICH GOLD CUP PAIRSFifteen teams turned out at the Cottage forNorwich Pétanque Club’s Gold Cup Pairscompetition. Commencing at 1pm, fourrounds were played and the four teams whohad to stand out for one game due to the oddnumber were awarded an average of theirscores in the other three games.At the halfway mark three pairs – PeterWalker and Dave Abery, Tony D’Espositoand Enzo Diprata, and Richard Green andRoz Taylor – were unbeaten but Richard andRoz lost their remaining two and Tony andEnzo lost one. With four teams finishing with

three wins, the final result was : 1st

: PeterWalker and Dave Abery, 4 wins plus 29.Runners-up : Alan Crabtree and AngeloLorenzi, 3 wins plus 12. Third : Jose Garridoand Paul Critten, 3 wins plus 7. The eventwas sponsored by Tavern Tasty Meats.Norman Guest, Norwich PC.

ANDRÉ CONAN ADULT MELÉE PAIRSAndré Conan – ex-Vice Chairman of NorwichPétanque Club – came back from hisretirement home in France to meet his oldclubmates and friends and present the prizesat this annual event at the Cottage which hadbeen changed this year from an Over 50s toan Adult competition. Twenty four playerstook part, including André himself.Scoring was based entirely on pointsdifference regardless of number of wins, anddifferent partners were drawn for each of thefour timed rounds. Games were played in aspirit of camaraderie and the eventual winnerwas Eric Whatling with plus 24 pointsdifference. Runner-up was Mick Wicks with

plus 22, and third Richard Green plus 18.Norman Guest, Norwich PC.

CIRCLE IN THE SAND PAIRSWanderers St Faiths annual Circle in theSand tournament made a welcome return toWalcott/Bacton beach and attracted anencouraging entry of 16 pairs from a total of7 clubs.With various bonus starts applied to youngpeople it was not surprising that five of themfinished in the top seven placings.Interesting to note also that over half theparticipants were in contention for a top fourplace entering the last round.In actual fact nine triples recorded three ormore wins with only the runners up on 4 winsand the winners returning a maximum fivewins.At the conclusion the beach bumcombination of Glen Harcourt and KeithBurgess (swimming trunks returned at a laterdate!) from Sprowston claimed the trophy.Sally Sadler and Peter Griffiths (BritishSugar) played at a high level (on concretefootpath!) in their last game to claim secondplace and how pleasing it was to have themwith us for the occasion after their illnessesof recent years. Heres to many more yearsof fun at the seaside.In third place were Steve and Adam Pennyfrom Diss with 3 wins plus 15. Rumoursuggests that Steve is claiming most of theglory but I am not sure why.Below them were a further six teams with 3wins on plus 14, plus 12, plus 9, plus 8,minus 1 and minus 3 respectively with Derek

and Jessica Shoesmith of the promotingClub losing out on third place by thenarrowest of margins.Our Club thanks all for attending and ClubChairperson Louise Robinson for officiating.We look forward to next years event withconfidence.Bob Urquhart, Wanderers SF PC.

THE 8TH FOREST HEATH CHARITYPAIRS

The planning for this year’s event began wayback in March with the normal check of theplaying calendar. Having chosen what webelieved to be a free date the flyers wereprepared. Unfortunately unaware to us wefound out later that our friends at Coates haddecided on the same day. But fortunately theclash of dates did not affect either of theevents. The flyers were sent out and theentries began to arrive. By the eve of the

