Kent Petanque Association

Pétanque in Kent is a much bigger sport than most people would imagine, with several different leagues in operation in the County.

Kent Pétanque League is, by some way, the largest pétanque league in the country.

Pétanque is a game which can be readily played successfully by young and old, men and women. Juniors, under the age of 18, play in many of the teams in the League and in this regard pétanque is a recreation which enjoys an almost unique family element in a competitive environment.

Our league season lasts from April through to September and matches are played on Wednesday nights with most clubs having a practice night, usually Tuesdays. Turning up on a league night will at least allow you to find out about joining the clubs.

In addition many Clubs run open competitions which normally take place on Sundays and details of some of those will be included in this website.

The majority of clubs operate from pubs, though there are several in Sports and Social Clubs also in the league.

The pétanque terrain (piste) is usually open to the public, on non-club nights, free of charge and in many clubs boules can be hired very cheaply for you to try out the sport.

The vast majority of clubs welcome new players and most will take time to teach newcomers the basics of the game.

Up and Coming Events/Competitions

A little 'story' about the "2019 Kent Junior Teams" this Sunday gone:-

They really did you proud Janice.

For I was amazed at the affect they had on the event throughout the day, also I consider they all did extremely well from the youngest to the oldest. All the adult teams really knew the '2019 Junior' teams were present (in their new team strip), due to their obvious enthusiasm & determination to do as well as they could regardless.

Their play, tactics & working together in their triples, the behaviour, knowledge of the rules & the courtesies of the sport was amazing in my view & outstanding. Even seeing those of your triple taking over the pointing & shooting tactics on several occasions was a delight to see & hear .

I was impressed to see them perform against the adult teams, not having seen any such cohesion & boule play from any previous junior squads of recent years.

As they stood out so much I did take a few photos of them all, which you will see.

Jack Milner

Junior Report

We would like to begin by saying how very proud we are of our little bunch of juniors, which includes Luke Thornton, Sophie Rowley,Finley Davies, Tegan Finley, Zac Finley, George Martin, Callum Hickman, Jessica Hickman and Ethan Hickman. They have all taken part in the NYS training sessions at various locations, and the feedback received shows they have good skills and knowledge of the game. Considering their educational commitments, they have shown total commitment to the game of pétanque. Luke and Callum are in the NYS B Squad and Sophie is in the Female Development Squad, also part of the B Squad. Being in the NYS Squad is a commitment in itself. The home training is quite rigorous and takes quite a bit of time to complete and has to be in by a certain time scale, and is very frowned upon if late.
We are also proud to report that Sophie and Luke have been chosen to attend a training camp in Slovakia in August, an opportunity not often extended to the B Squad, so very well done to them!
To gain experience, they are playing as many competitions as possible. The most recent played was the Regional Qualifier, where the Boulefighters’ and the Bouledozers’ behaviour was exemplary, and their pétanque skills very promising, one team winning 2 games, scoring 4 points and sitting in 19th position on the table.
The latest competition is this weekend at Gravesend. Luke and Callum, and Sophie and George have teamed up and, unbeknowing to them, they could possibly be playing against the most top world class players in the game! What an experience that will be for them!
The Saturday practises still continue, and many of the Juniors always try and turn up, especially Luke – he never fails! This Saturday should be a practise, but instead, The Villager have a party of 40+ French players arriving to play a competition, and Sophie, Luke and George are taking part. This is just another sign of their eagerness to learn and gain experience!
BY AYJAY KEEMER-RICHARDS
RAY KEEMER-RICHARDS
JAIMIE FINLEY

Paul Reilly

The funeral will be held on June 4th, 4pm at:

Garden of England Crematorium, Sheppey Way, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8GZ.

