KENT PÉTANQUE GAZETTE

Transcription

1 March 2008 KENT PÉTANQUE GAZETTE French take Classic title again Ab fab English triple runners up for 2nd year Inside this edition ab fab Kent- Classic reports ab fab Kent- Classic results 2007 Jersey Open News 2-3, , 13, Events list 8-10 Winter /Summer Leagues 11 Letters 12 What s On 12 The format may have been slightly different, the sponsors completely different and even the weather was a variation on the previous theme but the result of the 3rd Kent Classic, sponsored by ab fab Flowers of Walderslade, was the same as last year with the French team from Le Nord Maritime club, Mardyk (above) beating the top English team, playing in the ab fab sponsor s colours. This vindicated the organizers seeding of these teams 1 and 2. Other strongly fancied teams from Europe and around the UK also did well. However, the winner was pétanque in Kent which now has an established competition, at an established venue which is recognized by some of the top teams in Europe. Pictured above Didier Gens, Sebastien Hautecoeur, Jean-Christian Evrard, Michael Evrard, Tony Martin (ab fab)

2 The 2008 Kent Indoor Pétanque Classic is the best yet The biggest Pétanque competition in Kent took place at the Kent County Show Ground, Detling on February 10th and was hailed as not only the biggest but the best yet. Boosted by sponsorship from ab fab Flowers, Walderslade, this third running of the competition had more international teams, prize money and atmosphere than ever before. 251 players in 78 teams took part in an intensive day of competition chasing the top prize of 500 and over 20 subsidiary prizes. The centre piece of the competition was the Gold Cup based on 64 seeded teams in direct elimination with losers being cascaded into a series of subsidiary competitions in such a way as to ensure that all teams played a mini- mum 4 matches. The control desk tracked 177 results with each team playing an average of 4.54 games. 28 teams shared in a total of 2471 in prizes. The event was made possible by the help of our financial supporters especially ab fab Flowers and the hard work of KPA members who put in a total of 186 man hours of on site effort plus the off site planning, organisation and promotion that had gone on before the day. The main event, the Gold Cup was won by Didier Gens, Sebastien Hautecoeur (above right) Jean-Christian Evrard, Michael Evrard, last year's winners seeded 1, from the Fort Mardyk Olympic Club, Dunkerque. They had a tough battle to reach the final in particular a hard game to 9 against the Hartley team of Joyce Nash, Mick Nash and Colin Senneck and then a narrow win in their semi-final against the Dutch team of Noel Kempeneers, Issa Agzoul and Mark Helfer from Les Cailloux club in Zeist, Holland. Their opponents in the final were the number 2 seeds Nic Baxter, Simon Bird, and Sofiane Lachani playing in the ab fab col- Tony Martin with his team representing England and seeded No 2, the ab fab Flowers team of Sofiane Lachani, Simon Bird and Nic Baxter ours whose hardest game en route was a close quarter final win over the well known Kent and England players, Dave Chalkly, Matthew Horrigan, Barry Wing and Chris Allen. In the final the French team played consistently to lead 9-5 when with 3 ends to play, an unlucky French shot gave the ab fab team the opportunity they needed to score a brilliant 5 to take the score to Under pressure now the French responded over the next two ends to close out the match and retain their crown. Innovations this year The curtailment.- Games were limited to 75 minutes plus an end. Although there were a number of games in progress after 75 minutes, only 3 games were curtailed short of a score of 13. Two finished at and one at 8-7. From an organisational point of view this worked very well as all games could proceed as planned. Where it got difficult was when the different competitions started to branch off and run at their own pace and so we didn't have a complete handle on the start times. In practice this made it very difficult to enforce curtailments from the mid-afternoon onwards. Page 2

3 2008 Kent Classic report continued The seeding. This year the top 8 were seeded 1 to 8 based on the 2007 performance, form at the November EPA Open and reputation. The next 8 teams were assigned as 9= seeds and 16 teams were 17= seeds. This gave the 32 seeds for the first round of the draw. Organisationally this was quite straight forward and worked well. The seedings worked out pretty well also with 5 of the top 8 seeds finishing in the top 8. Of course, it wasn't all hard serious pétanque, whether it was basking under the patio heaters (right) Financially, the whole event was very well managed by the KPA. There were three major donors, AB Fab (right), who donated around 2500 plus flowers, Dave Littley who donated 300 from bar sales and Smiffy who donated 151 from food sales. Also the raffle raised 215 for the Junior Fund. or celebrating Paul Hardwick s (Tovil) significant birthday! (left) Page 3 Within a few pounds, the event broke even. Prize money and results are shown starting on the next page Good budgeting David Baxter..