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event we had received thirty-four postalentries.As normal I, Tricia and Mick Whymer went toTattersalls on the Saturday afternoon and setabout preparing the battlefield ofplay. Directions signs erected we made ourway home to prepare for the next day.Come Sunday morning the sun was shiningand the forecast for the day was lookinggood. We arrived on site to prepare to findone pair waiting at the gates keen to enter.Slowly but surely the teams began to arriveand by the registration cut off time we had (toour surprise and pleasure) forty-two entries.As normal we had our usual entries from farafield but it was to our great delight that wehad many teams entering from the localNewmarket league. The draw commencedand play began. Three games were played inthe morning with the 'pack' being split duringthe lunch break into two groups. The topsixteen progressed to the main competitionand the rest went on to play in the plate. Theafternoon section also consisted of threegames with the morning’s scores beingcarried over.During the days play it was good to see manylocal teams holding their own against theexperienced teams. We are now hopeful thatwith the taste of competing some of theselocal teams may now begin to venture furtherafield. It was also gratifying to receive manycompliments from national players on theturnout we received, with one well knowncompetitor curious as to how we could getmore entries than national events.Come the end of play we arrived at thepresentations.This year’s chosen charity was once againCLICSargeant, we have now decided toadopt this charity for future events. Last yearwe were fortunate to have the presentationsdone by Liam Fairhurst, as many of you willknow Liam lost his fight with cancer earlierthis year. It was with great pleasure thatLiams family agreed to come along againand present the trophies. Mark, Sarah andCallum did not just come for thepresentations that came along and supportedthe whole day. Liams Mum Sarah had alsodecided to play partnering Tricia for the day.Being a complete novice Sarah was givena short introduction to game by ChrisAllen and Vanessa Webb.During the day Callum was kept busy sellingthe charity wristbands he had had made inhis brothers memory and soon due to the

efforts of Sofiane Lachini everybody on sitewas wearing one. The sale of the wristbandsraised £190 put this with the entry fees of£430 and the days total was a grand£620. Callum had also agreed to present thetrophies. After presentation it was down toclearing up, which was quickly done with thehelp of many volunteers.The roll of honour for the day: Platecompetition: 3rd - Simon and Lewis Fletcher.2nd - John and Dan Mingay. 1st - Dave andJack Pearson.Main competition: 3rd - Chris Allen andVanessa Webb. 2nd - Steve and Dan Rice.1st - Sofiane Lachini and Simon Bird.Kenny Harris, Exning PC.

WINNERS OF THE MAIN COMPETITIONWITH CALLUM FAIRHURST

WINNERS OF THE PLATE COMPETITION WITHCALLUM FAIRHURST

KATH WATTS MEMORIAL CHARITYPAIRS

Fifteen teams turned out at the Cottage forthis annual Saturday afternoon event and£150 was raised for the East AnglianChildren’s Hospices. Thanks go to those whoplayed and to those who donated raffle prizesand bought tickets. With an odd numberinvolved, the four pairs that stood out forone round were given an average of theirresults in the other three rounds.Top three places at the end of the day wentto teams from Norwich P.C. but entries from

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other clubs were hot on their heels. Winnerswith 4 wins and plus 31 points differencewere Hedley Watts and Ray Savage.Runners-up were Roz Taylor and RichardGreen with 4 wins plus 30, and in third placeColin Debbage and Derek Glanville with 4wins plus 24. Once again, thanks to all. Seeyou all again next year.Norman Guest. Norwich P.C. CompetitionSecretary.

COUNTY COMPETITIONSNORFOLK COUNTY PAIRS

CHAMPIONSHIPOnly six teams turned out for the CountyPairs at the Bob Carter Centre but they wereobviously the cream of the county as noneof them went through the day with a blankscorecard. A round robin of five games eachwas played and competition was keen.Only one pair was unbeaten at lunch breaktime and the final result was : Winners –Judith Brown and Stuart Picton, 5 wins andplus 40 points difference. Runners-up –Peter Walker and José Garrido, 3 wins plus4. Third – George Manchett and Ron Stone,3 wins minus 2.Thanks go to the Bob Carter Club for the useof their terrain and equipment and to thosewho bothered to turn up and play and put upa good show regardless. Let’s hope thatmore members show a bit more interest intheir own sport and events in the future.Norman Guest, NCPA Chairman.

Norfolk v. leicestershireLeicestershire came to the Cottage onSaturday July the 11th and were beaten 20games to 16 giving Norfolk their first victoryover the visitors in the last 14 attempts.The match played in blazing sunshine wasan excellent all round team effort althoughspecial mention should go to the threesomeof Roz Taylor, Derek Glanville and GrahamBeales who having been put together just beforethe start performed admirably.NORFOLK TEAM

1/ Peter Walker, Dave Abery, Jose Garrido.3wins -22/ Glenn Harcourt, Glenn Fusco, PaulCritten 4wins +113/ Bob, Lynne and James Urquhart.3wins -94/ Peter Astle, Stuart Picton, TonyD’Esposito. 3wins +15/ Roz Taylor, Derek Glanville, GrahamBeales. 4wins +86/ Mick and Janet Wicks, RichardGreen.,3wins +4 - Richard Green - NCPA

