Category: Members

Up and Coming Competitions – Information

CANCELLED – Sunday 26th September – National Triples: Veterans – Mixed

Unfortunately, due to insufficient entries, this event is cancelled.

The following Teams registered for this event which was to be held at Pontyclun PC.

Bernard Adshead Vickie Adshead Roger Griffin
Gill Greenwell Rose Fiera Phil Roberts
Kon Tomczyk Barbara Vaughan Derek Jones
Jake Caston Len Field Stewart Spencer

A minimum of eight teams was required for this event.

The deadline for entries was midday 19/09/2021

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd October – 2022 Celtic Challenge Qualifier

The following Teams have registered for this event to be held at Monkstone PC.

Bernard Adshead Vickie Adshead Peredur John Roger Griffin
JY Robic Julie Bailey Len Field Geoff Jones
Ian Bailey Nai Kongchung Sean Smith
Scott Murray Jake Caston Ken Agius Stewart Spencer
Gill Greenwell Jayne Dunn Rose Fiera Tom Mills
Kon Tomczyk Barbara Vaughan Gemma Foster Tansy Mayfield
Hugh Morris Tim Howard Andrew Howard Mathew Morris
Bob Pugh Steve Snudden Derek Jones  David Elston
Dai Cannan Ken Ashton Mike Jacques Terry Lloyd

As you can see there are currently, there are nine teams entered, it would be great to see another three teams join in to make tweleve.

If you would like to enter a team for the Celtic Challenge Qualifier, click here.

Note: Every player entering the Celtic Challenge Qualifier is committing to attend the event should their team qualify in the top four.

Deadline for entries: Midday 25/09/2021

We are sure that several more members are thinking about taking part, take the plunge, and register.

This page will be regularly updated with the latest competition information.

WPA Executive.
updated: 20/09/2021

National Triples: Men & Women

This Sunday (12th), the National Triples Championship for Men & Women. Currently, the following teams have registered for the two events to be held at Caerleon PC.

Men:

Bernard Adshead Roger Griffin Peredur John  
Kon Tomczyk Derek Jones Stuart Spencer  
Jean-Yves Robic Ian Bailey Nai Kongchung Team Withdrawn
Jake Caston Len Field Matthew Howells Team Withdrawn
Scott Murray Ken Angus Geoff Jones  

We require three more men’s teams to achieve the required number of entries.

Women:

Valerie Falconer Gail Brooksbank Linda Hutchinson
Jayne Dunn Rose Fiera Gill Greenwell Vickie Adshead

We require six more women’s teams to achieve the required number of entries.

We are sure that several more members are thinking about taking part, take the plunge, and registering.

Online entries can be made by clicking here.

WPA Executive.

National Championship Doubles: Mixed

Thirteen teams took part and after the ranking rounds the knock out stage was split into a Cup and Plate and played out as follows:

CUP

John Attfield & Kath Attfield (3) V Gail Brooksbank & Basil White (13)

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Kon Tomczyk & Barbara Vaughan (5)

Sean Smith & Gill Greenwell (13) V Hugh Morris & Marie Jones (0)

Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (13) V JY Robic & Valerie Falconer (2)

 

PLATE (QF) elimination round

Jim Page & Sue Foster V Shirley Smart & Tony Griffiths

 

The semi final was between:

CUP

Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (13)  V Gail Brooksbank & Basil White (0)

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Sean Smith & Gill Greenwell (1)

PLATE

Len Field & Pat McCarthy (13) V Jim Page & Sue Foster (7)

Gill Clark & Roger Green (13) V Peter Kensett & Rose Fiera (3)

 

The Final

CUP

Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster (13) V Jayne Dunn & Peredure John (6)

PLATE

Gill Clark & Roger Green (13) V Len Field & Pat McCarthy (0)

 

Congratulations to the 2021 National Mixed Doubles Champions: Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster

 

WPA National Doubles (Mixed) Champions 2021: Steve Snudden & Gemma Foster

WPA National Doubles (Men) Champions 2021: Ian Bailey & Jean-Yves Robic 

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership of Brecon Boules Club for their support during the competition.

Derek Jones
National Director of Development

National Championship Doubles: Men

After a few years away, it was great to return to playing at the picturesque Brecon PC on the side of the Brecon canal basin. Eight teams took part and after the ranking rounds the knock out stage was played as follows:

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Jake Caston & Scott Murray (12)

Kon Tomczyk & Steve Snudden (13) V Lyn Babbage & Hugh Morris (6)

Len Field & Ken Agious (13) V Sean Smith & Roger Green (8)

Tony Griffiths & Jay Geldert (7) V Jim Page & Gareth Smart (13)

 

The semi final was between:

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Kon Tomczyk & Steve Snudden (12)

Len Field & Ken Agious (13) V Jim Page & Gareth Smart (6)

 

The Final was a close affair with the scores evenly matched

Ian Bailey & JY Robic (13) V Len Field & Ken Agious (12)

Congratulations to the 2021 National Doubles Champions: Ian Bailey & JY Robic

WPA National Doubles (Men) Champions 2021: Ian Bailey & Jean-Yves Robic

 

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership of Brecon Boules Club for their support during the competition.

