Celtic Challenge Cancelled.

At a meeting of the 3 Nations’ Presidents, the decision was reluctantly taken to cancel the Celtic Challenge for 2021.

The ongoing uncertainty around play and travel arrangements has made any organisation impractical.

It is planned to hold the competition over the usual May Bank Holiday weekend on 2022 in Glasgow, as originally planned.

As a result of this decision, a new qualifier will be held for the 2022 competition. Details will announced as soon as possible.

We will, of course, keep you informed of any further announcements concerning the Championships.

Tony Smith
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

World Championships Cancelled.

To read the announcement by the FIPJP, click on the image above.

The FIPJP has confirmed that due to the continued situation with Covid-19 in mainland Europe, the World Championship: Triples for Men, which was to be held in Prilly-Lausanne, Switzerland, in July and postponed from 2020, has been cancelled.

This must be extremely disappointing for our friends in Switzerland who have worked tirelessly to host the Championships for the past 3 years. However, due to the ever-evolving nature of the virus and the restrictions placed upon organisations, the FIPJP, together with the hosts, decided that the potential quarantine conditions for teams arriving in Switzerland and on return to their country, as well as the constraints that would have to be imposed at the site were also considered too problematic.

Following up on the announcement from the FIPJP,  The European Petanque Confederation (CEP) has stated that they “…continue to monitor the pandemic situation across Europe and remain hopeful that each of our championships will go ahead as planned; however, a final decision [by the CEP] on this year’s championships will be made in early July”.

We will, of course, keep you informed of any announcements concerning the European Championships.

Tony Smith
President

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 01/04/2021

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

COVID-19

UPDATE – 01/04/2021

The Welsh Government has issued a roadmap out of lockdown late on 31st March to avoid being suspected as an April Fool’s joke. Unfortunately, for organised outdoor activities/sports, they are now scheduled to restart on 3rd May; this is very disappointing, especially after all the hard work that all the NGBs in Wales has undertaken to ensure that their sport is Covid-19 safe.

The Welsh Government’s full press release can be read here.

The Welsh Sports Association (WSA) has issued a statement today, reflecting how the news has been received, a copy of which can be read here.

This still means that your club’s organised events are not permitted as we have not formally entered Alert Level 3. 

However, limited play can occur between a maximum of 6 people from two households.  Therefore, your club may allow singles to play between two people from the same household or two different households.  Also, doubles and triples play may occur from the same or two different households according to your club’s Covid-19 Guidelines. 

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.

Further announcements by the First Minister are still expected to be made later this month. However, we will issue a further update as soon as we become aware of them.

Tony Smith
National President.

Remember:
KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 26/03/2021

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 26/03/2021

The Welsh Government has announced some relaxation of the current rules (click here to read the article). The ‘Stay Local’ rule in Wales is to end from Saturday 27/03/2021; this will allow unrestricted travel within its borders.

Currently, this still means that organised events at your club are not permitted as we have not entered Alert Level 3. Only organised outdoor activities and sports for under-18s can resume. These restrictions will be in place until 22/04/21 when it is hoped we shall move into Alert Level 3; however, it is up to each one of us to do our part and follow the Welsh Governments Covid-19 guidelines.

However, limited play can occur between a maximum of 6 people from two households.  Therefore your club may allow singles play to occur between two people from the same household or from two different households.  Also, doubles and triples play may occur from the same or two different households according to your club’s Covid-19 Guidelines. 

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.

The Welsh Government’s Coronavirus Control Plan: Revised Alert Level in Wales (March 2021) has been updated and can be accessed on our COVID-19 page. The image below explains how the varying alert levels affect organised outdoor sports. 

Coming out of Lockdown
Welsh Government (2021)

Further announcements by the First Minister will be made on 12/04/21. However, we will issue a further update as soon as we become aware of them.

Tony Smith
National President.

Remember:
KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 16/03/2021

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 16/03/2021

I hope you are all well and beginning to enjoy your new-found freedoms, well as much as we can.

No doubt, by now you would be aware that we have come out of “Lockdown” and entered “Alert Level 4” restrictions covering the whole of Wales from Saturday 13th March.

This means that that organised events at your club are not permitted while we remain at Alert Level 4.  However, limited play can occur between a maximum of 4 people from two households, therefore your club may allow singles play to take place between two people from the same household or from two different households.  Also, doubles play may take place from the same or two different households according to your club’s Covid-19 Guidelines. These restrictions will be in place until the end of March when it is hoped we shall move from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 3; however, that is up to each one of us to do our part and follow the Welsh Governments Covid-19 guidelines.

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.

We will issue a further update as soon as we become aware of them.

Tony Smith
National President.

Remember:
#STAYLOCAL

 

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 12/03/2021

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 12/03/2021

I hope you and you families are continuing to stay safe and well.

As you may already be aware, today the First Minister of Wales has begun the careful journey out of lockdown.

You may have listened carefully to his statement and wondered how what he has announced today affects us getting back to play. Therefore, this message from the Executive, I hope, will begin to answer some but not all the questions you may have.

Today’s announcement states that from Saturday 13th March all activities are to ‘stay local’, which means that within a 5-mile radius of our homes and that “A maximum of 2 households can take part in using local sports facilities.”

This will mean that singles and limited doubles play, where each doubles team are from the same household will be able to take place. However, the Executive will review its guidance notes to Clubs and Players as a matter of urgency and publish them on the Association’s website after attending a meeting of the Outdoor Sports Recovery Group on Monday afternoon and final approval from the Executive.

We sincerely hope this will be the beginning of our sport’s recovery and the socialising with friends again.

The EC will continue to monitor the Welsh Government and Sport Wales advice and will provide an update as soon as we are able.

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

 

REMEMBER:

#STAYLOCAL

#PROTECT THE NHS

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Best wishes

Tony Smith

National President.

WPA Annual General Meeting Update – All Change At The Top

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

AGM UPDATE

Executive Committee Changes

Greetings.

All our members should by now be aware that I decided to stand down as National President, having held the role for the last 2 years.

At last night’s Annual General Meeting, Tony Smith was appointed to replace me as National President and Jean-Yves Robic was appointed to replace Tony as National Treasurer.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on their new appointments and wish them well for their coming 2 year tenure.

The position of Director of Public Relations remains vacant and I’m certain the Executive Committee would be delighted to head from anyone who is interested in taking on this role and helping to keep the Association developing and moving forward.

Finally, I would like to thank all our members for their support and patience during my period as National President, especially during the unprecedented challenges of  the last year.

I look forward to seeing you on a piste somewhere, hopefully quite soon.

 

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Bob Pugh

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – UPDATE 16/12/2020

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 16/12/2020

I hope you and you families are continuing to stay safe and well.

You will, no doubt, have seen the Welsh Government’s (WG) announcement today of the introduction of the “Alert Level 4” restrictions covering the whole of Wales from Monday 28th December.

The Government’s Coronavirus Control Plan: Alert Levels in Wales, shows how the different Levels affect Outdoor Activities and Sport. Level 4 means that organised outdoor activities and sports are NOT permitted.

This means that all Clubs MUST NOT meet for organised play while we remain at Alert Level 4.

Organised Activities and Sports

 

The WG advice can be found here (and there is a link to this on our COVID-19 page.

We will issue a further update as soon as we have it.

 

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

Robert Pugh

National President.

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