REGIONAL&

NATIONAL COMPETITIONSANGLIA Singles & Shooting

Championships 2009Anglia has a new double champion in 15years old Chris Peel who triumphed in boththe Singles and Shooting Championshipsheld on 5 July at Norwich Pétanque Club’sterrain at The Cottage. Chris is the youngestever Singles champion in the Anglia’shistory.The singles continued this year’s trend ofincreased entries with 12 entrants including 3previous champions and last years championLee Moss looking to retain his title.The format was a 6 round random drawsnake with 3 rounds before lunch, then abreak for the shooting championship andthen the final 3 rounds in the afternoon. Afterthe morning games only Chris was unbeatenon 3 wins followed by a chasing pack of 6players on 2 wins which included Lee, JoseGarrido and Richard Green & Enzo Diprataboth playing in their first regional singleschampionship.

Photo:- Peter AstleSINGLES CHAMPION 2009

CHRISTOPHER PEELWell done to Christopher, the first time a junior has wonthis championship in the history of the region Ed.

Photo:- Peter Astle

Singles Runner-up Peter Astle

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Photo:- Peter Astle

Shooting Champion 2009 Christopher PeelThe Shooting Championship was as evercompetitive and played in a friendly mannerwith plenty of banter between thecontestants. After all the entrants hadcompleted each of the five shootingdisciplines there was a tie between ChrisPeel and Richard Marks necessitating ashoot-off to decide the title. Both playersthen had to take alternative turns at shootinga single boule at distances of 6, 7, 8 &(metres. Chris won the toss and went firstand immediately put the pressure on Richardby carreuing at 6m for a maximum 5 points.At the final distance of 9 metres with his lastboule Richard had to carreau to take thecompetition into the sudden death phase.Richard made a valiant attempt hitting andremoving the target boule from the circle butunfortunately his boule spun out as wellscoring only 3 points instead of the required5 leaving Chris as champion for 2009.The singles resumed and in the first round ofthe afternoon Chris was drawn against thetitle holder Lee in what was to prove to be apivotal game in deciding this yearscompetition with Chris winning a tight game13 – 10. In the next round Chris lost his onlygame of the day to Bob Urquhart who washaving a real rollercoast of a day of ‘win one- lose one’. However Chris got back on trackto clinch the title with 5 wins by beatingRichard Green 13 – 10 in the final round.Three players finished with 4 wins leavingthe silver and bronze positions to be sortedout on points difference with Jerome Morais(+3) missing out on the medals as PeterAstle took second place with +10 and JoseGarrido third on + 7.This was an excellent all round display byChris who fully utilised his shooting prowesssupplementing it with good pointing and atactical awareness belying his young years.

President Jerome Morais and thanks wereexpressed to the Norwich Club for hostingthe Championships, Richard Green forpreparing the terrain and Regional UmpireNorman Guest for both umpiring and keepingthe day running smoothly.Peter Astle, Playing Officer.

ENGLISH JUNIOR PÉTANQUECHAMPIONSHIP

Four of the Anglia Region young gunsdecided to test the water in the big pondwhen they entered the final round of theEnglish Junior (under 18) pétanque teamtournament at Bury St Edmunds.Knowing that the unsuccessful entries in theseries had already dropped out it wasapparent that they would only be competingagainst three teams vying for one WorldChampionship and two British Championshipplaces.With the other teams carrying forward ten,eight and seven wins from sixteen gamesplayed previously the chances ofqualification from just twelve gamesoutstanding was minimal.The Anglia team comprising Curtis Money,Christopher Peel, James Urquhart and ChloeUrquhart with an average age of just under15 at the start of the year, were thereforeinstructed to enjoy the occasion and left tomake their own decisions rather than receivetouchline coaching.They then proceeded to beat the ultimateWorld Championship team from Chiltern bythree games to one in a match comprising asingles and triples played simultaneouslyfollowed by two pairs.The second match was a close encounterresulting in a 3-1 loss to a multi-region teamfrom four different areas of the country.Anglia concluded the day with a last match3-1 victory over series runners-up Kent.This meant that Anglia and Chiltern bothrecorded 7 wins from the day's gamesfollowed by Kent on 6 wins and the multi-region team on 4 wins.National Secretary Kevin Mosscomplimented the Anglia team on theirperformance, as did officials and players ofthe other participating teams. The ChilternTeam Manager was particularly impressedand thought it a shame this was their firstappearance in the qualifying series beforequickly adding 'but maybe not'.Bob Urquhart, Wanderers SF PC.PS. Congratulations to Georgie Wright from

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multi-region team.(I hope to have a report from Georgie in thenext edition on her experiences at the HomeNations. Ed.)