4 The 2008 Kent Indoor Pétanque Classic results GOLD CUP Winners: Didier Gens, Michaël Evrad, Sébastien Hautecoeur, Jean-Christian Evrard France Runners Up Nic Baxter, Simon Bird, Sofiane Lachani (1 Kent) S Finalist: Miles Gooda, Tom Hutchins, Andy Goodship Chiltern S Finalist Noel Kempeneers, Issa Agzoul, Mark Helfer Holland Q Finalist: David Blakeley, Kevin Spillet, Alex Bruce, Macus Hickman Kent Q Finalist: Jeff Rand, Dave Brooks, John Edmondson East Mids Q Finalist: Christian Nielsen, Søren Bentzen, Glenn Bernstein Denmark Q Finalist: Dave Chalkly, Mathew Horrigan, Barry Wing, Chris Allen (3 Kent) GOLD SHIELD Winners: Darryl Glover, Dean Seville, Richard Bunny Northern Runners Up Phil Bradshaw, Dave Turner, Neil Dobbins (1 Kent) S Finalist: 45 Kim Elcome, Graham Elcome, Tracey Elcome Southern S Finalist: 30 Martin Baker, Phil Claydon, Herve Bavazzano, Jerome Rousseau Mixed SILVER CUP Winner: Lee Jamieson, Angie Jamieson, Vanessa Webb Mixed Runners Up Sean Prendergast, Robert Binnie, Alan Wright S Finalist: Lynn Jenkins, Robbie Stronach, John Wilson Scotland S Finalist: Mark Dennis, Eric Hatfield, Roy Pemberton, Stephen Jones Kent Q Finalist: Nick Goodhart, Gordon Cochrane, Kaoushik Genitilal London Q Finalist: Lee Lickorish, Ian Johns, Christian Seville East Mids Q Finalist: Simon Doble, Alan Brazier, Mike Dow Mixed Q Finalist: Myra Huntley, Adrian Emson, Jeremy Huntley Chiltern SILVER SHIELD Winner: Pauline Baxter, Richard Foulsham, Chris Wilcox, Pam Treend Southern Runners Up John Holbourn, Rob Harvey, Mike Sharratt, Steve Golder S Finalist: 27 Richard Spillet, Rowland Jones, Trevor Gordon Kent S Finalist: 23 Trevor Glenn, Steven Brown, Becci Glenn Kent IOW Kent Page 4 Results for the Bronze and Consolage on next page

