The Marseilaise-4,592+ to 2 in a dozen games

One of our best players, Alec Stone Sweet, is once again in the milieu of the Marseillaise, probably the largest tournament in the world and certainly the best known.

It is single elimination from the very first game, and Alec tells us that after he and his team won their first three games on Sunday, fewer than 600 teams remain out of the almost 4600 (that is nearly 14,000 players) that began the tournament. Doing the math tells us that it will take winning another 10 or so games to end up the supreme champions of this grand event. But Alec has progressed to game 6 in 2006, so don't be surprised if he gets to game 9 in 2009, or farther, even.

Our International Events Coordinator, Robert Pierre, is also entered on a team from Cagnes sur Mer, though we haven't had a report from him, yet.

Looking for more on the Marseillaise? Try www.boulistenaute.com You'll read interviews with Alec there and get a sense that this is a grueling, tiring tournament and for only for the most competitive players. But, winning or even placing well in the Marseillaise is a reward like no other.

Photos courtesy of Boulistenaute.com

FPUSA NW Regional Triples and Singles a big success!

This past weekend players from around the FPUSA'S NW Region were on the Portland Petanque Club's terrain trying to prove they had better game than any of their opponents.

Thirteen triples teams and 26 singles players competed during the weekend in a very successful event organized by Tournament Director Albyn Jones, and supported by player volunteers gathered by PPC club president, Philippe Agnesse.

We enjoyed a wonderful Saturday evening buffet under the twilight skies and took to the courts afterwards for pickup games to keep our edge for the next day's singles tournament.

NW Region Triples winners: Left to Right Pierre Brun, Hugh Gallagher, Daniel Andre(3rd Place, PPC), Greg Conyers, John Hunt, Lee Harris (2nd Place, Seattle Petanque), Thai Nguyen, Pierre and Philippe Agnesse (1st Place, PPC),

in front, FPUSA President Joe Martin and Tournament Director Albyn Jones.

NW Region Singles winners, L to R, Albyn Jones Tournament Director, Duong Nguyen (3rd Place, Seattle, Joe Cortright (1st Place, PPC), Philippe Agnesse (2nd Place, PPC) & Thai Nguyen (4th Place, PPC)

And what is a tournament without a banquet?!

Play in the "Fanny Nismoise" August 21-23!

Robert Pierre, our International Events Coordinator, has successfully secured a spot for an FPUSA triples team to enter the well known "Fanny Nismoise" tournament in Nismes, Belgium, August 21-23, 2009.

It was last held in 2007 and 11 countries, including ours, competed. As the extract from the web page shows, it is a nice affair in a pretty setting. On Sunday, there is also an open select doubles.

Nismes is about a 2 hour drive from either Paris or Brussels.

If you are a current FPUSA license holder and are interested in joining the team, please contact Robert for further information.

PS to enlarge the web extract, just click on it.

Three National Tournaments in One Weekend!

The Lamorinda Petanque Club in Lafayette, California, welcomes you to three tournaments all on the weekend of July 25th and 26th!

The National Mixed Doubles on Saturday the 25th, and on Sunday the 26th, the National Men's Doubles and the National Women's doubles!

Set in an old pear orchard on a terrain that flows around trees and boundaries, it offers a weekend of challenge and fun!

And on Saturday evening enjoy a catered BBQ dinner that includes your favorite smoke cooked meats with all the fixin's and all beverages, too!

Read on for the entry forms, meal reservations, and hotel and direction info.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Any questions, please contact: Mary Albright, or Brian Murphy

Hope to see you there!

The Marseillaise in Canada!

This is the second year of the Canadian version of the Marseillaise! It was a grand success last year, with over 75 teams competing, 4 or 5 from the U.S.

A couple of U.S. teams finished in the money last year owing to them running a couple of consolantes in addition to the Concours. The Concours was won by an excellent Canadian triplette, headed up by Yanick Laulhé, one of the sons of Claude Laulhé, a five time member of Canada's world's team.

This year it is in Longueuil, just next to Montreal, July 16-19.

(click on poster to enlarge)

One can look forward to a very well run event. It is an "open' tournament, anyone can participate. Expect the level of play to be high. A couple of lunches and a dinner are included, as are samples from Ricard of their popular beverage. Oh yes, there is prize money, too!

Website is www.pre-mondial-ricard.com and email is micheltargiroff@hotmail.com

THE HEART OF TEXAS PETANQUE CLUB TOURNAMENT

Hello everyone ,I am proud to say that the first tournament organized by THE HEART OF TEXAS PETANQUE CLUB was won by the club itself and the beautiful cup that Thierry Amisse made will remain as a trophy in Austin, TX where the club resides until it will be put back in competition the next time the club will again organize a tournament

The GOLD: winner representatives of the club were Amine Najah and Arsene Dupin

There is so much to say about today and how organically the tournament came together So the first thing to do is to say Thank you to all of you who came and participated and every one's support whether you were there or not Also, one of the major contributors to a magnificent success today was -the Weather It didn't rain on us during the entire tournament in the mist of every weatherman predicting rain today I think because of the goodness of those smiling faces coming together to one of the greatest games on this planet ,the heavens opened up the sun for us