ANGLIA Regional TriplesChampionship 2009

The late withdrawal of Dave Abery due to avery painful abcess lead to Bernice Walkerstepping in to fill the breach and what a supersub she turned out to be.Playing with husband Peter and TonyD’Esposito they won the Regional TriplesChampionship held at British Sugar’s terrainin Bury St Edmunds. It also meant a changeof role for Peter taking on the shooting dutiesinstead of his usual ‘milieu’ (middle) positionand this he did with aplomb barely missing ashot all day.The day started with British Sugar’s usualhospitable welcome of tea or coffee for allthe players. Ten teams entered, 2 more thanlast year, so a 6 round random draw snakesystem was used.At the lunch break only Bernice, Peter &Tony had a 100% record setting a crackingpace with 13- 0, 13 – 4 & 13 – 8 wins andthey were followed by 4 teams on 2 wins.After the lunch break the Bob Carter Triple ofAnne & Peter Hardy playing with JudithBrown put in a spirited challenge winning alltheir games to finish with 5 from 6. Bernice,Peter & Tony won their first 2 games of theafternoon and then had a hiccup losing thelast game of the day to the ‘ThreeGeneration’ team from the Exning club of PatPapworth playing with son in-law Simon andgrandson Chris Peel, 13 – 8.This left both the leading teams on 5 wins sothe winners had to be decided on pointsdifference. After careful checking and doublechecking of the scorecards Bernice, Peter &Tony were declared champions with a + 34points difference over Anne, Peter andJudith’s + 30. Third place was contested bytwo teams with 4 wins and again on pointsdifference, the bronze medals went to RosTaylor, Richard Green & Mick Wicks fromthe Norwich Petanque club ( + 25 ) edgingPaul Critten, Jose Garrido & Glen Fusco ( +10 ) into fourth place.The shield and medals were presented byRegional President Jerome Morais whothanked the British Sugar Club for bothhosting the championship and theirhospitality and to Norman Guest for umpiringand running the competition.

Photo:- Peter Astle

Winners of the Triples Championship 2009

Photo:- Peter Astle

Runners-up of the Triples ChampionshipPeter Astle, Playing Officer.

Gin Trap Charity PairsCompetition

This years chosen charity for the Gin TrapCharity Pairs was the East Anglian AirAmbulance. The ‘Gin Trap’ Pairs wastraditionally held at the start of the seasonbut this year was moved to September toaccommodate playing the main regionalchampionships before the school summerholidays which proved to be successful withmore entries in them all.Thirteen pairs entered which disappointinglywas down on last year but the weather wasexcellent, sunny and warm just right forplaying pétanque. The competition washosted by the Norwich Club at The Cottageterrain.With 13 pairs it meant that one pair had to sitout each round but a catch up round forthose 6 teams was played at the end so thateverybody had 6 games using the randomdraw snake system with lunch taken afterround 3.At lunch 3 teams had won all their games,Enzo Diprata & Tony D’Esposito (Norwich &Sprowston); Chris & Jackie Johnson (Diss WPC) and Roz Taylor & Richard Green(Norwich PC) with another 3 pairs closebehind on 2 wins.

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Both Roz & Richard & Chris & Jackie losttheir first games after the break whilst Enzo& Tony carried on their winning ways. Goinginto the last round Roz & Richard had to wintheir game against clubmates Mick & JanetWicks and hope that Enzo & Tony lost. Theywere playing Jerome Morais & Peter Astle(Hethersett SPC & Yarmouth PC) and to thedelight of Roz & Richard Jerome & Peterinflicted the only defeat of the day 13 – 9 onEnzo & Tony.This meant that there were 2 teams on 5wins and the placings were decided onpoints difference declaring the winners to beRoz & Richard (+30pts) over Enzo & Tony(+29) by the narrowest of margins. Thirdplace went to Jerome & Peter (4 wins+21pts) and fourth was Chris & Jackie (4wins +17pts)

Photo:- Peter Astle

Winners of the ‘Gin Trap’ Charity Pairs

Photo:- Peter Astle

Runners-up of the ‘Gin Trap’ Charity PairsA highly enjoyable day with a total of £143raised for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.Thanks were expressed to the Norwich Clubfor hosting the day and particularly toRichard Green & Eric Whattling for preparingthe terrain. Norman Guest umpired and keptthe scores etc to ensure the day ransmoothly.Peter Astle, Playing Officer.

