Thursday, April 17, 2008

Boca 2000 Open Tournament- May 4th

BOCA PETANQUE 2000.

FORMED DOUBLETTES.

SUNDAY MAY 4TH. 2008.


9:00 AM: INSCRIPTION: $ 10.00 REGISTRATION AND DRAWING OF THE TEAMS.

9:15 AM: PLAY STARTS.

12:00 PM: PASTIS SERVED TO ALL, COMPLIMENTS OF BOCA PETANQUE 2000.
BRING YOUR LUNCH AND DRINKS.

1.00 PM: CONTINUATION OF THE TOURNAMENT AND CONSOLANTE.

FROM THE MONEY COLLECTED: 4 PRIZES FOR THE MAIN TOURNAMENT AND 2 PRIZES FOR THE CONSOLANTE.

FOR ALL INFORMATION: JOHN ROLLAND,

CELL: 954-425-2646.
HOME: 561-392-3141.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Get ready for a great weekend in Sacramento!

The Sacramento club, the Club Francais de Sacramento, is hosting a very interesting combination of tournaments for the weekend of May 17-18.

In an effort to make our tournaments more fun and make it easier for teams to form, our Sport Committee this year combined National Men’s and Women’s Singles with the National Mixed Triples using a one-day tournament format for each in a single weekend.

On May 17th on the CFS courts in Rancho Cordova, the National Singles tournaments for both men and women will run simultaneously, and the next day, May 18th, many of these same players will combine into triples teams for the National Mixed Triples tournament.

Hope to see you there!

Here are some recommended lodging suggestions:

HOTELS in the RANCHO CORDOVA AREA

Fairfield Inn & Suites- phone 916-858-8680 cmpm145@cmpm.net

Extendedstay America Rancho Cordova- phone 916-9635-2363 www.extendedstayhotels.com

Vagabond Inn- phone 916-631-7500 mranchocordova@vagaboninn.com

Hyatt Place- phone 916-635-4799 josiah.kitonga@hyattselect.com

Sacramento Marriott Rancho Cordova- phone916-1100 www.marriott.com

Day’s Inn phone 916-363-3344 (used to be Quality Inn)

Red roof Inn- phone 916-638-2500 rrirancho@gmail.com
Reid has a 10% discount card for Red Roof Inn and he will mail to anyone who asks.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

NW Regional Triples: Random AND Select!

Greeting FPUSA NW members,
On the weekend of May 3-4th, the Valley of the Moon Petanque Club will host this two-day event, designed to give more members a crack at winning a medal. Entry fee for the weekend is $30. Melee only: $15. Select only: $30. (All moneys will go to the respective purse.)

On Saturday, May 3rd, the NW Regional Melée Triples will be held. A gourmet taco bar lunch will be offered, compliments of VOM President, Mike Cooper and US Women's Team Member Antonia Chavez. There will be cash prizes, medals, as well as a consolante.

On Sunday, May 4th, the Select Regional Triples will be held. Again, registration will close at 9am and advanced player registration is required. (Lunch TBA.)

As long as you play in the melee, players may inform the tournament director of their select team as late as the end of play Saturday. So if you can't get on a team, register for the Melee and you might find a team on that day!

If you are planning to play only in the Select, you will need to pay the full $30 entry fee. This is being done as a way to ensure that there will be enough advanced players and shooters in the melee. So, don't hold back. Play in both and double you fun!

See you there!

For more information, please contact Sport Director Ed Porto. edporto@sbcglobal.net

Friday, April 04, 2008

Another fun tournament in Europe!

Robert Pierre, our International Events Coordinator, has found a very appealing tournament, La Pauillacaise, in France for U.S. teams to enter this fall. Just north of Bordeaux, the most famous wine growing area of France, is the town of Pauillac and teams from Algeria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland, to name a few, will be joining French teams for 4 days of doubles and triples petanque beginning 18 September.

Entry is a pittance, 5 €, but the purse is 5000€ plus portion of entry fees for the men’s concours, probably a formula breakdown. The first day is sightseeing, followed on the second day by tours of the famed Chateau Margaux and other well known ones, then an on the spot doubles tournament that afternoon.

