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)

Nationals - Singles/Mixed Triples

The weekend started with a large group of Petanquers getting together Friday afternoon at the Boca 2000 Petanque Courts for practice. I was a little late since I had to pick up Mamary at the Miami Airport and Erin in the Fort Lauderdale area on my way to Boca Raton but this is what Friends are for.
Saturday morning we all gather for the National Men and Women National Tournaments.
There were a total of 22 Men and 6 Women Ready to Battle with three Boules each. We had Players From Valley of the Moon Petanque Club in Sonoma, Maine Boules Club with a total of six Great Players, the newly organized "New York Petanque Club", Philadelphia and From Seaside, Sarasota, Orlando, Lakeworth, Boca Raton and Miami in Florida.
After the Dust settled the results were as Follow:

Single Women:

1st Mia Kanazawa.
2nd Cynthia Stroud.
3rd Erin Mc Taggart

Single men:

1st Mamary Coulibaly.
2nd Xavier Thibaud.
3rd Roger Arpaia

Mixed Triples:

1st Xavier Thibaud, Jean Pierre Subrenat, Erin McTaggart.
2nd Gloria Bergeron, Aaron Kianofsky, Mamary Coulibaly.
3rd Monique Gaudet, Elie o'hayon, Michel Robichaud.

Special recognition goes to Aaron Kianofsky ( crowd favorite) for his constant Smile and sense of humor PLUS unbelievable Pointing and Shooting and His Partner Gloria Bergeron that won Her first Medal in FPUSA and it had to be 2nd Place in a National Tournament. She also Played like a Pro. Congratulations!.

Click on the Link For the Full Album of Pictures.

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

National Singles and Mixed Triples

Welcome to some Good Weather and a lot of Competition at the Courts of Boca 2000 Petanque Club in Boca Raton, FL. for The National Men and Women's Singles Tournaments on Saturday February 20th and The National Mixed Triples the Following day on Sunday February 21st.

For a ten Day Weather Forecast of the Area Click on the Link below.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USFL0040?from=36hr_topnav_undeclared

For Further Information Contact our Boca 2000 Club President:

John Rolland

5788 Wind Drift lane, Boca Raton, Fl 33433

jmrol@comcast.net

Cell: 954-425-2646.

Play in Europe this year!

Our International Events Coordinator, Robert Pierre, gives us an initial list of European tournaments for players to consider entering.

Last year, our players participated in five competitions in various parts of Europe and all report a very positive experience. Nothing improves our game like playing with the best!


These first four so far for this year include some subsidy or grant for rooms and meals to one or more official FPUSA teams. Sounds like fun doesn't it, defending our colors in some wonderful settings and enjoying a free room and/or meals while doing it?

Being selected for an official FPUSA team entails applying to Robert C PIERRE
(RCPIERREsq@hotmail.com)(individuals or complete teams) before the deadline mentioned for each tournament. Selected teams will wear FPUSA colors and will be notified of their selection by the FPUSA Sport Committee within 10 days after the deadline.

Vienna, Austria, June 12th thru 14th, Select Doublettes, accomodation provided for 1, possibly 2 Teams.
Dead line to apply:5/1/09

EuroPétanque, Nice, France, July 17th thru 20th, Select Triplettes, hotel and lunches provided for 2 Teams.
Dead line to apply: 5/29/09


Dronero, northern Italy, July 24th thru 27th, Select Doublettes and Triplettes, full board provided for 2 Teams.
Dead line to apply: 6/5/09

Zurich, Switzerland, August 14th thru 17th (to be confirmed), Select Triplettes and Doublettes, lump sum per player covering 2 hotel nights.
Dead line to apply: 6/26/09
(photos courtesy of Boulistenaute.com)

From the Southwest...

Southern California club member, and global pétanque ambassador, Robert C. Pierre, sends us this news update:

Club members might be interested to participate in a
Four-Day Pétanque and Belote Stay on the Costa Brava in Spain,
a 30 mile drive from the French border, along the Mediterranean coast.

This trip is organized every year by a club based in Nice. It is informal, and everyone is welcome.

This year, two dates are featured:

June 8th thru 12th, and October 12th thru 16th.

Prices include full board at the Tahiti Playa Hotel www.tahitiplaya.com

Pétanque tournaments include, for Men and for Women: singles (limited to 256 men and 64 women on a first registered basis), Doublettes Mêlée, and Select Doublettes. A Triplette Mêlée Générale is also organized, including both Men and Women.

There will be also Belote tournaments.

PRICES:

€ 162 per person based on double rooms.
Add € 48 for a single room.
Kids 2 to 10: 50% discount
Additional nights: € 36; add € 12 for a single room.