5 The 2008 Page 5 Kent Indoor Pétanque Classic results BRO ZE CUP Winner: Trevor Blows, Lorne Gibson, Adam Buxton Eastern Runners Up Ron Phelps, Christine Peat, Frank Charlesworth, David Wicks Southern S Finalist: 28 Paulo Infantino, Peter Taylor, Rich Holland Chiltern S Finalist: 74 Alan Cregeen, Michelle Cregeen, Matt Blackhall (2 Kent) BRO ZE SHIELD Winner: Scott Ashby, Mathew Whatley, Samantha Littley Kent Runners Up John Fowers, Eileen Fowers, Gill Pearson Kent S Finalist: 26 Tansy Mayfield, Paul Mayfield, Paul Gregory, Alison Gregory Wales S Finalist: 72 Paul Collins, Ron Hill, Nick Hoile Kent CO SOLAGE CUP Winner: Kath Brooks, Andy Rees, Chris Rand East Mids Runners Up Dean Ashby, Robert Cooter, Charles Fribbens Kent S Finalist: 52 Jaques Tivilier, Geoff Booth, Rob Booth Kent S Finalist: 66 Trevor Treend, E Finnegan, E Flemming Southern CO SOLAGE SHIELD Winner: Glenys Johnston, Corinne Cooter, Tracey Turner Kent Runners Up Gordon Angell, Jean Olley, Christine Cole Kent S Finalist: 36 Martin Pennell, Andrew Lawrence, Shane Dickman Kent S Finalist: 75 Lisa-Marie Gilbert, Paul Hardwick, Ben Owens Kent Kent Classic Media Coverage A Kent Messenger photographer was present early in the day. Around midday Sunday the ITV Meridian South East News team appeared and spent some time shooting. The resulting edited video appearing in that evening s news edition and also on the Monday evening. Good coverage, but nowhere near that of last year; but still much appreciated. Footage at m e r i d i a n / n e w s /? &void= A Kent TV journalist, with video camera, spent a very long time with us from about 3 pm, taking footage of just about everyone and everything. The result can be found at p r o g r a m m e s. p h p? PID=758&Title=The+P% E 9 t a n - que+championships or b y g o i n g t o and selecting the Arts and Leisure channel. The Kent Messenger s Medway Messenger carried an article about 5ins by 4ins = 20 column inches, with the title of French win title for a second year. it also appeared in the KM s Gravesend Messenger of Friday 15 th February. The Medway News of Friday 29 th February carried good coverage of the event. The media coverage received by this event was largely due to the efforts of Jack Milner. He claims that this will be his last action for the Detling Indoor Classic, his 3 rd as a Promoter & Publicist. He is to be congratulated especially as there are now follow up media events planned (see elsewhere in this edition)

6 The Guernsey Open, September 2007 Sixty eight teams took place in the annual Guernsey Doubles competition held in September 2007 in St. Andrews Guernsey. The results show that no Kent members achieved anything of consequence in 2007, which is a surprise and seems to be a reflection of what happened at Brean last year. Over half the entrants came from Jersey plus the U.K. and Holland, with one from France, although they were actually an English couple, Norma and Stuart Parkway (below), ex-kent, who have made their home in The Plate final, for second place teams after the morning session, saw Guernsey's Paul Duchemin and John Hosking overcome the Parkways. Losing 0-13 Duchemin and Hosking scored 4, 5 and 4 in three consecutive ends to take the trophy. The following day forty two teams took part in the Cooper Brouard Open Triples. After four rounds the semi-finals brought together Guernsey's Iain Haith, Seb Renaud and George Murphy who defeated the Parkways and team mate Marcel Edwards, while Guernsey's Dave Harvey Scott Welbourne, and Bonnie Robert overcame Page,Jones and Bill Davies. This was a very good performance from the Parkways as usual. One Kent team did win a prize. Our very own Bat & Ball club contingent won the Best Dressed Team which is becoming something of a speciality of theirs. This year their fancy dress show depicted the group as a partial crew of Pirates of The Caribbean variety it is assumed, or was it Peter Pan? Rather a few Lost Boys who never grew up, we think. Pictured below, they are left to right: Martin Pennell, Mick Toulson, Jez Paine, Shane Dickman, Chris Dickman, Mark Toulson, Hugh Miller & Jay Edwins (with a random parrot!). The 2008 Guernsey Open will take place on the 13th and 14th September. Report Jack Milner and Beziers. Split into groups of four, each team played three games in the morning session, the winners of each group qualifying for the main tournament. Three more matches in the afternoon brought together the Welsh pairing of Jim Page and A Jones (A.J.) against Jersey's Sid and Marion Simkin, to contest the final. A tense affair resulted in a very close victory for the Welsh pair. Page 6