People came as far as San Antonio 4 teams of great players one of them took SILVER : Michel Costa and Patrick Lanchais and two other members also from The HEART OF TEXAS PETANQUE CLUB Jacques and Spiros Petratos took BRONZE We had 2 great official referees Rick Armstrong and Jerome Potts A+ LOVE Arsene

By Arsene Dupin

Update on Summer Events in Europe

International Events Coordinator, Robert Pierre, also from the venerable FPUSA Southwestern Region, sent us this update (interesting enough to be posted verbatim):

“Luckily enough, a request from John Krauer made me do some research about Zurich. Here is the outcome:

La Pétanque en Suisse : Pas de Grand Prix International de Zurich 2009 !

Posté par jovial5 le 21/4/2009 20:10:00 (240 lectures) Articles du même auteur

Des circonstances indépendantes de sa volonté obligent le Comité d'organisation d'annuler le Grand Prix International de Zurich qui aurait dû se dérouler en août prochain...
La Ville de Zurich entreprend jusqu'en été des travaux de réaménagement dans le parc de la Josefwiese, qui seront achevés dans la seconde moitié de l'été. Comme il n'est pas possible à l'heure actuelle d'évaluer la place et les installations qui seront disponibles alors, le Comité d'organisation du Grand Prix a dû se résoudre à annuler la manifestation cette année.
Nous présentons sincèrement toutes nos excuses aux boulistes de Suisse, France, Allemagne, Autriche, Europe de l'Est, Espagne, Italie, Grande-Bretagne, Israël, Etats-Unis… qui avaient prévu de nous rendre visite cet été.
Il faudra donc patienter jusqu'en août 2010 pour que se déroule la 40e édition du Grand Prix International de Zurich.
D'ici-là, le Comité du GPI ZH vous souhaite une belle saison estivale et se réjouit de vous retrouver nombreux et en pleine forme en 2010 sur les terrains de la Josefwiese à Zurich.
Sportivement vôtre,
Le Comité<...

In short, no Zurich this year.”

Breeding like coat hangers!

Turn your back for a second and another petanque terrain appears, like coat hangers breeding in a closet!




This little beauty of a California terrain is home to the Petaluma Valley Petanque Club.



You can do the same with 80 yards of gravel ( about 6-7 big dump truck loads) and a nice front end loader with a box or blade on the back.

WWCQT Winners in the Paper

The Winners of the WWCQT that will Represent the USA in the upcoming Women World Championship appeared in the Local Sun Sentinel Newspaper.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/palmbeach/sfl-flcnspdigestpb0412psapr12,0,4709690.story

Boca petanque star to represent U.S. at world finals

By Cynthia Thuma

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Boca Raton's Marieke Rolland will again be a world traveler later this year.Rolland has been selected to represent the United States for the third time at the Women's Petanque World Championships in Thailand Nov. 13-15.
Petanque is a sport resembling lawn bowling and bocce that's very popular in Europe, South America and Asia, and is rapidly gaining interest elsewhere. Rolland already has competed internationally in Canada and France.In November, she'll be part of a team with Mia Kanazawa and Cynthia Stroud, who also qualified for worlds from the United States National Women's Team and are members of the Maine Petanque Club. The three earned the honor by virtue of their performance April 4-5 at Lawton Chiles Park in Delray Beach.Rolland and her teammates broke from an 11-all tie in the championship match of the qualifier to defeat Diana Jacobs, Sandra Bonneville and Antonia Chavez from the Los Angeles Petanque Club and earn the trip overseas."We were lucky enough to put the last balls in to win 15-11," she said. "It's such a great thing to represent [our country] at an event such as this. People ask for autographs and you feel like such a big shot."Still, Rolland says, she wouldn't mind a bit more support — the kind athletes in some of the better-known sports receive."Our organization [Federation of Petanque USA] gives us our uniforms and some prize money, but they can't do much more," she said. "My teammates are talking about doing bake sales to make extra money for the trip."Rolland, whose husband John started the Boca Petanque 2000 club she competes for and is the former president of the federation, said she is especially happy for her teammates, who battled through considerable adversity to win. Their club is the only petanque club in Maine."We have a lot of members, 50, maybe 55, but they did what they did on their own," she said. "There are not too many people, not too much competition there, but it'll be a big deal when they get home. They'll have champagne all over them."Americans generally do not fare that well on the international stage, leaving U.S. team members feeling a bit like Jamaican bobsledders."Exactly," she said. "That's us in the petanque world, but still, it's the Olympic Games for our sport, with 40 countries represented. It's all red, white and blue for us."

Play Pétanque in Europe This Summer!

Our International Events Coordinator, Robert Pierre, sent an update to the previous post on this subject...

"I've just been informed that Dronero is now "off," since they will host one USA team only this year, but Vienna, Austria, EuroPétanque, Nice, France, and Zurich, Switzerland, are still open. And in case there would be individuals, they still can register with me and I'll see if it is possible to build up teams. Besides, I am always available to join a team if need be. It would really be a pity not to enter one team at the EuroPétanque this year."