Deadline to register:
2/13/09 for June,
7/15/09 for October

Inquiry: RCPIERREsq@hotmail.com

Petanque America OPEN 2009

I talked to Philippe from Petanque America today, to get more Info on the upcoming "Petanque America Tournament" for November 2009.

Nothing is carved in Stone yet since this is only in the developing stages, much planning and organizing in the next couple of months. He mention that He should have more details some time in March.

But for now the Plans are for a Doubles Tournament, Mid November 2009 in Amelia Island ( NE Florida) by Jacksonville. http://www.ameliaisland.com/ , He is expecting over 100 Teams from all over the US and Abroad.

All I can say is that it Sounds like a lot of FUN in a Beautiful setting . Just like in 2003 and 2005 Philippe knows how to Organize a Large Tournament and get all the logistics together for a common GOAL ( Play Petanque and Have a Good Time).

Visit his Blog for some interesting Info http://petanqueamericaopen.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment, let Him know what You think.

SE Regional Triples - RESULTS -

This First time ever Melee Triples was a success!. Players of different levels got together to Play Petanque on Saturday morning.
On a personal note I would like to report that John Wildner was very happy to Win his first FPUSA Medal, He started playing over a year ago and now He's playing like a champ and this is what's all about with the Melee Tournament.
John Roland, Boca 2000 Club President was missed all weekend due to that he was sick and You know that He had to be feeling really bad to NOT Play on these two Tournaments. But He now feels much Better.
Good Competition with quality Teams was what the Sunday SE Regional Triples was all about.
We all had plenty of Fun, it's always great to meet with our Friends and Play our Favorite Game.

SE Regional Melee Triples

1st Roger Arpaia; Pierre Gaudet; Suzanne Gautier

2nd Juan Garcia; Michel Deschappes; John Wildner

3rd Michel Robichaud; Michel Cazenave; Monique Gaudet

SE Regional Formed Triples

1st Gilles Canesse; Alex Canesse; Juan Garcia

2nd Roger Arpaia; Claude Lopez; Michel Cazenave

3rd Jean Jacques Baudo; Gerard Reuther; Gerard Galliano

Click on the Link for the Pictures of these two days of Competition in Sunny Florida.

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

2009 FPUSA Calendar of Events

The New 2009 FPUSA Calendar of Events is Ready.

http://usapetanque.org/pdf/2009-FPUSA-calendar-01-12-09-1.pdf

SE Regional Over 60 Tournament

LE SOUTH FLORIDA PETANQUE CLUB, INC.

S.E. REGIONAL “ OVER 60 “ MIXED DOUBLES FORMED TOURNAMENT
( FEDERATION RULES APPLY)

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18TH, 2009

REGISTRATION FEE PER TEAM $50.00 LUNCH INCLUDED
DEADLINE TO REGISTER JANUARY 16TH.
MUST BE PRESENT BY 9 A.M.
AND

SOCIAL TOURNAMENT OPEN TO ALL FORMED BY THE BOARD $5.00 EACH
BRING YOUR LUNCH AND DRINKS. BEGINS AT 9 A.M.

JOHN PRINCE PARK,LAKE WORTH , FLORIDA
INFORMATION: ARMAND LALLINEC 561-588-8161
PLALLINEC@NETZERO.NET

Happy New Year 2009!

SE Regional Triples Tournaments

BOCA PETANQUE 2000.

SE REGIONAL MELEE TRIPLES.

SATURDAY JANUARY 10TH.

Registration fee per player: $10.00 before the 1/9/2009, $ 15.00 after.


SE REGIONAL SELECT TRIPLES.

SUNDAY JANUARY 11TH.

Registration fee per team: $ 60.00 before the 1/9/2009, $ 75.00 after.

Prizes: All the money collected ( after the $ 5.00 fee to FPUSA ) will be going towards the main tournament and the consolante.

Bring your lunch and drinks.

FRIDAY JANUARY 9TH.

From 2PM on: petanque practice, 5 PM drawing of the teams and Pastis served, compliments of Boca Petanque Club.

For information and registration:

John Rolland: 954-425-2646.

2nd Annual Chicago "Polar Bear", Jan 10th

What a contrast from the Florida posting just below, to this one from last year's "Polar Bear" tournament in Chicago. Playing in snow and ice is not for the faint of heart, but then, we petanquers are know for being a little "fou"(crazy).

On January 10th, the next Polar Bear is scheduled and if you are in the Windy City, try your hand at winter petanque.

What is their secret to having a successful tournament? Have a look at this photo and you'll see it, the boule warmer.
Dan Danielson, President of the Chcago Petanque Club says it this way:
"SNOW! It builds character...
and makes characters go outside and lob steel boules into the air.

