Amelia Island Boules Club, Team of the Week

News4Jax did a nice report on the Fernandina Beach Club (Jan 28, 2015)

Les Invincibles - the movie

The first movie ever in which petanque is more than a sideline. With famous actors such as Gérard Depardieu, Edouard Baer, Atmen Kelif, Virginie Efira and more. A comedy, to boot, which will hopefully make it even more appealing to the general public.

The plot:
In the south of France, North African immigrant Mokhtar Boudhali, better known as Momo, makes a living with menial jobs and by hustling boules games for money with his best friend, coach and mentor, Jacky. The announcement of a major international petanque tournament, organized by a celebrity, will change Momo's life forever, as it could give him the fame he deserves and always dreamed of. But he first has to come to terms with himself, and face prejudice as an outsider. Thanks, in no small part, to Caroline, the girl he meets in the process, he succeeds. A friend, passion for the game, ànd love make him invincible.

Let's all hope this movie becomes a box office hit!


And kudos to Marco Foyot, who coached the actors during the shooting, summer of 2012.




Trailer # 1, the typical sandbagging scenario:



Trailer # 2, when Momo has become a star:
(not yet on YouTube, hence the commercials...)



EuropaCorp, the movie's producers

Radio Bleu Provence about petanque in America

At the occasion of the World Championships in Marseille, they wanted to know how petanque is doing in ... America (in French of course).

Great people to deal with. What struck them most is how we promote the "icebreaker" spirit of the game, i.e. that folks who have never met can be high fiving, even bantering and hugging, within minutes.

The 30 min interview, by phone from Amelia Island at 3:00 AM EST, was edited and cut into 5 x 3 min. segments, then broadcast one a day, Monday to Friday Oct 1 to 5.
Here they are, in five mp3 sound files:

Part 1 - petanque in America, how and why.
Part 2 - the USA team in Marseille, the PA Open,and new friendships.
Part 3 - the links with petanque and Provence, and making friends.
Part 4 - about Fernandina Beach, old Florida and its French heritage.
Part 5 - more about the Open, and the "everyone plays together" formula.

Some of the dates in the history of Petanque America got mixed up in the editing, but it doesn't affect the story.

"La folie petanque" - Petanque madness (in the world)

A beautiful 53 min. documentary starting in - of all places - Los Angeles!
Hopefully visible soon with English subtitles as well :)


La Folie Pétanque, un film de Bruno Evenou par france3provencealpes

Balls of steel

Wherever they are, petanque players are a creative bunch.
The reason is simple: because the game is so inclusive, you'll find people with all imaginable professions. Such as Richard, an arborsculptur in Williams, Oregon. Who also knows a thing or two about making movies!

Petanque & Party time in NY

Tribeca - July 12
Brooklyn - July 15 - 10th anniversary!

There ain't nothing like a huge petanque street party:

Boules, beach, music & fun ....

We highlighted this video years ago, and it remains the quintessential depiction of having a good times with boules. And so close to the atmosphere we enjoy in Amelia Island!
Now on YouTube, without annoying advertising, the fabulous group "Message", zouk music from Guadeloupe:

PA Open 2012 - Teams

Latest update on where the teams come from this year:

May 10: 20 teams - 8 states & France
May 29: 40 teams - 11 states & also Belgium
June 15: 50 teams - incl. a team from the Netherlands
July 22:  62 teams - 16 states
Aug 10: 72 teams - 18 states and 3 teams from Canada.
Sep 4:    87 teams - 19 states, and Slovakia.
Sep 9:    92 teams - one from Germany
Oct 14: 117 teams - also from Israel and Mexico!

Petanque America Open 2012

Redwood Empire Boules Club

They've been around for years ... , and now also on the net.
With 6 play locations in the NW tip of California.