7 A Clean Sweep For Seal at home Sixteen teams met at the Seal club s venue, The Crown PH, on Sunday 2 nd March to contest the Highland Shield, sponsored by local printers & publishers Highland Printers. The line up clubs/locations represented included teams from Hartley, Tovil, Oxshott (Leatherhead) & Medway, Southern Region s Foxdale, the Pen Y Coed pair of Marion & Phil & the visiting Kent exile Norma Parkway from France; in addition to five Seal teams. The third annual Detling Indoor Classic was held in the depths of Kent, at the County Showground, Detling, in the Cornwallis Building, on the best February Sunday so far and with better weather conditions than the previous two Classics. Several improvements were made to alleviate the concerns of previous years, including: Timed rounds, 11 tons of sand used - compared to the previous 8, the ground watered several days prior laying the dust before the sand put down. Heaters were placed at several points around the terrain in the walkways, which was a considerable improvement and very necessary when the daylight went and the ambient temperature dropped! It was a surprisingly sunny and reasonably warm early February Sunday, with the start at 9 am of the initial Preliminary Round had the 28 teams competing to progress to the start of the Main event at 10,30 am with 64 teams. Page 7 A good day s pétanque was enjoyed by all in the spring sunshine (it doesn t always rain at Seal, contrary to popular belief!!). Semi finalists in the Main competition were the Foxdale pair of Angie & Lee Jamieson v Tovil s Golders Fay & Steve Golder; the Oxshott Rednecks v Seal s Steve Tait & Didier Thalier. The concluding final between the Seal team & Foxdale, resulted in Seal winning the main event The sponsors ab fab Flowers (of Walderslade, Chatham) had the dream team of top England players Nic Baxter, Simon Bird & Sofiane Lachani representing them & wearing their colours. The winning team s Shooter, Sebastien Hautecoeur, was a joy to watch. He walked casually to the circle, stepped in, bang! No funny business, no strange stances - he just did what he need to do. He may not have carreaued every shot but was close to it every time! An example to everyone. Reporting on the other visitors from over the channel: The team from Holland were semi finalists in the Gold Cup. The team from Denmark ended their run as Quarter Finalists in the Gold Cup. Teams from the other home regions did well too; it wasn t a Kent only day - though the and the Shield, with Foxdale as Runners Up. A Seal team were also winners of the Plate competition, with Howard Sandom & Mark Thorne coming back from 0-9 down to beat the Pen Y Coed pair of Marion & Phil. Prize money of 100 was paid to the winners & runners up of the main contest. Report by Seal s Howard Sandom, with additional data by Jack Milner Jack Milner s personal review of Detling 2008 analysis of the results may suggest this was the case. For example the following did well: a) Eastern, Chiltern & East Midlands were in the Gold Cup as Runners Up, Semi Finalists & Quarter Finalists; including Chris Allen as part of a Kent team! b) Southern, Northern & others only in the Gold Shield. c) I of W, London, Scotland, East Midlands, Chiltern & others were those mentioned in despatches in the Silver Cup ; with only one Kent team. d) Southern were the winners in the Silver Shield. e) Eastern, Southern & Chiltern & one Kent team only in the Bronze Cup. f) A Welsh team only in the Bronze Shield. g) Finally, in the Consolage Cup, East Midlands & Southern only - with two of Kent.

8 Club, Kent, National and International Events British & International Events EPA - English National Events KPA - Kent County Events Kent Club Events Junior Events March 2008 Sun 2 nd Highland Shield Crown Inn, Seal, nr. Sevenoaks Doubles Sun 16 th European Cup for Club Teams Qualifier Whittlesey Club Teams Sun 30 th Clarion Doubles Crowborough Doubles April 2008 Sat 5 th EPA Junior Doubles EPA Junior Shooting Championship Lordswood Doubles Sun 6 th EPA Junior Triples EPA Espoirs Triples - 1 EPA Junior Shooting Championship Lordswood Triples Sun 13 th EPA Ladies Triples Qualifier 1 Thurmaston Triples Sun 13 th Mayor of Maidstone Trophy Harriers, Tovil WMC Triples Sun 20 th EPA Triples Championship Qualifier 1 Crondall Triples Sat 27 th EPA Ladies Triples Qualifier 2 Rayne Swan, Braintree, Essex Triples Sun 27 th Sporties Doubles Crowborough Doubles May 2008 Sun 4 th EPA Triples Championship Qualifier 2 Bury St Edmunds Triples Sun 4 th HCC May Day Open Triples Hartley Country Club Triples Mon 5 th KPA County Qualifier 1 Lordswood Triples Sat 10 th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session Tovil Mêlée Sun 11 th EPA Espoirs Triples - 2 Harrow; Triples Sun 11 th Lordswood Mixed Doubles Lordswood S&SC Doubles Sun 18 th EPA Triples Championship Qualifier 3 Oldbury on Severn Triples Sun 18 th Garage Shield Crown Inn, Seal, nr. Sevenoaks Triples Sat 24 th EPA English Singles Championship Bury St Edmunds Singles Sun 25 th EPA English Doubles Championship Bury St Edmunds Doubles Sun 25 th Over 50's Doubles Crowborough Doubles Mon 26 th EPA English Mixed Doubles Championship Bury St Edmunds Doubles Mon 26 th Martin Potts Memorial Doubles Tovil WMC Doubles Page 8