We are having our 2nd Annual Winter "Polar-Boule" Games on Jan 10th. The weather can not stop us. The secret is to have a boule-warmer griil and keep one boule in your pants pocket. (I know hiding a boule is against the rules, but it sure does feel good.)"

For more info: www.chicagopetanque.com

See the photos from last winters event at Flickr.

Winter Petanque Chicago Style
http://www.flickr.com/groups/938624@N24/

Florida's Trophy Tournament

There was a big turnout of Players for the Saturday afternoon practice session, we all played until sundown.
Sunday started setting up the Courts under a little of a cool weather for us but there was plenty of help and we were ready to warm up quickly. There as a total of 18 Double Teams as far North as Canada and New York but mostly from Florida. We Played 3 games in the morning and 16 Teams Qualified for the afternoon Single Elimination Rounds. The Final was fought by the Defending Champs Roger Arpaia / John Rolland VS Yannis Devert / Laurent DiMeglio even though the first beat the second by a landslide in the preliminary round that was not the case in this Final to 15. After the Dust settled the Results were as Follow:

1st Yannis Devert / Laurent DiMeglio

2nd Roger Arpaia / John Rolland

3rd Gerard Galliano / Mark Vedrin

4th Gilles Canesse / Pierre Lallinec

For more Pictures of the Event:

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

Our guys in Dakar, Senegal

We now have a few photos of our team in Dakar, Senegal, where just over a week ago, they competed in the World Petanque Championships.

Robert Pierre, our Chef de Delegation tells us the terrain was basically the beach with rocks spread over it, and in this photo taken during the opening ceremony shows it, just look at what they are standing on. Must have been completely different than what any of us has ever played on.

Just next to our team is the France B team who ended up winning the championship in a fanny over Thailand.
One of the duties of the Chef is to present a gift to the host country. Here is Robert offering a very nice photo book in French of the U.S. National Parks to His Excellency Bacor Dia, Minister of Sport for Senegal. The fellow in the middle is Gassan Ezzidine, President of the Senegal Federation. Looks like a warm day, doesn't it?
Another of the duties of the Chef is to attend the President's Dinner along with the team coach, Ly Nguyen. And in the spirit of gift giving, the Chef receives a small gift, in this case a decorated drum, and Gassan receives one of our jerseys.


And how about this for a nice group shot on the beach in Dakar? From left to right, you see Pascal, Christian, Ly, Thuan, Mai, and Robert.


No doubt our fellows returned with more than a few memories and maybe some souvenirs. Our team for the 2010 World Games will be traveling to some far off place, perhaps Taiwan, but we won't know for sure for a while.

Our sincere thanks to all our players, coach, and Chef for doing such a nice job of representing the U.S. in Dakar.

SE Regional Doubles - Mixed Doubles

Doubles Results:



1st Michel and Pierrette Sucur

2nd Alex Canesse and Juan Garcia

3rd Raymond Fulconis and Michel Crouzillat





Mixed Doubles Results:



1st Roger and Lucie Arpaia

2nd Raymond Fulconis and Regine Maistri

3rd Guy Labouyrie and Muriel Schmidtke



We all enjoyed this SE Regional Weekend hosted by Armand Lallinec and his Club "The South Florida Petanque Club". There was some great pointing by the Locals on these very tough Courts to Play on.

The weather was hot on Saturday reaching the Mid 80's and due to a Cold Front Sunday started in the low 50's but ended up close to 70 degrees.

For a lot of more Pictures Go To:

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

Enjoy!!! and stay WARM.

World Games Results, Dakar, Senegal

There were teams from 53 countries competing in Dakar, Senegal, November 12-16, 2008, but one team emerged the champion, France B. Don't they look happy?

If they do, it may be because they fannied their opponent, the team from Thailand, unusual, but not unheard of in these competitions.

Here are the semi-final match-ups:


In the Coupe des Nations, the consolante, here are the results with Spain gaining first place.

Our U.S. team (Christian Triay, Pascal Corchia, and Thuan and Mai Nguyen, coached by Ly Nguyen) put up a good showing, but were shunted into the Coupe des Nations and were then unable to emerge from their pool. However, we congratulate their effort and appreciate their willingness to travel so far at some expense of time and money. Their proficiency as a team improved as they played games, but not quickly enough to remain in the compeition.

Our Chef de Delgation, Robert Pierre was snagged by the BBC News Service for an inteview and part of it can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7729884.stm

It was decided at the Board meeting in Dakar, of the FIPJP, the international governing body for petanque, that the next Seniors World Competition will be in 2010, though one is planned for Women and Juniors in 2009, perhaps in Tunisia.