The morning of the third day begins the main triples tournament for men, with women’s and youngster’s tournaments beginning concurrently.

Touting their tournament as “not the Millau Mondial, nor the Marseillaise”, they are out to offer a “petanque lovers” tournament, a more collegial, more fun event with the kind of petanque everyone likes.

Hotels and rooms are reasonable, especially if sharing. If you are interested to have more information about this event, and want to explore joining some of FPUSA players who have already expressed an intention to play here, contact Robert (rcpierre@hotmail.com) who is in France as you read this.

This tournament ends in plenty of time for you to arrive back in New York for the WCQT, 27-28 September.

Also, visit the tournament web site

http://www.lapauillacaise.fr/pauillac2008.html

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

National Doubles Weekend

Florida has more than alligators, it has petanque, too!
Greetings,
It was a huge but very pleasant shock for a Northwest player like me to be transported from tossing boules onto rain soaked courts, dressed in jackets and sweaters, to playing our favorite game in 75 degree short sleeve weather on courts shaded from the sun by live oak and pine trees, but Joe Cortright and I had just that experience over the weekend.

Just last Saturday, on the home courts of the Sarasota Petanque Club, in a county park on the edge of town, a bunch of players, some from the West Coast, and some from the Northeast, joined up with our Sarasota fellow players for the FPUSA National Doubles weekend.

On Saturday, the Mixed Doubles began.
It was a long day of matches on very difficult courts, hard surfaced and unforgiving, very smooth, but not at all level. Lots of pointing one or even two feet deflected from the cochonnet just to try to get the boule ending up close to it.Boules made a "thunk" when landing and almost always rolled past the cochonnet in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them in front. A close point was worth gold, and it was devilishly tricky to get another one in. Shots had to be made judiciously since shooting out a close boule holding the point often left the next best boule 2 or even 3 feet away. Many games advanced one point at a time.

(from L to R, Juan, Eliane, John, Marieke, Joe, Mary Jane)

The tournament banquet immediately followed the end of the first day's matches and featured a perfectly roasted prime rib prepared by Sarasota club player-chefs.

The next day it was the men's doubles and women's doubles going on at the same time. Games were again underway and Joe and I tried to do at least as well as he had done the day before, when he and Mary Jane (from the Oakhurst Club) had come in 2nd just behind John and Marieke Rolland.

Players were so intent on reading the terrain and controlling their boules, that the courts were oddly silent, very little talking. One only heard boules clicking as they nudged others on the way toward the jack, and the occasional "crack" of a successful shot. By late afternoon, most players were eliminated and were seeeking out seats to watch the final matches.

The last match of the day for the men's championship was played on the "carré d'honneur", a very hard, sloping court, humped at one end, where the players were often dismayed to see a seemingly perfectly pointed boule almost stop on the jack, but then continue to roll slowly, almost imperceptibly away and out of play.

Juan and Mamary won the men's doubles in a well contested match with Gilles and Jean Jaques, and a couple of very good players from Sarasota took the women's doubles.

(from L to R, Gilles, Jean Jaques, Juan, Mamary, David, Salem)

(from L to R, Raquel, Marieke, Jackie, Monique, Marinette, Renee)

All the players departed greatly appreciative of the wonderful hospitality and well organized efforts of our fellow Sarasota friends and players.

See the link below for a complete photo view of the weekend.

Joe Martin with assistance from Juan Garcia

Results
National Mixed Doubles

1st Place John Roland and Marieke Roland

2nd Place Joe Cortright and Mary Jane Campbell

3rd Place Juan Garcia and Eliane Matt

National Women's Double

1st Place Jackie Plessas and Monique Rouillon

2nd Place Marieke Roland and Raquel Garcia

3rd Place Renee Bax and Marinette

National Men's Doubles

1st Place Juan Garcia and Mamary Coulibaly

2nd Place Gilles Canesse and Jean Jacques Rouillon

3rd Place Salem and David Bloom

Click on this Link to View the Pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Juankydotcom/NationalDoubles2008SarasotaCP