Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 06/08/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 06/08/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

Following our attendance of the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) call on Tuesday morning the EC met on Wednesday 5th August.

Full details of the Guidelines, along with the WG FAQ document and the UK Government’s advice on cleaning in non-healthcare situations can be found on the WPA’s COVID-19 Advice and Information page here.

As a result of studying the relevant sections of the WG Guidelines, we have updated our own guidelines, which are also published on the above page.

To emphasise a number of points:

  • As well as outdoor gatherings of UP-TO 30 people taking place for “organised and supervised” activities, the WG now permits outdoor gatherings of up-to 30 people for social purposes. Please be aware that these social gatherings MUST still adhere to the 2m social-distancing instructions.

  • The WSA & WG have confirmed that this “social” gathering can be applied to spectators, and is in addition to the organised gathering of people taking part in a sporting activity:

    “Re organised outdoor events, if there are people who are socially distant from the field of play – and from each other – and their presence doesn’t obstruct or interfere with the safety arrangements planned by the organisers for the event, then they would not count towards the 30 total. Here is what our guidance says on that point:

    Spectators

    Supporters and other spectators should be limited at this stage to only those persons who need to attend, e.g. parents or guardians of children who require their attendance for health or safeguarding reasons.  All spectators are to remain socially and physically distanced from each other and from the area of play whilst attending events, including accessing and leaving the venue, use of any facilities and whilst watching game play.

    Anyone on the area of play, or closer to it than social distancing rules would permit, will count towards the total number people considered to the gathered for the organised outdoor activity, where a limit of no more than 30 persons applies.“

  • The WPA has decided that spectators should still be discouraged from attending any organised event, but should any bystanders be present, they MUST be a minimum of 2m from the edge of the playing area. Should an organised event take place at an “open” area, the organisers should make sure a barrier or other marker is in place at least 2m from the edge of the playing area.

The Executive also moved to draft an updated playing calendar with a limited number of events which will be further refined and published in the near future.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA REPORT – WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup

WPA REPORT

WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup

The 1st WPOC World Pétanque Offline Cup organised by the FIPJP.

The preliminary phase of the WPOC has finished and the qualifying results are out for the WPOC 2020 Championships.

Three WPA players who decided to enter to represent Wales had limited time to produce the necessary video for the qualifying sessions.

Derek Jones got his precision shooting and parthian shooting (trick shot) completed on Sunday 3rd August afternoon while Gareth and Michelle Spencer completed their precision shooting just before the deadline of Monday 4th August afternoon.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for Gareth and Michelle to produce a qualifying parthian shooting video before the 4pm deadline.

Despite the lack of time the results from the players exceeded any expectation, results as below:

Men’s Parthian shooting
Derek Jones – Finalist top 8 (Qualified 5th)

Women’s Shooting
Michelle Spencer – 27th Top Female European player

Men’s Shooting
Derek Jones – 13th Top Male European player
Gareth Spencer – 32nd Second European player

Congratulations to all players an excellent performance.

Derek has now performed another parthian shot for the final phase and this is currently being assessed by the five judges.

Bob Pugh

National President

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 18/07/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 18/07/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As I stated in my previous update, the Welsh Government (WG) announced a further relaxation of the rules, including a resumption of outdoors activities from Monday 13th July.

Following our attendance of the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) call on Monday afternoon the EC met on Tuesday 14th July and then on Wednesday 15th received an updated copy of the detailed Guidance from the WG.

Full details of the Guidelines, allow with the WG FAQ document and the UK Government’s advice on cleaning in non-healthcare situations can be found on the WPA’s COVID-19 Advice and Information page here.

As a result of studying the relevant sections of the WG Guidelines, we have updated our own guidelines, which are also published on the above page.

To emphasise a number of points:

  • Gatherings of UP-TO 30 people can now take place for “organised and supervised” activities. It is important to understand the meaning of this, as it is the responsibility of the Association (for a WPA-organised event) or the Club to ensure these conditions are met and adhered to. This requires the appointment of a non-playing nominated responsible person, who MUST record the contact details of EVERYONE present. The responsible person must also ensure 2m social-distancing is adhered to.

  • Please be aware that the 30-people maximum limit does NOT just mean 30 players, but includes the responsible person as well as any other officials (Umpire, Marker, etc).

  • Any informal gathering of people (i.e. one that is not organised and supervised) must adhere to the previous guidelines of no more than 2 households (or extended households).

There is another meeting of the WSA’s Outdoor Sport Phased Return Planning Group on Monday 20th, so there may be a further update to these instructions after that.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

World Petanque Offline Cup 2020

Wales as a member of the FIPJP have been invited to participate in the World Petanque Offline Cup 2020.

Standard Shooting (with some modifications)
Parthian Shooting (adrenaline producer style)

You will see there is a restricted traditional shooting competition and a trick shot competition.

Any members who wish to take part need to read the entry rules and return an entry form with additional documents by Sunday 19th July to development [at] welshpetanque [dot] org [dot] uk Entrants’ information will then be forwarded to the organizers.

Categories are:

Junior male under 18

Junior female under 18

Men over 18

Female over 18

Important Notes:
1) All Participants MUST Provide a High Resolution New Personal Photo in the Form.
2) Valid Passport Copy of Each Person Must Be Sent at same Time of Registration.
3) There Will Be No Limitation in the Number of Participants from Each Nation in all Categories.
4) Each Participant is Allowed to Take Part in Both Competition Styles.

WPOC_Rules and Documentation

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 10/07/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 10/07/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today a further relaxation of the rules, including a resumption of outdoors activities from Monday 13th July.