Complete results of the competition can be seen at: www.fipjp.com

Open Florida Trophy 2008

SUNDAY DECEMBER 7TH 2008.

OPEN FLORIDA TROPHY 2008.

FORMED “ DOUBLETTES “.

$ 700.00 Minimum prizes.
Entry fee: $ 50.00 by team if paid by December 1st
$ 60.00 by team after December 1st.


LUNCH PROVIDED by RENZO’S.

THE FLORIDA TROPHY IS OPEN TO ALL PETANQUE PLAYERS, HOWEVER THE FLORIDA TROPHY WILL STAY IN FLORIDA.

PLAYERS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES ARE WELCOME, BUT THEY HAVE TO PLAY WITH A USA PLAYER.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 6TH.

Practice all afternoon.
4.00 PM. deadline for inscription.
6.00 PM. Pastis and nibbles served compliments of BOCA PETANQUE CLUB 2000.


SUNDAY DECEMBER 7 TH.
9.00 AM. FLORIDA TROPHY STARTS.


Register and send money to:
John Rolland:
5788 Wind Drift lane,
Boca Raton, Fl 33433.
Cell: 954-425-2646.

FPUSA SE Regional Tournaments - Lake Worth, FL.

REGIONAL DOUBLETTE TOURNAMENT SAT.NOV.15,2008

STARTING TIME: 9AM
PLACE: SFPC,JOHN PRINCE PARK,LAKE WORTH,FL.
ENTRY FEE PER TEAM: $50.00
CLOSING DATE: NOV.12

REGIONAL MIXED DOUBLETTE TOURNAMENT SUNDAY,NOV.16,2008

STARTING TIME 9AM
PLACE: SFPC,.JOHN PRINCE PARK,LAKE WORTH,FL.
ENTRY FEE PER TEAM: $50.00
CLOSING DATE: NOV.12

LUNCH WLL BE FURNISHED TO ALL PLAYERS BY THE CLUB SATURDAY.PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN DRINKS.

SEND ENTRY FORMS AND CHECKS PAYABLE TO SFPC, 1 SO.LAKESIDE DR,APT A3,
LAKE WORTH,FL.33460

http://www.usapetanque.com/pdf/SEregional1.pdf

http://www.usapetanque.com/pdf/SEregional2.pdf

INFORMATION: P LALLINEC,SAME ADDRESS, 561-588-8161 plallinec@netzero.net

NY Open - Results -

Alec Stone Sweet & Yacob Nour Win the 2008 New York Open

A field of 30 teams gathered in New York’s Bryant Park for the annual New York Open doubles tournament, a two-day petanque event. Coming from outside the tri-state area were teams from California, North Carolina, Illinois, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Maine, and Canada.

It was a beautiful Fall weekend. If it were only like this for the WCQT! But the delight of seeing the usual sun-bathers on the lawn turned into the ruckus of machinery digging it out for the construction of the ice rink. And we had only limited access to our usual makeshift terrains around the lawn. But show must go on.

Sixteen teams qualified for Sunday’s main event. Richard ‘Ti’ Meas and Amadou Thiam were knocked out by Xavier Thibaud and Ernesto Santos, as were Jean-Pierre Subrenat and Eric by Alec Stone Sweet and Yacob Nour, the Canadian champion.

A few notable upsets were Raja Harb and Hugh Gallagher beating Loi Nguyen and Hakim Kozar and team Joseph Hassoune beating the Canadians, Marc Raymond and Alex Bendi.

The remaining full Canadian team—Remy Bouchard and Laurent Mirabeau—lost to Xavier and Ernesto in the semifinal. Alec and Yacob beat Yngve Bilsted and Gilles Ray to reach the final, which they won against Xavier and Ernesto 13-10.

Prizes went to 14 teams in all: the top 8, the top 2 concours consolante “A”, and top 4 regular consolante “B” teams, with 1st Place awarded $800, 2 Irony Chronos from Swatch, 2 Armagnac Chateau De Laubade 1991.

For more details of the finals, go to http://www.labouleny.com/.

For a slideshow of the event, http://www.flickr.com/photos/labouleny/sets/72157608121434443/show/

Going "down under" and looking for a tournament?

This "down under" tournament is actually in New Zealand, not Australia, but you might find it fun to enter if your travel plans will place you in that part of the world toward the end of January 2009.

A flyer from the Auckland Petanque Association tells us they regularly attract teams from Tahiti, Vanuatu, Australia, and even France and England.

Because they aren't providing complimentary rooms or other amenities, our Sport Commitee won't be involved in designating teams, so teams are free to enter on their own using the entry form below.

Please use the email address on the form for any questions you might have.
Good luck!

please click on the images to enlarge