Teamwork in Philadelphia

At the end of March Marie-Laure of the Jeunes Amis de l'Alliance Française asked us for advice for a pétanque picnic in Philly. JAAF regularly organizes French themed events, using Meetup for easy communication.

Loi helped scouting for a spot. Marie-Laure invited as many people as possible. Of course Mo got involved. Word got around and Ernesto, Xavier, Héry & Hakim from La Boule NY decided to drive over for the day. Mario was visiting from Miami. I flew in from NC with demo boules, some prizes and my usual spiel about pétanque and why the entire world should start playing - if not today - latest tomorrow .. ;-)

On June 10, we were around 35 on a baseball field in Fairmount Park: people brought food, drinks and music. The majority had never met before. Some had played years ago, some never. We found out two families already have a terrain in their backyard. Teams were made with one experienced + 2 new players. The hours flew by, and then we met again for an early dinner and more games in front of U Penn. A lot of new friendships were made and a core group of players now meets at least once a week. Six of them came to the Bar Tabac tournament in Brooklyn on July 15 and JAAF is planning to do it again later this fall!

No doubt, it was the teamwork that made it a success:
(a) a local dynamic person with an extensive group of friends + the excellent tool that is meetup.com
(b) a handful of good players who enjoy teaching newcomers
(c) yours truly to hook up everyone
We all agreed this calls for a repeat in other cities!

Slideshow w/video (2:30 min)
Photo album