9 June 2008 Sun 1 st KPA County Qualifier 2 Plough & Chequers Triples Sun 8 th EPA Triples Championship: Top 16 Triples Sun 8 th NAF Cup Harriers, Tovil WMC Triples Fri 13 th KPA Singles Championship The George, Meopham-Evening Competition Singles Sat 14 th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session The Villager Mêlée Sun 15 th Mossy's Doubles Old Sheaf - Mossy's Bar, Chatham Doubles Sun 22 nd KPA County Qualifier 3 Hartley Triples 26 th - 28 th North Sea Championship Copenhagen, Denmark Triples Sun 29 th Lordswood Open Triples Lordswood S&SC Triples July 2008 Sun 6 th EPA Home Nations Qualifier Princes Park, Dartford, Kent Triples Sun 6 th Bastille Day Triples The Villager, Vigo Triples Sat 12 th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session Hartley Mêlée Sun 13 th KPA County Qualifier 4 Lordswood Triples Sun 20 th KPA Doubles Championship George Doubles Sun 27 th EPA Ladies Triples (top 8) tba Triples Sun 27 th Town Trophy Crowborough Doubles August 2008 Sun 3 rd Ricard Cup Harriers, Tovil WMC Doubles 8 th - 10 th European Junior Championship Maastricht, Netherlands Triples Sat 9 th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session The George Mêlée Sun 10 th HCC Open Triples Hartley CC; Triples Sat 16 th Kent v Nord Maritime Lordswood Triples 16 th - 17 th Home Nations Championship Princes Park, Dartford, Kent Triples Sun 17 th Sports Shield Doubles Crowborough Doubles Sun 31 st Wine Triples Plough & Chequers, Gillingham Triples September th - 7 th Inter Regional Championships Pontins Brean Sands Triples Sun 7 th Courage Cup The Crown, Seal, Nr Sevenoaks Triples Sat 13 th KPA Junior Academy: Morning Session Lordswood Mêlée Sun 14 th HCC Open Doubles Hartley CC Doubles Sun 21 st EPA Over 50s Championship Doncaster Doubles Sun 21 st Plough & Chequers Cash Doubles Plough & Chequers, Gillingham Doubles Sun 28 th EPA Triples Qualifier for Bury St Edmunds Triples Sun 28 th Compaid Doubles Crowborough Doubles tbc Ladies World Championship China Triples Page 9

