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.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT: Pétanque England Inter-Regional Championships 2020 Cancelled

Our friends at Pétanque England have issued the following statement:

The PE Board Meeting met virtually today and a number of playing matters were discussed.

2020 Inter Regional Championships

It is with deep regret that the PE Board has decided in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic that we are left with no alternative than to cancel the 2020 Inter-Regional Championships.

This decision is taken with heavy heart but we have concluded that we are unable to hold and organise such a major event safely for all our members young and old.

Considerable work has been undertaken by the Board to ensure that we were not left with significant financial liabilities and we are very grateful for the support we have received from our partners IoW Tours.

2020 would have been the last time that we would have held the Inter-Regionals at Hayling Island because of their refurbishment and remodelling to a format unsuited to our needs. We are now planning for 2021 and a new venue. We look forward to a major celebration in 2021, where once again we can all gather at the biggest and best national tournament in England.

We will update members when we have more details on the new venue, but just as an advance warning, we are expecting 2021 Inter-Regionals to take place a week earlier in September than they have taken place traditionally.

Although this is disappointing, I’m sure we all agree it is totally understandable, and we applaud the PE Board’s decision to make this call earlier rather than later.

Bob Pugh
WPA National President

#StayHome
#ProtectTheNHS
#SaveLives

 

 

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 11/05/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 11/05/2020

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.

Since the lockdown was introduced, the Executive Committee have held several meetings, the latest being this morning – following the announcements by the Welsh Government First Minister and the Prime Minister.

As we are sure you are aware, there are now some slight differences between the positions of the Welsh and UK Governments, but as this matter is devolved, the announcements by the Prime Minister relate ONLY to England.

With this in mind, the position in Wales in relation to playing sports remains unchanged. The First Minister, Mark Drakeford, made the following statement on Sunday 10th May:

I set out the modest changes to the stay-at-home regulations we are making in Wales on Friday. These will come into force tomorrow afternoon.

Here in Wales, we will change the regulations so people can exercise more often and allow garden centres to open, if they can comply with social distancing.

Our advice has not changed in Wales.

  • Wherever you can you should stay at home.
  • If you need to leave home for work, exercise or shopping, you should stay local and stay alert.
  • Coronavirus has not gone away
  • The way we behave over the weeks ahead will continue to have a profound impact on our NHS and our ability to save lives.
  • If you go out, stay local and stay safe.

The Prime Minister also set out his roadmap for the future. This is at an early stage because it depends on how the virus behaves over the coming weeks and months.

Two weeks ago, I published a framework to lead Wales out of the pandemic.

This has helped us decide that schools will not return to normal on June 1.

We will continue to make decisions, which are right for Wales, using information and expert advice about how coronavirus is circulating here to keep us safe.

The health of the public is paramount. It will inform our decisions and we will continue to inform you as we plan for our future in the weeks ahead.

Thank you for all your help and support. Together we can do this.

However, in an attempt to be ready for a possible further relaxation of the restrictions and a resumption of playing of sports in some format in the new future, we have begun to work on a draft updated playing calendar, as well as a guidance document which will outline the conditions and behaviours that will need to be adhered to.

These will be published in due course, when we have a clearer picture of the government advice.

Some of you may have seen similar guidelines on social media that have already been published by a number of European federations, and it is likely that any document we publish will be very similar.

Of course, it is highly likely that, even if we do resume play later this year, many of you may feel that you are not comfortable in this kind of sporting/social environment, and this is completely understandable.

You may be interested (though not surprised) to know that our membership profile is less than favourable for safe resumption of play:

WPA Member Ages above Number of Members WPA % of membership
80 20 7.8%
70 102 39.5%
65 145 56.2%
60 171 66.3%
50 221 85.7%

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 HOME

#PROTECT THE NHS

#SAVE LIVES

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT: Home Nations 2020 Cancelled

The WPA have received the following statement from Colin Stewart, SPA President:

Dear all

It is with regret that I have to inform you that SPA has decided we have no option but to cancel the Home Nations which was scheduled to be played at Troon in August.   This is disappointing but I am sure is of no great surprise to you.  
Our view is that there are likely to be social distancing measures, restrictions on gatherings and travel etc for several months – potentially for the entire season – even if the current lock down is relaxed.  Troon PC has naturally had to suspend all fund raising activities and even if we do get a ‘green light’ before August, there is little time to start fundraising again. Coupled with this, there is the issues your own players might have for making arrangements at short notice.  It’s just not workable in our view.
We’d therefore like to request a 12 month hiatus, but would be delighted to host the tournament in August 2021 if you agree to that? We think this is the best solution and easiest for all parties involved.
I hope you and your families are all well and coping with everything.  
Kind regards
Colin Stewart
President
Scottish Petanque Association

 

Although this is disappointing, I’m sure we all agree it is totally understandable, and we applaud the SPA’s decision to make this call earlier rather than later.

Bob Pugh
WPA National President

#StayHome
#ProtectTheNHS
#SaveLives

 

 

WPA MEMBER CLAIMS NEW PRECISION SHOOTING WORLD RECORD!

This morning, news has reached WPA HQ that an, as yet unnamed, Welsh player has smashed the current Precision Shooting World Record by scoring 95 on their own piste in their back garden.

“I was getting some practice in while socially-distancing myself from the wife, and thought I’d have a go as I’ve only done it once before and then only scored 5”, said the player – normally a pointer.

“Imagine my surprise, when I got to 95 and then missed the 9m jack on the very last throw? I was gutted.

“My missus, was filming me on our camcorder from in the house, reckons I bottled it, and offered me the ever-helpful thought – ‘Nobody likes to see that’”.

The player concerned as asked that their name not be released yet as they don’t want the publicity.

The WPA National President and Director of Development have received the video and are reviewing it at the time of writing.

If found to be true, it will be released after mid-day today.

UPDATE: Regrettably, the video tape snapped just as the first boule left the player’s hand, so we are unable to confirm this wild, extravagant claim.

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