So... those of you with the means and skill... why not plan to join the mix in Europe this summer? Contact Robert Pierre at rcpierresq@hotmail.com, today!

Petanque at the Biltmore, FL.

Today was the first Tournament of a series of Tournaments held on every Tuesday Evening at the Beautiful Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables Fl. right in the center of Miami for the next couple of months. Play will Begin at 6:00 pm until around 8:30 pm.

All Players welcome, New and Experienced, a great way of meeting new friends and have a great time at the same time. Mario Olivieri is organizing the event so it will be running smoothly.

WWCQT - Tournament - Boca Raton, FL.

Boca Petanque Hosted the Women World Championship Qualifier Tournament this past weekend, and it was a Success!

After the Dust settled on the two Hot and Sunny Days even for us Floridians the outcome was as follow:

Gold: Mia Kanazawa, Cynthia Stroud, Marieke Rolland.

Silver: Diana Jacobs, Sandra Bonneville, Antonia Chavez.

Bronze: Narin Garrett, Erin Mc Taggart, Barbara Hall.

Outstanding Competition and Sportsmanship from All Players.

Enjoy the Pictures!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Juankydotcom/WWCQT#

SE Regional Mixed Tournaments

SE Regional Mixed Doubles

1--Jackie Plessas, Juan Garcia

2--Monique Gaudet, Claude Lauhle

3--Marieke Rolland , Alex Canesse

SE Regional Mixed Triples

1-- Marieke Rolland, John Rolland , Claude Lauhle

2--Pat Lallinec, Claude Lopez, Gerard Reuther

3--Joe Ella Manalan, Jean Jacques Baudo, Raymond Fulconis

Just a crazy weekend, full day of Rain sometimes very heavy on Saturday and a Hot and Sunny day on Sunday.

SE Singles and Doubles

SE Regional Singles Tournament

1st Gilles Canesse

2nd Juan Garcia

3rd Salem

SE Regional Doubles Tournament

1st Claude Laulhe, Marc Vedrines

2nd Jean Jacques, Pascal Rouillon

3rd Roger Arpaia, Ben Gauthier

Saturday was the day for the Singles Championship, with a total of 15 Players 14 Men and one Petite Woman (Raquel Garcia) but as I said, a good learning experience. This day was perfect weather wise with a Pizza party at the Pavilion at the end of the day with a Raffle and Lots of Prizes with the proceeds to go towards the Juniors for the World Championship.

Sunday morning was a different story since overnight we had a cold front coming in and no one liked the soaking rain that hit us several times during the day.

I have to say something about Marinette, she reminds me of the Wolf dressed as the sweet old Lady from the famous children story. She outpointed me effortlessly on our quarter final match, I as trying hard to make a good point on these difficult Sarasota Courts and she will beat me time and time again without even trying sometimes I thought she was playing with Her Eyes closed.

The Doubles Final ended up being played at the dirt parking lot under the Lights.

No Doubt about it, this was another Successful Petanque Tournament Weekend.

SEE THE PICTURES:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Juankydotcom/SE_Singles

See the world, play petanque!

Our fellow boulistes in Fresno, CA, who make up the fastest growing club in the country, are trying out the idea, as other clubs have, of combining sightseeing in Europe with the opportunity to make new friends with the petanque playing locals in their sister city of Muenster, Germany.

We've all heard that German players are devotees of the game and the Fresnans are hoping to learn a few tricks and perhaps impart some of their own. Maybe they will even get into a few pickup games at their other stops. We look forward to hearing of their experiences in a few months.

Huge petanque tournament in Valleyfield, Quebec

Our good friend and player, Roger Arpaia, of the Boca 2000 club is president this year of the Festival of Petanque of Salaberry de Valleyfield in Quebec, about 50 miles SW of Montreal.

To our amazement, we have learned that there are 72 gravel courts which are the site every year of a nine day series of competitions, 25 July through 2 August.

There are A and B class tournaments to accommodate players of all skill levels and qualifications. No doubt some of the 9 different tournaments are for holders of Canadian federation licenses, but Roger emphasizes their welcome extends to Americans, too, so there will be spots for all entrants. Entry fees and prizes vary according to tournament. Camping is available, too.

This is as close to a "petanque immersion" as one can imagine, don't you think?

Complete information is available on the petanque club's website:
http://www.clubpetanque.suroit.com/

Roger can be contacted for details and questions: rarpaia@hotmail.com

Qualifying Tournament for World Women's Team

Here is the entry form and relevant information for Women's teams interested to compete in the Qualifying Tournament in Boca Raton, Florida, April 4-5, 2009.

Unfortunately, there are as of now no precise dates or city set for the World Championship which is scheduled for September in China. However, all contestants are advised that they must attend the World Championship in China this September if they win the competition. Any questions should be directed to Sport Director, Ed Porto, edporto@sbcglobal.net

(click on image to enlarge)