10 October 2008 Sat 4 th EPA Champion of Champions Doubles Luton Doubles Sun 5 th EPA Champion of Champions Triples Luton Triples Sun 5 th KPA Triples Championship The Villager, Vigo Triples Sun 12 th First Call 4 Doubles Old Sheaf - Mossy's Bar, Chatham Club teams Sun 19 th EPA Triples Qualifier for Crondall Triples Sun 19 th HCC Open Mixed Doubles Hartley CC Doubles Sun 26 th Crown Cup The Crown, Seal, Nr Sevenoaks Doubles November st - 2 nd EPA International Tournament Godmanchester, Cambridge Triples Sun 2 nd Icicle Doubles Lordswood S&SC Doubles Sun 9 th Remembrance Day Doubles Harriers, Tovil WMC Doubles Thur 13 th KPA AGM GRFC Conference 12 th - 16 th Senior World Championships Dakar, Senegal Triples Sun 16 th Dolores Rodriguez Memorial Trophy Crowborough Doubles December 2008 Sun 14 th Xmas Hamper Doubles Plough & Chequers, Gillingham Doubles Kent Junior Pétanque Academy is launched Starting in May, for the whole summer, the KPA will be running the new Kent Academy for the junior players of Kent. To help our junior players develop and improve, the Academy will be a mixture of coaching and games. Each player will get an exclusive Kent Pétanque Academy 2008 polo shirt. On the second Saturday of each month from 10:30am we will hold a one hour coaching session, with qualified and authorised coaches, followed by two doubles games, finishing at 1pm. Each of these games will be with a different partner and over the whole five weeks the results will accumulate with the best player receiving a trophy and prize as Kent Junior Pétanque Champion Every junior of whatever ability is welcome and new players are especially welcome to join the Academy so bring a friend. Dates are: 10th May Tovil 14th Vigo June Villager, 12th July Hartley 9 t h A u g u s t T h e George, Meopham 13th September Lordswood Just turn up and enjoy! Espoirs Welcome All Espoirs should note that they are welcome at the Academy days for any coaching advice or practice that they may wish to have. They will not be part of the Academy, or receive the polo shirt or be in the games. Coaching for Nationals All Juniors & Espoirs that are considering entering the EPA National competition in April are urged to come along to a special coaching session at Lordswood on Saturday 22nd March between 11:00 and 13:00. Page 10

11 KPA Winter League update KPL Summer league preview The first season of the KPA Winter League seems to have been a great success. As this copy of The Gazette is being prepared, the final games of the season are being played. Therefore the tables are not entirely complete yet and both divisions are very close so the final outcome will go down to the last week. In Division A, Tovil Titans and The George were within one game (although Tovil have a match in hand so are favourites to win that Division). In Division B 4 games separate the top 5 teams with Ryarsh on 31 wins, Hartley Countrymen on 30, Sherwood Oak on 29, Toviliers on 28 and Hartley Centurions on 27. Sherwood Oak have a match in hand so the whole Division is too close to call. The only clear result is that the Villager has teams propping up both Divisions. Kent Pétanque League 2008 Summer Divisions The documentation is in and the new Divisions have been prepared. The Fixtures have been organised, the Cup Preliminary Round has been drawn and the season is ready to start. For 2008 there will be seven divisions, six of ten teams and one of nine. Winter Cup and Plate Finals It is at the Villager that the Finals will take place on Friday 14th March between George and Lordswood Dynamoes (Cup) and Hartley Romans and Ryarsh Plate) Following the Preliminary Cup Round on 2nd April, the league matches start on 9th April. A couple of new names have appeared, welcome to Sherwood Oak and Crown Jewels but 442 is the new name for Lloyds and Mossy s is the new name for Old Sheaf teams John Middleton, Secretary KPL Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Plough & Chequers 2 Mossy s Rats Lordswood 1 George 1 Hartley Falcons Plough & Chequers 1 Bat & Ball Old Cocks Tovil Tornadoes Vale Tavern Villager A Hartley Eagles Lordswood 3 Seal Blues Crown A Wheatsheaf Lordswood 2 Harriers 1 Lordswood 4 George 2 GRFC Barbarians Seal Whites Mossy s Regulars Duke of Edinburgh Beauty of Bath 1 Hartley Merlins Hartley Kestrals Singleton Barn Toviliers Ightham Optimists Hartley Hawks Harriers 2 Villager B Walnut Tree Sydney Arms Duke of Wellington 1 Veterans Borstal Mudlarks White House Lions Division 5 Division 6 Division 7 Promoted Redstart Tovil Miners Beauty of Bath Three Tuns Villager Hurricanes Hartley Owls Battle Pilot Bridges Luddesdowne Cocks Lordswood 5 White House Senators Sydney Small Arms Hartley Kites Lordswood 6 Ditton Kiln Barners George 3 New Ash Green Duke of Wellington 2 Villager D White House Presidents Villager E White House Bell Villager C Borstal Sandpipers Ditton Streamliners Sherwood Oak Crown Jewels Relegated Promoted but not on merit Not relegated but would have been New Team The principle used is to promote 2 extra before not relegating then alternating Page 11