Derek Jones
National Director of Development

MIKE COLEMAN R.I.P. (25/12/1943 – 08/08/2021)

Wenvoe Petanque Club is sad to announce that their long-standing Club President, Mike Coleman, passed away on Sunday 8th August 2021 after a short illness.

​Ever-popular, Mike had been a member of Wenvoe PC since the 1980s, and had served as Club President for many years. He was a long-standing and loyal member of the WPA.

Many of our members will have played against Mike and felt the impact of his classic “boule-to-boule” shooting style. 

Always willing to support and share his advice, Mike will be deeply missed.

​Mike’s funeral will be a private, family-only service.
​
The WPA would like to extend its sincere condolences to Mike’s parter, Gill and all their family at this difficult time.

Membership Update – July 2021

Summer has finally arrived, and we can begin to enjoy those outdoor activities that we have missed so much, one of which is boule. Many of our clubs are endeavouring to host open competitions. I encourage as many members to support these competitions as they help to provide valuable funds to their existence.

As you know, as of Saturday 17th July, Wales moved from Level 1 to Level 0 for organised outdoor activities; this move has resulted in a change in the clubs’ requirements.

The principle change is regarding social distancing, which is no longer a separate law enforcing the 2m gap between individuals. However, social distancing is still essential and must be included in each clubs risk assessment, which by statute every club organising outdoor activities for their members should have.

Every day we see that the infection levels are increasing. However, we are encouraging clubs and members to play; we all have to be sensible to ensure that we can play in the knowledge that all precautions are being taken. To help, the Executive is currently reviewing our current guidance notes to Clubs and Players, and these will be updated to the website soon.

Towards the end of 2020, the world governing body for our sport (FIPJP) amended the rules; some keener members have read them and endeavoured to show off their newfound knowledge to everyone they play. So, to enable you to check that they are correct, we have produced an A5 booklet to be issued to each member. These will be sent to your club for distribution to you.

We are not expecting you to read them immediately and become experts, but if you are unsure of a rule, you can have a look yourself without the fuss of tracking down a copy. Some of the rules may not apply if you play ‘local’ rules set by your club, no problem, as long as you enjoy the sport.

Finally, due to the cancellation of the major European Championships because of the continued concerns from Covid-19, we have a surplus of 2021 pins. Therefore, the Executive have decided to give all our members a 2021 pin to go with the 2020 pin you all received last year.

Tony Smith
President

Inter-Regional Qualifier 2021

The qualification competition for Petanque England’s annual Inter-Regional Championship took place at Caerleon RFC PC on Sunday 13th June, which became a scorching day.

Seven teams entered the competition, with only 4 of the teams being selected to represent the WPA. Each team played each other to obtain the final ranking detailed below.

Final ranking of the teams that entered the Inter-Regional Qualifier.

Even though the entries represented a small percentage of the membership, the competition was fierce to see which would qualify and represent the WPA in Melton Mowbray at the beginning of September. There was only one team that almost had a clean sweep: Monkstone PC team (WPA1) represented by Gill Greenwell, Gill Clark, Roger Green & Sean Smith, finishing with 5 wins (+31 points difference), losing only to the Wheatsheaf PC team (WPA3) of Gail Brooksbank and Jim and Linda Hutchinson who finished with 3 wins (+8 points difference).

WPA1 Monkstone PC
WPA1 – Monkstone PC: Sean Smith, Gill Greenwell, Gill Clark & Roger Green.

The other two teams that qualified are the combined team (WPA2) represented by David Elston (Sully PC), Bob Pugh (Wenvoe PC), Derek Jones (Pontyclun PC) and Steve Sudden (Caerleon RFC PC), who finished with 4 wins (+17 points difference) and the Caerleon RFC PC team (WPA4) represented by Gemma Foster, Tansy Mayfield, Kon Tomczyk and Barbara Vaughan completing the day on 3 wins (+3 points difference).

The other results were as follows:

The second Wheatsheaf PC team comprising Alan Evans, Colin Sweet, Basil White and Dave Sharratt finished with 3 wins (-2 points difference).
Brecon RFC team comprising Tony Griffiths, Gareth Smart, Jim Page and AJ Jones finished with 3 wins (-15 points difference) and
the second Caerleon RFC PC team comprising Dai Bevan, Wally Wilkinson, Ray Williams and Ian Wheeler finished with 0 wins (-42 points difference).

The WPA would like to thanks all the players who took part in the qualification round and the executive and members of the Caerleon RFC PC for hosting the event and making the facilities available throughout the day.

Tony Smith
President.

National Championship Doubles: Women

The first National Championship took place at the South Wales Bowls and Recreation Centre-Petanque Section (SWBRC-PS) Sully on Sunday 30th May.  This is the first time a National Championship has been held at this new and rapidly developing venue.

