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.