12 Your letters and s Your s are very welcome and we will always publish your thoughts and comments (assuming they are publishable and you wish them to be shared). Please send your s for publication to Letters are also welcome at the address on Page 14. Letter from Mike Pegg, President EPA, in response to The Gazette s comments about the demise of the BPF website. Just been reading through your latest edition of the Kent Gazette, well done on another interesting publication. I noticed the article concerning the BPF website uk The site was closed because the BPF committee have stated that no further funds are to be used. As the hosting package was due for renewing it was decided to close the site. Of course the information that was on the site has been kept, of particular interest to many British players may be the roll of honour. I am currently adding the information from that list to the old BPA roll, I intend to publish this new roll of honour on my website Seeking a team entering the EPA Triples Qualifiers: I am looking to join a team entering the EPA Triples Qualifiers as a fourth player as I can t make the second one. Anyone in need of a 4th player please let me know. Alan Cregeen alan@embroiderydepot.co.uk What s on in March and April? Note many dates have changed since the preliminary dates published in Gazette 26. However it is recommended you verify always dates and locations with the organisers before travelling. For the full calendar, see page 9 or go to British & International Events EPA - English National Events KPA - Kent County Events Kent Club Events Junior Events March 2008 Sat 22 nd Junior/Espoir pre-epas coaching Lordswood Coaching Sun 30 th Clarion Doubles Crowborough Doubles Sat 5 th Sun 6 th EPA Junior Doubles EPA Junior Shooting Championship EPA Junior Triples EPA Espoirs Triples - 1 EPA Junior Shooting Championship April 2008 Lordswood Lordswood Doubles Triples Sun 13 th EPA Ladies Triples Qualifier 1 Thurmaston Triples Sun 13 th Mayor of Maidstone Trophy Harriers, Tovil WMC Triples Sun 20 th EPA Triples Championship Qualifier 1 Crondall Triples Sat 27 th EPA Ladies Triples Qualifier 2 Rayne Swan, Braintree, Essex Triples Sun 27 th Sporties Doubles Crowborough Doubles Organisers remember to send reports and pictures to The Gazette Page 12

13 2007 KPL Cup Final Results? Mick Toulson of the Bat and Ball complained to The Gazette last edition that there was no mention of their KPL Cup victory from last season. He was asking for a big celebratory piece next time. Sorry Mick, you probably have looked through this edition and, disappointedly, found nothing. Unfortunately, The Gazette was not there and no one has yet sent a report so we do not even know what the score was and we are afraid the Plate winners will also have to remain unsung. If someone would like to send The Gazette a report then we will publish next time. The Gazette would hate to see Martin Pennell carry out his threat to boycott the 2008 Cup competition. BBC News report On Saturday 8th March the BBC morning news had a sports feature on pétanque with regular sports presenter Mike Bushell trying his hand. This was repeated during the day on News 24. The event was recorded on Wednesday 27th February at the Plough and Chequers and featured many well known faces with Tracey Turner being interviewed and her husband, Kevin Spillet showing the presenter how to play. If you want to see Rob Cooter missing a shot for the jack (Rob, despite your offer of a liquid bribe, The Gazette cannot be silenced!) a link to this will be sent out shortly and The Gazette will publish the link in the next edition Home Nations at Dartford The National Home Nations Championships are the responsibility of the EPA this year and they have chosen to hold this event in Kent. This annual event, for England, Scotland and Wales will be held on 15 th & 16 th August at the Dartford Football Club s Princes Park venue which will also host the EPA Home Nations Qualifier on 6th July Along with the other national competitions being held in Kent (Junior Doubles, Junior Triples, Espoir Qualifier 1 and Ladies Qualifier 2 which are all to be held at Lordswood), it is good to see our region, the largest in the EPA, being duly recognised. K.P.A. JUNIOR FUND The trustees of the Junior Fund offer thanks to all who supported the Raffle at the ab fab Classic at Detling and to those who assisted in running the raffle. The raffle raised 215 which has been added to the Junior Fund. Similarly, thanks go to the organisers of the Kent Summer League for a donation to the Junior Fund from the participating Clubs and Players of the KPL. The Junior Fund is active in supporting Junior Pétanque Players and therefore needs a regular influx of donations. Donations of all amounts, large and small, are always welcome. Please contact one of the following trustees if y o u w i s h t o help...mick Weston, David Baxter or Ron Yates. Calendars for sale Ken Buchan has prepared Kent Pétanque Calendars showing photos from previous seasons. The calendar is based on from April 2008 to March 2009 and costs 5 (proceeds go to the Kent Junior fund) Contact Ken for your copy Ken can be contacted on or by at ken.buchan@btinternet.com Players Wanted Borstal Sandpipers are looking for players with any experience. They are a friendly team that plays at the Borstal Cricket Club. Do you know someone who wishes to start to play or are you interested? If so. Contact: - Ian Usmar or i.usmar@blueyonder.co.uk Page 13