Eight teams representing Pontyclun PC, Monkstone PC (Cardiff) and Wheatsheaf PC (Gwent) came together to take away the National Women’s Doubles title. 

The morning session saw the teams play in two leagues to decide their ranking and opposition in the afternoon knockout phase. The top team from Group A was Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC), and Group B Simone Ballett & Sonia Ford (SWBRC-PS).

The first round of the afternoon knock-out session saw the following teams drawn against each other:

Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC) v Patricia McCarthy & Jenny Spooner (SWBRC-PS)
Linda Thomas & Sue Roberts (SWBRC-PS) v Katharine Attfield & Marie Jones (Pontyclun PC)
Gill Greenwell & Gill Clarke (Monkstone PC) v Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (Wheatsheaf PC)
Judith Smith & Amanda Jenkins (Monkstone PC) v Sonia Ford & Simone Ballett (SWBRC-PS)

The second round (semi-final) of the afternoon saw the winners of round 1 coming together with: 

Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (Wheatsheaf PC) v Simone Ballett & Sonia Ford (SWBRC-PS) Score: 13-12
Julie Bailey (SWBRC-PS) & Jayne Dunn (Monkstone PC) v Linda Thomas & Sue Roberts (SWBRC-PS) Score: 13-7

The final saw Julie Baily and Jayne Dunn (dark blue shirts) against Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson (light blue shirts).

The final was a tight match between two experienced teams, Gail Brooksbank & Linda Hutchinson, who took an early lead, but Julie Baily and Jayne Dunn fought back to take the match and the title 13-10.

National Champions: Jayne Dunn & Julie Baily with Tony Smith, WPA President.

Runners-Up: Linda Hutchinson and Gail Brooksbank with Tony Smith, WPA President.

The WPA would like to thank the Executive and Membership South Wales Bowls and Recreation Centre-Petanque Section for their support during the competition.

Tony Smith
President

Information Update – 18/05/2021

On Monday 17th May Wales officially entered Alert Level 2 (medium risk); I think we can all now begin to see the months of restrictions and the rapid progress of the vacation having a positive effect on our everyday lives.

I hope in the past few weeks you have all been able to start playing Pétanque again, whether it is just with friends, at your club or in your local league, and I am sure you are enjoying playing.

Also, as from Monday (17th) organised outdoor activities for up to 50 people can now take place, and I know many clubs have events programmed in the coming weeks; I urge you to support as many of these as possible as these competitions are a source of revenue for the club. A significant move forward is that indoor club facilities can now reopen provided that all necessary precautions as stipulated in the Welsh Government guidance for hospitality settings have been adhered to, which can be found here. 

The Welsh Government’s advice regarding Alert Level 2 can be found here, and there are links to our updated Guidelines for Clubs and Players on our COVID-19 page.

Obviously, we all hope to enter Alert Level 1 soon, but we still have to be mindful of our interactions with other people and take the necessary precautions. Many of us have received one or both vaccinations; however, it does not stop us from catching or transmitting the virus to others.  Therefore, it is important that if you feel unwell with any of the published symptoms of Covid-19, please do not play in your local league and/or competitions.

On a non-Covid issue, I would like to thank all those members who responded to the poll included in the email concerning Petanque England’s Inter-Regional Championship and Challenge Cup, which is due to be held at Melton Mowbray in early September. I had 63 responses from members, with 30% interested in the event and 70% not. The Executive will be meeting very soon to discuss the way forward.

On Sunday 30th May, the National Doubles: Women will take place at the South Wales Bowling and Recreation Centre, Sully. Nearly 40% of our members are women, and the rest of the Executive and I encourage you to participate in this event. There is still plenty of time to enter this event, which you can do by completing the online entry form here.

So far, we only have 8 teams entered, 16 women members, where the other 64 members? There must be more women members out there who want to take part? Come on, have a go and enter this cracking competition.

Tony Smith
National President.

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 09/04/2021

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

COVID-19

UPDATE – 09/04/2021

The Welsh Government has issued a written statement late on 8th April that due to the improving Covid-19 situation in Wales, the return for organised outdoor activities/sports has been brought forward to Monday 26th April. This is excellent news for all sports in Wales, and we can now see the possibility of a full return to play.

You can read the Welsh Government’s full press release here.

As of Monday 26th April, organised outdoor activities for up to 30 people can restart, allowing us to begin to get back to play within our clubs and begin to think about organising club open competitions.

The Welsh Governments advice regarding Alert Level 4 can be found here, and there are links to our updated Guidelines for Clubs and Players on our COVID-19 page.

As and when the First Minister makes further announcements, we will issue updates as soon as we become aware of them.

However, in the meantime, we are preparing to get the WPA League underway, starting May, so if you have not entered yet, then now is your opportunity.

 

Tony Smith
National President.

Remember:
KEEP WALES SAFE

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