“The Welsh Government is also making changes to the regulations to allow larger gatherings of up to 30 people outdoors only where these are organised and supervised by a responsible person for sports and other leisure activities and classes.

This will allow sports and leisure activities, such as fitness and dance classes to take place outdoors.“

The WPA will be joining a WSA call on Monday afternoon and the EC will meet following that and issue a further statement as soon as possible afterwards.

The WG’s latest press-release can be found here.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 06/07/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 06/07/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today allowed a further relaxation of the rules, in particular the lifting of the 5-mile “Stay Local” instruction.

The EC met this afternoon and has realised an update of its guidelines.

Significantly, now that members of 2 households are allowed to meet, we feel that doubles play can now take place, provided no more than 2 households are taking part.

As I pointed out in the Ordinary General Meeting last week, the Welsh Government still considers a “gathering” of more than 2 households to be  illegal, but we are unclear what constitutes a “gathering”. We have lobbied the Welsh Government for clarification on this point and will update our guidelines when we receive it.

The following graphic provides a summary of the updated guidelines:

A copy of this summary can be downloaded here.

The updated Guidelines for Clubs can be downloaded here.

The updated Guidelines for Players can be downloaded here.

The WPA has produced a suggested playing guide that should help with managing singles-play during a game. A copy can be downloaded here.

The WPA has also produced some signage posters which Clubs can use to help with directions. A copy can be downloaded here.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA REPORT – CEP CONGRESS

WPA REPORT

CEP CONGRESS

SATURDAY – 27/06/2020

The 2020 CEP Congress was held on Saturday 27/06 via a virtual Zoom session.

It was my privilege to attend on behalf of the WPA.

The CEP Reports discussed at the Meeting can be found here.

Congratulations to the members of the board elected (or re-elected) during the Congress:
Signe Hovind (Norway)
Mike Pegg (England)
Tony Smith (Wales)
Henrik Toft (Denmark)
Riccardo Capaccioni (Italy) – new board member
Sjoerd Pieterse (Netherlands) – new board member

Congratulations also to Mike Pegg on his re-appointment as CEP President for another term.

Two items discussed that particularly affect Wales are the changes to the Inter-Federation Transfer procedure and the changes to the Approved Playing Kit regulations – links to both of these can be found on the WPA websites and will be discussed in greater detail at the forthcoming OGM.

 

Bob Pugh

National President

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT: NOTICE OF (VIRTUAL) ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

NOTICE OF (VIRTUAL) ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

WEDNESDAY – 01/07/2020 7:30pm

 

 

We are holding a virtual Ordinary General Meeting on Wednesday, 1st July 2020 at 7:30pm.

This will be held using the Zoom platform.

Attendees will be asked to complete a registration form on entering the meeting – this will act as a Register, as we normally do at WPA meetings. As a result, we would appreciate it if everyone could join promptly.

All attendees will enter the “lobby” and then be admitted to the full meeting with their microphone muted initially. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, etc. using the “Raise Hand” and “Chat” options.

AGENDA

  1. Apologies

  2. Minutes of the previous meeting (see below)

  3. Matters arising

  4. President’s Report

  5. Treasurer’s Report

  6. Director of Development’s Report

  7. COVID-19 Playing Guidelines

  8. Finances

  9. Any Other Business

The Minutes of the previous OGM (09/10/2019) can be found on the WPA Website, here,

and the President’s Report from the Meeting can be found on the WPA Website, here.

The Zoom Meeting details will be sent out nearer the date of the meeting.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#STAY LOCAL

#KEEP WALES SAFE

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 19/06/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 19/06/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today announced a relaxing of the lockdown rules from Monday 22nd June.

The EC met this afternoon following the WG’s announcement and can confirm that pétanque is covered under the list of sports allowed to open – subject to the travel restrictions and the adherence to the guidelines.

As a result, the WPA have produced an updated set of Guidelines Clubs and for Players, which MUST BE ADHERED TO in order to resume playing.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY SINGLES PLAY, PRACTICE, OR 1:1 COACHING IS ALLOWED AT THE PRESENT TIME. TEAM SPORTS ARE STILL NOT PERMITTED.

The following graphic provides a summary of the guidelines:

Safe Petanque

A copy of this summary can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines for Clubs can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines for Players can be downloaded here.

The WPA has produced a suggested playing guide that should help with managing singles-play during a game. A copy can be downloaded here.

The WPA has also produced some signage posters which Clubs can use to help with directions. A copy can be downloaded here.

The detail of the WG’s announcement can be found here.

With the announcement that further restrictions, including those related to travel, could be lifted by Monday 6th July, the WPA is looking at organising a limited number of competitions during the summer. Further information will be made available as we have details.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

 

#STAY LOCAL

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 03/06/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 03/06/2020

I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

The WPA Executive Committee has been closely monitoring the situation with regard to the official advice from the UK and Welsh Governments and NHS and NHS Wales.

The EC met on Monday 1st June and earlier today we attended the regular Welsh Sports Association (WSA) Business Continuity meeting.

Although the Welsh Government (WG) have still not yet given permission for sport to resume, we are working hard with the WSA and Sport Wales (SW) to do everything we can to get our sport included in the first tranche of sports allowed to resume.

As a result of this, we have updated and are publishing the guidelines that we sent in draft form to the Club Representatives yesterday, in readiness for us being allowed to resume playing. This will allow time for Clubs to make any necessary preparations in readiness for the resumption.

The following graphic provides a summary of the guidelines:

Safe Petanque

A copy can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines can be downloaded here.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

 

#STAY LOCAL

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

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