ROUND THE CLUBS &LEAGUES

FACTS & STATSThe Club was started by Ted Hamlin and BobUrquhart to further develop the game. Thismeant splitting the existing Chapelfield Clubto enable family members and otherindividuals to participate.In 1984 club fees were 50p adults and 25pJunior/Cadet.Home terrains in order of usage have beenthe Norman Centre, Harford Centre,Racecourse Inn and the St Faiths Centre.Membership in the first season totalled 23including 7 young people. Membership at theNorman Centre between 1984/5 and 1995/6averaged 40 including 5 young people.Membership at the Harford Centre between1997 and 2000 averaged 38 including 2young people. The 2000/01 season at theRacecourse Inn attracted 30 membersincluding 2 young people.The first season at the St Faiths Centre2001/02 attracted 31 members including 5young people but this has increasedsubstantially over the eight year period tocurrent 56 members including 15 youngpeople.Ted Hamlin has played for England againstScotland.Shaun Kennett and Sarah Urquhart wererunners up in the 1994 National Pairs andwere champions in 1995.Shaun Kennett, Sarah Urquhart, BobUrquhart and Lynne Urquhart have allreached National Semi-Finals on more thanone occasion.Current Club members of the victoriousAnglia Region team at the National InterRegional Tournament 1991 were TedHamlin, Shaun Kennett, Mick Sadler, BobUrquhart, Sarah Urquhart and LynneUrquhart.Bob Urquhart along with Jerome Morais(Sporting Club) are the only two players tohave represented the Anglia Region at everyNational Inter Regional Tournament.Current Chairperson Louise Robinson hasserved on the Committee for 22 years.1987 team names were Wanderers Lost,Wanderers Found and Wanderers Forgotten.Youngest member to serve on theCommittee was James Urquhart aged 13

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Ted Hamlin, Margaret Hamlin LouiseRobinson, Bob & Sarah Urquhart are the onlypeople to have been club members for thewhole 25 years.Other long term members Wally Brown,Michael Hamlin and Lynne Urquhart 23 yearsand Irene Andrews 20 years.Past and Present Chairperson - BobUrquhart, Brian Taylor, Robin Tovell, RussellHarris and Louise RobinsonPast and Present Secretary - Ted Hamlin,Alison Taylor, Gloria Smith, Peter Neville,Bob Urquhart and Lynne UrquhartPast and Present Treasurer - Ted Hamlin,Alison Taylor, Margaret Hamlin, BobUrquhart and Irene AndrewsMembership ranges from 7 year old's AmeeKennett and Ryan Watker to an individualwho shall remain nameless aged over 80.In 2008 Wanderers St Faiths had moreJunior/Cadet members than any other clubregistered with the English PetanqueAssociation.Wanderers St Faiths latest signings are 15year old Tom Turner and 14 year old CurtisHoy, who increase the total overall individualmembership of the Club to 203.Successes in 2009 to date:-Big C Charity Pairs Winners - Ronald Stoneand George Manchett (Sprowston)Russell Harris Fun Pairs Winners - ChloeUrquhart and Bob UrquhartAnglia Region Junior Pairs Winners - JoshWilcox and James UrquhartAnglia Region Junior Triples Winners -Jessica Shoesmith, Chloe Urquhart andJames UrquhartNorfolk County Junior Pairs Winners -Georgie Wright and James UrquhartAnglia Region Pairs Winners - DerekShoesmith and Peter Astle (Gt Yarmouth)Bob Carter Centre Junior Pairs Winners -Chloe Urquhart and James Urquhart2009 Regional Team members for NationalInter Regional Tournament - Dave Abery,Peter Walker, Jose Garrido, Phil Wright,Lynne Urquhart, Chloe Urquhart, BobUrquhart, James Urquhart, Gloria Smith,Dean Wright, Georgie Wright along withJessica Shoesmith and Josh Wilcox who areplaying in the Junior team.Participating in the Challenge tournament areDerek Shoesmith, Linda Shoesmith, JohnNooney and Bernice Walker.Bob Urquhart, Wanderers SF PC.