Petanque in Augusta, Maine

Tall ships & petanque - April 29, 2012

Two French Navy schooners are on the way from Brest to Fernandina Beach (Amelia Island) for a weekend of R&R before heading to Jacksonville, Savannah, Annapolis, Philly and New York: sister ships L'Etoile and La Belle Poule ("the Star" and "the Pretty Hen").

We'll welcome the sailors with open arms. And treat them to a wonderful petanque tournament / festival along the river. What better way to celebrate friendship. May the best win!

Video clip of l'Etoile's visit to Cannes and Monaco last summer. Gives you a pretty good idea of the atmosphere on board:



The ships are here to celebrate the 450th anniversary of French Captain Jean Ribault's arrival in Florida in 1562.

Fernandina Beach events
Jacksonville events

Petanque in Santa Monica

Right at the beach, in one of the busiest spots of California's coast. Kudos to Mark Greenberg and his friends of the Los Angeles Petanque Club.
We can never stress it enough: to Promote Petanque, Play in Public Places!

Interview with Marco Foyot

"Admired by many, hated by others, but passionately observed and followed by all..."

Thus starts an in depth interview with champion Foyot at Boulistenaute.com, right after he returned to France after winning the Petanque America Open.

Original article in French

English translation by Google

Noteworthy passages:

- the Canadian players he met in Amelia Island have invited him for a tour in Canada.

- "in Florida I barely won from a Russian team that played extremely well."

(meaning our friends Artem & Paul!)

Fresno Petanque on ABC

Open 2011 Results

Here they are. As always, we like to spread it out, so almost one in 4 teams goes home with something. Amounts this year ranged from $1,000 to $50 , for a total purse of $7,500.

M6 in New York

M6, one of France's major private TV channels made an extensive (4 min. is long in TV world!) report about petanque in New York.
Sorry - no English subtitles, but very nice camera work, and a lot of familiar faces!
And preceded by a funny French commercial :)

(if you get a black screen, follow this M6 link)

St Tropez -1958

Sophia Loren & Carlo Ponti, having fun playing petanque:




Just like Elke Sommer and Robert Mitchum. Timeless!

PA Open 2011 - Teams update

Sep 19:
Registration is closed for now. You can email us to go on the waiting list, in case a team cancels.

Sep 12: 127 teams, and one more state (WV).

Registration will be closed any day, and we'll open a waiting list.

Sep 9: 118 teams, one more state (OR) ànd at least two players flying in from France.

Sep 3: 106 teams, one more state (CO) ànd a team from Belgium.

Aug 29: 97 teams, two more states (NM & IL).

Aug 23: 85 teams, one more state (PA) and two teams from the Netherlands.

Aug 22: 10 more registrations today, and one more state, New Hampshire.

Aug 21: with almost 3 months to go, 72 teams have formally signed up, from 13 states. And from Canada, Germany and Israel. At this pace, we will easily reach the target of 128 teams by end September.

Petanque, a people connector

Here's a short interview of Matt Curtis, Communications Director for the City of Austin, TX. He plays with our friends of HOT Petanque. I've watched it several times and find it striking how he conveys the essence of the game in roughly 90 seconds. No wonder he's in communications!

La Boule NY on France3 TV

Ernesto, Steve & Yngve from La Boule NY were interviewed today on French television, during their second game at La Marseillaise.

Petanque America Open - 2010

Wonderful souvenirs ... Let's get ready for 2011!
A 5 min. cut of the 30 min. documentary DVD by our friends at UBK Studios.
Watch in full screen mode to feel like you were there :)



Petanque America Open 2011

Petanque in Saratoga, CA

"What is petanque?" wonder people in the street.
They will soon find out, thanks to Devin Utter's passion for the game.

Open 2011 - Registration

Teams can now register, at
www.petanque-america-open.com

Paris at night - Place Dauphine

Just a bunch of friends who, after work, had drinks and/or dinner and decided to do a quick game before calling it a night. Below you see the same Place Dauphine on a sunny afternoon.