Petanque Wallingford

The Red Kites played Round 2 against Burnham and lost 3 to us and 4 to them leaving us fourth, but Burnham came third. Winnersh came first and British Legion Arborfield came second.
We meet Arborrfield next time, so we had better pull our socks up! Red Herrings meet Burnham.
Sunday Leagues Round 3 last weekend - and to our amazement we beat Arborfield 5 games to 2! 85 points to 59 to them. Burnham beat Red Herrings, so Burnham are back at the top and Red Kites are second. Funny old game this!
For Round 4 Red Kites are playing against Red Herrings at Home, so we play on the Boulodrome.

On 10th March this function was held in Cholsey Village Hall. Eight teams of 6 (March Hares, 3 Who Do + 4 who Don't, Red Herrings, Ever Hopefulls, Jeans Genius,  Shawlee Knots, Cowboys + Angels, Shillingford Hill Mob)  met to answer Julian's questions. Halfway through they had vegetable soup and bread followed by lemon drizzle cake and muffins. Thank you Annie, Rose and Dee for donating them. And the winners were Red Herrings. Thanks to all those who helped get the show in the road and make tidy sum for the coffers towards the shelter and 3 new pistes.

PW has tried to get something in the Papers before without success, so when The Herald used our ramblings this time, we were well pleased. So here it is, in case you missed it in the paper. We will submit another piece later and hope we have a regular slot ...

Ready to Roll, Go to Petanque Wallingford to be Boulded Over

Boules and petanque: these are two names for the same outdoor activity.  Think of boules as the social game played among friends, whilst petanque is a competitive sport that is played in more than 100 countries around the world.
         Many holidaymakers will have played with plastic boules on the beach, but actually sand is not the proper surface. The Boulodrome at Wallingford Sports Park has been built to the English Petanque Association's specification and is a hard surface covered with a layer of grit. The Boulodrome was entirely funded by the members of Petanque Wallingford (PW) many of whom took out multiple year membership. Since that time PW has received small grants from Wallingford Town Council, Rowse's Honey, Waitrose and Infinium (of Milton Park).
         Petanque Wallingford is affiliated to the English Petanque Association and has been assigned to the Thames Valley Region (TVPA). It is the only club in Oxfordshire. The Club has been running for 4 years now, and, on the social side, PW plays at three levels - singles, pairs or triples,  with cups and trophies for club competitions. PW plays on four or five days a week so people can choose which time(s) suit them best.
         On the more competitive side, PW has entered two teams of 6 to play 10 matches (home and away) in the TVPA Sunday League – they are The Red Kites and the Red Herrings (our team shirts are red).
         PW has also entered a strong team - The Rookies - in the Midweek League which will play 20 matches of 5 games (home and away) under lights on a Tuesday evening. Midweek League start on 28 March 2017.
         Sunday 19th February saw the start of the Sunday Leagues matches of 7 games: 3 pairs and 4 triples, with the Red Kites playing at home against the MTTA Horses from Marlow and the Red Herrings playing away against Winnersh. The Red Kites won their match 5 games to 2 amassing 81 points to their opponent's 45, helped by superb games by Chris, Mark and Peter who won 13-0,  13-0 and 13-2. The Red Herrings lost their match  by 3 games to 4. This means that the Red Kites, who were Runner Up last year, are top of the League. How long they will maintain that position remains to be seen. The next Weekend League matches will be on the 26th February. The Red Kites vs Burnham Eagles at Burnham and Red Herrings vs Arborfield at the Wallingford Boulodrome.
         This year the Club is again entering a team in the Inter-Regional Competition to be held on Hayling Island on a weekend in September, when some 900 players will compete .
         At Regional Level, competitions are held throughout the summer months at various Thames Valley venues – singles, pairs, mixed pairs, triples and mixed triples and every club has an open competition. We have also played matches against clubs from other parts of southern England, and some of our members have played in compettions in Guernsey, London (the Londonaise), Surrey and Hampshire.
Finally, you don't have to be superfit. In fact, we have people from Style Acre coming once a week to play.