14 Junior Weekend of Excellence 2008 Following the Junior Weekend of Excellence, held at Whittlesey in November last year, the Editor asked the EPA National Coach, David Lavelle, whether it might be better to hold the event at the start of the year, in March, rather than in November when many juniors will then have several months without playing and benefiting from their experience. David replied: Thanks for the comments. With regards to my initial thoughts I am not sure there is ever a right time to hold the event as the idea is that once juniors come to the weekend they should then go back to their regions with the skills they have been taught and developed and then continue to practice them on an ongoing basis. If this approach is followed then I think November is a good time to run the event as it gives players 4/5 months to practice the techniques and skill to be able to then build them into their game in the following competitive season. If the event take place in March then it could have an adverse effect on a players performance during the coming season as some juniors find themselves having to go back to basics during the weekend of Euro Cup teams The Plough & Chequers and Tovil will represent Kent at the EPA European Cup for Clubs knockout stage against six other clubs at Whittlesey on 16th March. The winners will represent the EPA in the CEP European Cup for Clubs. The Kent Pétanque Gazette is edited by: Martyn Fribbens Any items for inclusion should be sent to: The Editor, Kent Pétanque Gazette, 16 Old Downs, Hartley, Longfield, Kent DA3 7AA Tel : gazette@fribbens.co.uk 15% off your pétanque orders Pétanque Clothing Work wear Corporate wear Sports wear Equestrian/Pets Gifts Logo Digitising 25 Online Catalogue No job is too small Alan Cregeen Proprietor 28 Milner Road Elvington Dover Kent CT15 4EQ excellence and then they do not end up playing as well as they did using their old style and so go back to old habits etc and the benefit of the weekend is then lost! In an ideal world once a player goes to the Junior weekend a follow up training plan would be put in place by the regional coaches to continue the coaching already received and build it into the players game before the season begins in March. So it seems the Regions must improve their follow up training perhaps the new Academy can put this right next year (see article on the Kent Junior Pétanque Academy on page xxx) The 2008 Weekend has not yet been settled in the calendar but any Juniors who have not yet had the opportunity to attend should register their interest with a member of the Kent Pétanque Association committee. Embroidery Depot Embroidery Depot supplier and embroiderer of your logos onto a wide range of clothing and gift ideas. Embroidery Depot are able to supply and machine embroider a wide range of polo shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts, rugby shirts, fleece, jackets, cap, bags, towels, flags and other garments, sew or iron on badges. The views expressed in the KE T PÉTA QUE GAZETTE are those of the editor and contributors only. They do not, necessarily, reflect the views of the Kent Pétanque Association, or the English Pétanque Association or sales@embroiderydepot.co.uk Page 14