The Suffolk Coastal PÉTanqueLEAGUE

It has always been difficult to generate newinterest in the sport from basically nothing orlittle interest but thats whats been happeningover in the eastern side of Suffolk, with theformation of the Suffolk Coastal PétanqueLeague.Operating on a sponsorship deal with a goodcontact, the league started their inauguralseason in 2008, with a total of 9 teams and aformat of matchplay that, we believe, hadn’tbeen tried before in this neck of thewoods....I.e a drawn match!Why and how I hear you say. Well it was feltthat, whilst the best of 5 games format hasserved both Norfolk and Suffolk leagues wellover the last 25 years or so, that sometimesa match can be so evenly-matched that adraw would seem the fairer result. As we allprobably know when you go 3-0 up in amatch, invariably because the match as acontest is effectively over, the last twogames also go the same way and end upbeing a 5-0 whitewash. The Coastal Leagueuses a best-of-4 format, so even if you are 2-0 down after the first pair of games, bothremaining games are still worth fighting everyinch for because you could at least get a 2-2draw.Another idea used is that the team needs toonly consist of 4 players and no two pairingscan play together twice in the same match,thus keeping dominant pairings to only onegame together each match. All games areplayed on a doubles format, so a team canarrive with the minimum of 4 players, up to amaximum of 8 players per match.Due to the vast area that Suffolk Coastalactually covers, the Leagues divisions arenot sorted by ability or promotion/relegationbut more simply, by geographical basis,thereby minimising travelling expense aswell. Divisions are no greater than 6 teamsand the season lasts approximately 24weeks. A team, in that time, can have atmost 5 home and 5 away matches and byagreement with the opposition, can arrangeany day, any time to play the match,although the majority of teams prefer thelatter part of Sunday morning. This isbasically because as a match takes around90 minutes to complete, by 12 o’clock, mostvenues are then open for drinks and food!Following our 2008 season, registration forour 2009 league was always going to be atest as to whether the format and style of the

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league appealed. Fortunately we can reportthat it did to the extent that we added afurther 9 teams making our team count now17.This season we are hosting our End ofSeason Play-Offs at a neutral venue, thevenue itself proposes to enter 2 or 3 teamsnext year and coupled with a major mail shotand marketing drive, the league looks likelyto continue its expansion and start the 2010season with nearer 30 teams.For further information e-mail SimonFletcher at imogenlewiskira@sky.com

THE INTERNATIONALNATURIST FEDERATION

MIXED DOUBLESPÉTANQUE TOURNAMENT

2009Well what a mad and crazy week. Westarted off with a quick break down at LaSerre de Portelas Nr Clermont Ferrand.Drove down on Friday and stopped at a hotelin Bourges before setting up the tent on theSaturday morning at the naturist site. What afantastic place in the mountains with themost amazing views. You could just standand stare all day. Anyway, lovely people andfast tricky pistes, ideal for a bit of last minutepractice for the competition ahead. Sunnyand dry until Monday night when athunderstorm struck. It sounded like the localtheatre group were practising with a wobbleboard and the noise was surreal. ComeTuesday morning the day stayed very wetwith loads of rain and lightening. Finallystopped at 7 in the evening and we went fora quick game of pétanque. The pistes hadturned to a bog and it was hilarious as wesplashed around in the puddles. I buried thejack with a high lob which drove it right intothe ground. Marion won the end so she hadthe task of digging it out. Anyway the suncame out for the Wednesday so last chanceto catch a few rays as we were off early onThursday morning to Germany. Really hotdrive across France with the car temperaturegauge showing 33 degrees C as we travelledover the French border and finally stoppedjust short of Frankfurt in a hotel for the night.Friday was hot and sunny as we made ourway up to Gottingen.We found the site and some German

