We played yesterday - we were supposed to have a club match but the weather forecast was not good, so the turnout was not good either. So us hardy souls played .... it was rather nice - Sunny, then overcast, then windy. We had just got to the end of the second game when down came the hail, or sleet - icy stuff anyway, and it was windy and COLD, we were in danger of getting frostbite from the cold boules - so we abondoned ship, hopeful that it would be nicer for Saturday, our grand opening!
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We had our last 'official' Summer CLUBNIGHT on the sports park car parks last Wednesday night (28th August 2013). We had a 'money melee go round' which was won by Margy – a brand new player! Not only is she a 'natural' with a really good 'eye', she was also drawn to play with some of the greatest (well, since I was one of her partners, I would say that wouldn't I? – Afterall, I am the 'friendliest' player of all time ….). Back to the serious business though.
All the Bouligans who were at the Park last Wednesday said they wanted to continue playing (and throughout the winter). So This is the picture: We will play every Wednesday Afternoon at the Sports Park from 12.50 (till about 3.30 depends how long our stamina lasts… and in fact, the light as the winter approached). We will call this our CLUBDAY. – I will NOT do a teamer for Wednesdays because it is our regular day. Come along and support the club. Often we will have training sessions too. Fridays: afternoon at WSP or Aston Tirrold – depending of what Aston is up to. Sometimes we can play there, so keep an eye on Teamer for venue. I will continue to do a teamer for this day, as in the past Sunday afternoon: Aston Tirrold – there is no cricket at Aston now, so we can play (mostly) but I will continue to do a teamer for this day, so those who live further afield know it will be worth turning out because there will be someone to play with. We can't play in the Park on Sundays because parking is MANIC. Thank you all for coming through the Summer, I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did, and I look forward to some more play in the coming months. We played all last year – except for February when we were defeated by the weather … And don't forget, the coach will always help knock those bad habits on the head, or if you want to improve your prowess ... Lots of competitions and play with other clubs next year! The Club has had a really busy time lately - this is a bit of catch up. But I will work down wards from today, since I have been a bit backward in getting this posted! Sunday 30th June – we played petanque with the tennis club – 14 adults and 7 children (10 to 13) and four of us. Ros came along to get some fresh air but ended up 'manning' the 'desk' and supervising the timer (we had timed games). We had a lovely time and really hope the tennis players will decide to come and join us – they are really good. And thanks Ros! First Place went to Dave (who had never played before …), Second Place went to Kay, Third Place went to Arthur and Ces was the Friendliest Player. As for the kids – well we could have a pretty good junior squad if they joined too! So, when we get our own piste and don't have to play on the car parks …. perhaps they will join us. And thanks very much to the winners for donating their winnings to Wallingford Petanque! Saturday 29th June – we often play at Aston Tirrold on Fridays and some Sundays when they don't have Cricket at Home. The Recreation Ground Committee have recently refurbished the children's play area with the help of a grant from WREN - a super job and yesterday was the 'Grand Opening'. As the playground is right next to the pistes we were going to stay out of the way since we are not 'of the village' but one of the members of ARC invited us to be there, so we set up our gazebo – Alan and Cynthia donated a Dreams Bedtime Bear complete, with stripy pyjamas and nightcap, for people to name; we had some of our 'coin' cards for sale and we organised petanque for the kids (special boules for little 'uns) and anyone else who wanted to play. After everyone had had a go trying to guess the name of the Bear, we opened the envelope to find out the Bear's name – he was called Henry, or Harry. No one guessed his name so all the names were given a number and one of the organisers chose a number. This was No. 17 – Silvester – and Elma Wishart won him. A successful but tiring day and we hope some good PR was achieved.  On Wednesday evening 26th June we had our club Doubles Championship. This was played as a Doubles Individual Melee – teams were made up of an 'experienced player' and a 'less experienced' player playing against a pair of the same make up, and the winners were the players who scored the most points – one from each group. The trophy – donated by RedCandy – was won by Loren from the experienced group and Alan from the less experienced group (Alan joined the club in April and Loren is our coach! (Well to be fair to Loren, he was put forward to stand in for one of our members who was unable to attend at the last minute). The trophy is a pair of egg cups mounted on a little plinth. Kevin cut the plinth in half (and embedded a pair of magnets to hold the two pieces together for presentation). The two cups are separate so each winner gets a cup to hold for a year. When the cups are returned we will put the names on the plinth. I forgot to take my camera (doh …) so I have no picture of them with their winners and certificates. But hope to make amends …  On Sunday 23rd June we were in Newbury market place helping the Newbury Rotarians organise a petanque tournament. They had built a temporary piste on the cobbles and Petanque Wallingford supplied the boules and 'supervision & coaching power'. The object was a taster session to see if a tournament would 'work'. If the Rotarians consider it worth it, then next year will be a bigger event. There were several sponsors who fielded teams or helped with financing the piste by donating timber, matting and sand to build it. From our point of view – people seemed to enjoy themselves, and we (5 of us) came home pretty worn out!
The rest of the time has been play as usual in the Sports Park and at Aston Tirrold. We were delighted to have some visitors from Mansfield – who played at both the Sports Park and Aston Tirrold. We hope to meet them on their home ground. The weather is getting gradually better, and if anything, too hot (!) now … but the sunshine is lovely. O - and we had a bootsale in the beginning of June - made a small fortune - hope to make a bigger one at the next bootsale on 7th JULY 2013 AT WARBOROUGH. Our next club match event is the Singles (TO BE PLAYED OVER 2 CLUB NIGHTS 24th & 31st JULY to make sure everyone has a go, so let me know by 5th PLEASE) – to play for the dotty cup currently held by Roger. Meanwhile play and practice on Wednesdays as usual. Thérèse .... for us today We signed the Agreement with Wallingford Sports Park making Petanque Wallingford Associate Trustee Members of the Park and PW paid their 'dues' for the year. We will continue to play on the car park for the time being, but we have been granted space to build our terrain under the trees. And we even had some pictures of the event (see below). Richard said Petanque Wallingford is the first new sporting club to join the Trust since 1972. We have already applied for planning permission from the local Council (SODC) to build the terrain, so all we need to do next (ha ha - ALL!) is raise the money to create the playing space .... donations welcome! Meanwhile, we have some play scheduled for this week - our club night tomorrow, a melee go round for the May Bank Holiday on Monday 27th next week and an Open Day and Community Games day for the 1st of June – everything seems to happen at once! Yesterday, 5th May we went to our first bootsale. Several members had responded to our call for 'stuff' and we took just under £100 in 3 hours - dunno how good that is in the light of things, but it's great to go towards our coffers. We will do another one on 1st June at the Sports Park on our open day. We also need to find a venue for a Craft Fair as we have lots of crafty stuff for sale. Especially cards. More of that later.
And today - at last - play in the sunshine! What a lovely day. Yvette, who is a sailor came to play today. As the wind was not blowing today she came to play with us instead. Well! I bet she was glad ... She got First Place, with 3 wins, Kevin, a most consistent reliable pointer, got Second Place and Loren, the coach got 3rd Place this time. JJ was the Friendliest player but T still holds the record. After the match we had tea, sandwiches and cake under the blossoming trees, on the site of our new terrain - well it will be our new terrain if we get the money to build it! Meanwhile, we continue to play on the car parks ... |