Morton Almond

6 June 1934 - 18 April 2019
The funeral will be on Monday 13 May, 11.30 at Medway crematorium.
Morton was a legend. Everything he did in life he succeeded at especially playing petanque.
It all started whilst running The Wheatsheef PH in Chatham from the late 60’s.
One day a customer came into his pub and told him about a game he saw being played in France.
He was very proud of winning the first Jersey Open with Bruno Bove on 14 May 1988.
He won countless other competitions with friends like Steve Golder, Dave Turner, John Saguato, Charlie Shrimpton, Colin Mears. I know there are many more but unfortunately I never knew him in the early years. I didn’t know him until I became his captain in 2014/15.
He will be remembered for wearing his lucky cowboy hat. According to a newspaper cutting which he gave me, he lost it in 2002 after 20 years so he had to buy a new lucky hat.
RIP Morton
Frances

Monday 13 May at 11.30 Medway Crematorium

The charity Dementia UK has been chosen by Morton's family if anyone would like to donate in his memory and the wake will be held at Lordswood Sports and Social Club, North Dane Way.

Incentive scheme for the Kent Regional Qualifiers 2019

Attached are the final details of an incentive scheme which will give players of all abilities the opportunity to earn credits at each Kent regional qualifier. As the scheme will include teams who finish in the top 14, teams will be rewarded who do not qualify to represent Kent sustaining interest across all 5 Qualifiers. These teams will receive their financial reward at the Chairman's Cup. The earned enhanced subsidy for accommodation will be reflected in invoices issued to teams after the final Regional Qualifier on August 4 2019. Using the bursary from the KPA Triples to part fund the scheme also means potentially 30+ teams can benefit from this funding rather than just 2 teams.

As this is a new scheme it will be monitored and reviewed by the Management Committee.

With thanks to Mike Cubitt for working to develop and finalise the scheme.

Carolyn Edwins
Chair, Playing Committee

Incentive Scheme Detail

Staplehurst PC

Are seeking new members to join their club.

Lost Boule - Have you got a matching set?
Please check yours.
We are looking for a lost boule JB boule B13 (720)
We have a JB boule serial number 125 or i25
(Unclear)

Contact Cheryl Curd

KPA Qualifiers

On Monday 28th January, Pétanque England published a new calendar. This had a national ranking event on 16th June, which was previously free and we had used for a Kent regional qualifier. After due consideration and in consultation with the playing committee and KPA officers, it was agreed it was unfair to have a clash between a Kent qualifier and a national ranking event.

Therefore we can now confirm the 5 dates of the Kent regional qualifiers will be:

Sunday 19th May - Hartley
Sunday 23rd June - Lordswood
Sunday 7th July - GRFC
Sunday 21st July - GRFC
Sunday 4th August - Meadow

2019 Calendar

The 2019 KPA Playing Calendar was agreed at the Management Committee meeting tonight January 24.

It has been very challenging to bring together this document given that Petanque England already had events on 7 Sundays compared to 4 in 2018. This does not include Easter Sunday.

The Playing Committee did not want to set up clashes for Espoirs, Euro Cup players and those who will participate in national ranking events.

This explains why Regional Qualifiers are starting later ( but hopefully the weather will be better!) and April looks sparse.

Lee Jamieson

Lee had been a major force for many years, playing in countless competitions around the county, country and beyond, frequently with his wife, Angie and son Ashley.

He had played in and for Kent for a number of years.

Our thoughts are with the whole family at this sad time.

New Ash Green are looking for players please contact hannshwilson@gmail.com

KPA Winter League 2018/19 details click here, please let know if there are any issues.

kpl@kentpetanque.org

Playing Committee

The Playing Committee members are Carolyn Edwins ( Chair), Kevin Spillett, Sheila King and Keith Atkinson. The group meet 2/3 times a season to discuss playing matters with a particular responsibility to finalise the Kent Playing calendar in January each year and finalise teams to represent Kent at the Inter Regional Championships. This is usually towards the end of July or early August. If KPA members have any suggestions to improve petanque in Kent please speak to any member of the Committee who regularly play in the KPL and Sunday tournaments.

Thank you

Carolyn Edwins