gentlemen told us where to go to find ourspot with the rest of the British team. Puttingup the tent another man came over thinkingwe were tourists and told us off for notbooking in. we said we were here for thePétanque and he asked if we played?Anyway same guy woke us up on Sundaynight to hug us and said it was his firstchance to do so. He was running all thecamping and turned out to be a great guyand a fan.Anyway we had a couple of games on theFriday afternoon with Alan & Pam and thingslooked good. Proper pistes, all together in amassive area close to the main tent, food,our tents and the loos. The pistes were reallygood just like our own club British Sugarpitches. It took me till the 2nd game torealise this as I was always a slow learner !So, along came Saturday morning with all 64teams ready to start. Our league was aBelgian, a French and a German team. Weof course lost the first game really badly to 6and our lucky mascot was upturned as at LaPetite Brenne in France 2006. Did the trickand we beat the Germans to 4 and theFrench to 0 to make the main.First round was against a Dutch team and wewon to 2 and then had to play a British team.Horrible playing your own squad membersbut we won to 8. It kept raining in heavyshowers at intervals but luckily we only gotcaught in one of them whilst playing.Before the evening meal we wereentertained by a Scottish pipe band from thelocal town - really! Hans from the Dutchteam had made the British Sport officer abeautiful pair of clogs which he wore to dothe Highland Fling – didn’t see the blistersafterwards, but we’re sure there were some !After the meal a man who looked remarkablylike Bill Bailey and a woman sang Germandisco and umpha drinking songs. It wasbonkers but a great fun evening, even doingthe conga around the tables ! As you canguess much alcohol was partaken !Sunday morning was absolutely freezing.We got fully dressed to go and clean ourteeth!First game was playing a German team withthe man shooting really well but we pulledahead and at 7-3 we could have got 6 but hedesperately shot with his last boule and weonly got three. Then we were holding twoand I pushed up a boule to give them one –oops ! It was a bizarre game and at 11- 9they almost got game. As the lady pointed

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for game a wasp attacked her. She waved itaway and then threw the boule four feet long.It was a real let off in a game we shouldhave won easily. I had a German alongsideme explaining what I was doing, in English tohis mate like a running commentary, very offputting. Anyway, next end at 12-11 to themthe German was again in trouble and againshot with his last boule. He clipped his backboule and gave us the game. We all shookhands and a woman (not playing) ran on tothe piste to get us to measure the boule. Hepointed out he had lost but she insisted. Isaid I would measure it because I wanted toknow if we had actually won. We were onwith two and we all shook hands again. Therest of the team were watching from afar andsaid it looked hilarious. Another British teamwere along side us playing another Germanteam and they won as well to get to the lastfour. Amazingly we missed them in the draw.We played the last German team in thecompetition and they drew a French team tocomplete the semi finals.The Dutch coach gave us some info on theGerman team and it worked really well. Wewon a long game to 8 but at 12-8 theymanaged to move the jack to hold game onthe ground with 5 boule. Marion shot thepack of five of their boule three times beforethere was room to point in for game. Eachtime she reduced the score until they wereonly holding one and I then grabbed thegame. The Germans were really wellsupported but I think it put them off morethan us.Sadly the other British team lost a very tightgame to 12 against the French.Unfortunately they then lost the third fourthplay off to come 4th, but a great result form64teams.So the final started at three in the afternoonand the Dutch coach again gave us key infoon how to beat the French team. My firstpoint stopped about 4 inches in front of thejack and they pointed all six against it. Verystrange. We took the one with three bouleleft and a lot of people watching seemed toboo! Next end eight metres and my boule 4inches in front of the jack. They pointed andmanaged to beat it twice. Marion hit bothboule and we scored 3. Next end we shot 4boule to score 4 and they began to wobble.Next end we scored 1 and then the mostbizarre end. I pointed 3 inches from the jackand they again pointed all six boule. Two infront about four inches apart and four inchesin front of the jack. I pointed both my next

boule in and I swear I thought the crowd bythe head were going to faint. I have no ideahow it happened they looked like they wereradio controlled. Just amazing. Next end thejack jumped to leave them holding 3 and Ipointed about 18 inches in front of the jack toget the holding boule. The French guypointed in for one and the crowd went crazy.He threw the jack out to six and promptlypointed 2 ft long. I pointed on fairly close andeventually after a few boule they got on.Marion carreaued and he just threw his lasttwo boule somewhere near in a resigned wayand walked over to shake our hands. We hadfour boule left so it was a bit amazing. Therewas a sort of stunned silence. I think it wascertainly the best game I have played forages and Marion only missed two boule inthe entire game. It was just fantastic and ittook us about an hour to let it sink in.Another British team won the plate,apparently the first time in the tournaments28-year history the same country has wonthe Main and Plate competitions.The trophy was made by a club member atGottingen, carved out of a log with a bouleon top. Good job we were not flying.So the food, entertainment, ambience andsite were brilliant and it was a thoroughlyenjoyable weekend. We returned home onBank Holiday Monday missing our ferrybecause a load of illegal immigrants werestorming the road in Calais trying to get intolorries, caravans it was just unbelievable. Allover the road like a swarm trying to getunder cars and caravans. Scary. Worthlocking your caravan doors, boots andanything else they could get into. I saw 6 getinto the back of a lorry. Just so crazy.Phil Boarder, Pen-Y-Coed Pétanque.

