An American Salute to Pétanque

Here are the original pictures from the Petanque 100 Album.

American pétanque can really be proud. As far as I know - from looking at other blogs and federation websites - we were the only country outside France where a concerted effort took place to celebrate and bring folks together. Especially new players or those who had simply forgotten about petanque.

Some of the Alliance Française chapters were super creative: cakes, posters, and even T-shirts with the "100" logo were prepared for the occasion.

"Chapeau bas aux boulistes Américains !"


Slideshow (3:45 min - with truly American music ;-)
Make sure to look in the top left corner to see the locations.

Philadelphia petanque

Marie-Laure and her friends of JAAF did it again, as in June:
get together a bunch of young folks, mix in a few experienced players, and have a petanque party downtown. Where Locust meets 40th Street.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it this time, but I heard they had a ball, and Loi sent us the pictures.

Slideshow

An indoor court in Iowa

Bob & Donna are passionate players in Joice, IA -- who like to play whatever the atmospheric conditions may be.
So they converted a barn into an indoor court with all the accoutrements.
Ever since he mentioned there would be hula girls, I have been bugging Bob for pictures, so here they are - although he says there are still some things to be finished. I bet we can find volunteers to come and help!

Nice artwork! May it be an inspiration to many folks up north who want to play year-round

Boca Raton Tournament

Last week the Boca club had a little tournament, which was also a good occasion to celebrate the ...th birthday of John Rolland, FPUSA's president.

Thanks to Juan for the photo's!

Slideshow

Boca Petanque 2000 is holding an "open to anyone" tournament on Sat November 17, at the occasion of the visit of their sister club from France, Pétanque Club Fitounais. That will be an interesting event.
Details here

Big Boules of Dry Creek Finals

Peggy sent us an update on the activities in Healdsburg, CA.
First some pics of the opening party of yet another petanque terrain, this time at Dieter & Ursula Thurow's residence, surrounded by vines, and next to the pitching green. What an exotic location.
There are now close to 20 home courts in the area.

Followed by photos of the season finals on September 30, between Marcia and Bob Fosberg (last year's champions) and Steve Weiss and Mary Caldwell, who won this time.
As always, good food, drinks and cheer galore!

We put all the pictures in the blender and here's the result:
Big Boules of Dry Creek Slideshow (with music)
(photos by Peggy & Tania)

Petanque in Charlotte, NC

The Alliance Francaise of Charlotte, NC organized a big, delicious mechoui party today.
Notwithstanding the unusual heat, around 24 folks played on & off.

We discovered 'hidden' players, all the way from Hickory, and several new ones got hooked.

Many thanks to Paul & Janice for their gracious welcome.

As usual, teaching & taking pictures doesn't go well together, but you'll get an impression of the good time had by all.

Slideshow, with sound (1:30 min)
(music in honor of Raymond, "Mr Tactique"!)

NY Open - a success

What a dream: to play in bright sunshine, in the heart of Manhattan, two days in a row.

High level play it was, followed by an excellent dinner at Meli-Melo, where Isabelle Zuber (who flew in for the weekend from France) entertained us with a Piaf song and the Petanque 100 song that she composed and sang in La Ciotat.

The usual medals were complemented by an array of nice prizes from several generous donors.
Hats off to La Boule NY for the organization.


The 4 top teams:
1. Hery & Xavier (New York)
2. Mo & Juan (Philadelphia & Miami)
3. Yacob & Loi (Montreal & Philadelphia)
4. Mark & Mia (Blue Hill, Maine)

Slideshow (3 min with sound)

More results on LabouleNY.com
More photos on the FPUSA blog
Brooklyn Boule movie!

Players can drink again!

Doping Agency Lifts Alcohol Ban for Pétanque

"Devotees of the French sport of pétanque will now be able to enjoy a glass of pastis before a match again: The World Anti-Doping Agency is to remove alcohol from its list of prohibited substances for competitions."
Full story in Spiegel

For the record: the caption of the photo states that one "can now enjoy a glass of pastis even during competition". In my humble opinion that's incorrect. It means one can have had a drink before.

Petanque on Sportsnet NY

If you were at the Bar Tabac tournament in Brooklyn on July 15, you must have seen the camera crew that stuck around all day, and interviewed several players.

SNY will broadcast a 15 min. report on Thu October 4 at 10pm in their Street Games feature.

To find your local SNY channel