COACHING TIPS

FromPEN-Y-COEDPÉTANQUERules ExplainedMarking the jack, boule and plasticcircles.The introduction of plastic circles in the newrule book has raised a few eyebrows. Theywill take a while to get into the game as

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organisers are expected to supply them andbig events are difficult to organise let alonetrying to sort out 20 or more circles for all thegames to use. Most are reserved for finalsand semi finals where other players arewatching. Many players are using the circlesfor more relaxed play as they are using theequipment on pistes that are traditionallydifficult to draw your circle. These pisteshave been constructed with a verycompacted layer system and known asrolling or marble pistes by some. They arepossibly the closest to the French markettown pistes with a fine dusting layer over avery hard surface. The piste has two uses fora strong marker of both boule and circle. It isimpossible to draw a circle with your feet ortoe and certainly not your finger. A steeltipped circle marker is an option and they areavailable from all good pétanque shops butwhy have one when you could just buy acircle? The hard rolling piste has anotherdanger not just breaking a finger trying todraw a circle. The fast pitches with boulerolling a long way means boule from anothergame being shot can come into your headwithout much warning and cause realproblems if they hit a boule or jack in yourgame. Anything disturbed by the offendingboule or boules can be place back in positionbut only if marked. May player will agreewhere they where even if they are notmarked. Some players will say “Oh that’s ashame” and take what ever they were givenby the impact. Of course you know if they areat a disadvantage they will be much morereasonable about the situation. Funny that!

It may seem strange to be marking all theboule in a head as if real damage occurs itwill take the judgement of Solomon to decidewhich boule was where! One boule moving iseasy; four boule moving could cause realproblems. Also remember these marksgiving the position of boule need to beupdated if the boule are moved by the boulein your game, nudges and shotswill move boule in the head and so a gentlerubbing out of the mark with a new markmade takes some time but will be needed inonly 1% of your games. If you can predictwhen that will be you will only need to markyour boule in that game, but as life is neversimple it pays to be a quick judge of peopleand situations.If you think you get funny looks marking theboule just wait till you mark the position ofthe new plastic circles. You have to of coursebut it makes players scratch their head indisbelief.Phil Boarder, Pen-Y-Coed Pétanque.

EPA Inter-RegionalChampionships 2009

The English Pétanque Association annualInter-Regional Championships were held atBrean Sands 19 – 20 September.For once there were no call-offs and all ourteams were as qualified or as selected andwe had a team in the Challenge competitionfor only the second time as well this year.Anglia came 5th in Division 2 with a total of45 wins and 7th in the Challenge. Our topteam was the Exning ‘3 Generation’ triple ofPat Papworth; Simon Peel & Chris Peel with8 wins. Special thanks go to our two TeamManagers Mick Sadler (senior team &challenge) and Margaret Fisher (Juniorteam) Full report to follow in the winteredition of On the PistePeter Astle, Playing Officer.

EDITORS NOTESJust a few observations to contributors whensending future articles. To get accent on the‘e’ in pétanque press Alt Gr and E at thesame time and the accent will appear. I useAerial as the standard font for the newsletterso if you could use that for your reports itwould help. Always send your reports asattachments and send photos separately andnot in the body of reports, send them fromyour hard drive direct as I need the bestresolution possible. It is best to send reportsas soon as possible after the event whileinformation is still fresh in the mind. ThanksRobin McRitchie, Editor.

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EDITORS NOTEThe views expressed in On the Piste are those of the contributors and editor and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the Anglia Pétanque Association.

EDITORRobin McRitchie

15, Peddars Way South, Ringstead,Hunstanton, Norfolk. PE36 5LF

Tel/Fax 01485-525324Email: robin.mcritchie@tiscali.co.uk

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