​​Nottingham City Pétanque Club Newsletter No.39 ~ 25th March 2022
​Spring is springing so do come on down to the terrains to enjoy playing without the need for half a dozen layers of clothing (hopefully !) Please remember that as the clocks go forward this weekend, Sunday sessions revert to a 2.00pm start. Of course, if you have a gate key (available for a £5 deposit), you can always come down earlier for a spot of practice. It's been a busy few weeks since the last newsletter in terms of the competitions taking place. Well done to all from the club who braved horrible weather at the Ravenshead Tropical (ha-ha !) Triples – won by Peter Newton - and at the Leicester Over 50’s Triples a couple of weeks later. However, the traditional Nutbrook Ice Breaker was anything but, with players enjoying glorious sunshine for a good day out. On 6th March the club hosted the Final round in the Mercia Winter League. Going into this at the top of the league we had high hopes, but our aspirations were dashed at the last hurdle, losing our final three games to Bourne Abbots, who won the competition, and dropping us into third behind Chesterfield. Congratulations to Jill Butt who came third in the Regional International Women’s Day Doubles at Ravenshead and so goes forward to the finals at Whitnash later in the year. Also well done to Wayne Marshall who is also through to the finals of the Over 50’s Triples. The Thursday Fours league starts next week (31st March) when our two club teams – Reivers (the current champions) play Riders. After that, it’s a game every Thursday evening until August ! Also starting soon is the Mercia Monday Night Triples league, and we anticipate hosting the first round on 25th April. Entries will be going out soon for our Nottingham Open Doubles in July – it would be good for as many of our club players as possible to put in an entry. If you do not enter, you can still support the club by volunteering to help out at any of the big competitions which we will be hosting this year. That will be particularly true of the Home Nations Qualifiers which we will host on 15th May, when players from around the country will compete to represent England later in the year. We need people to help with catering and marshalling on the day, and with site preparation beforehand. Good luck to all our club players who shortly begin the process of qualifying for the Inter Regional Finals, this year being held in Lowestoft in September. The first qualifier takes place at Chesterfield on 10th April. You will have seen our new banner at the club, aimed at catching the eye of folks passing by. We hope to have some more promotional material out soon, but do keep spreading the word to friends and family and encourage new players to come and have a go. Finally. a warm welcome to those new members who have joined the club in the last few weeks. Enjoy your games !

Newsletter No.37 ~ 11th January 2022Happy New Year
I do hope everyone had a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year break. Welcome back to the club for the 2022 season, and let’s hope it’s a better one than the last couple of years. Covid is still around so please continue to respect other players by having regular tests, stay away if you have any symptoms, keeping your distance where possible and using the hand sanitiser available at the club.
Thank you to all those players who have re-joined the club, and a reminder to those that haven’t that there is still an invitation open to you to join again.
Preparations are in hand for our AGM on Monday 24th January, at          7-30pm at the Balfour Club in Arnold. The agenda papers will be going out shortly, and of course you are encouraged to attend.
A reminder also that the AGM for the Mercia region takes place on Friday 21st January, staring at 7.00pm. This is to be held on-line, and you will have been sent an email with the link to join in.
The final round of the Winter League which was to have taken place this month at the club has now been moved to 6th March. We are also awaiting a date for the next round of the Eurocup where we are drawn to play Leicester away. We will be putting in some practice sessions for the teams in the coming weeks.
Pétanque England and Mercia are both in the process of finalising the national and regional calendars for the year, and once these are published we can finalise our club calendar. We have already pencilled in 2nd July for the Nottingham Open Doubles, and 6th November for the Firecracker Triples. We hope to be able to host a number of national and regional competitions throughout the year, as well as running events just for club members.
Happy pétanquing !!
Neil
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On Saturday 17th July, ten doubles teams played at Nottingham for the honour of representing Mercia Region in the International Women's Day competion to be held at Heckmondwike on 15th August. The event was won by Sandra Butchart and Madhu Mistry, who will represent our region along with the runners up, Carla Jervis and Carole Sheppard.

Congratulations to all four players, and good luck at |Heckmondwike!

First of all, a big thank you to all who helped prepare, run or who competed in our Open Weekend Doubles and Triples events on 3rd/4th July. Despite the weather – which actually turned out better than forecast - the weekend was a big success. This was the first time we had run both Doubles and Triples competitions and I’m sure we shall seriously consider repeating this next year. There is a full report of the proceedings on our website, but the winners of the Doubles were Ewan Cameron and John Geddes from Coventry, and the Triples winners were Phil Price, Alastair Rabbage and Trevor Allen from Hereford. It was especially pleasing to see players from the England Youth squad competing – and doing well - finishing second in both events.

Last weekend players from the club represented Mercia at a friendly match against players from Suffolk Coastal Petanque Alliance at Stowmarket. Sadly Mercia were outgunned by some very good players, but an invitation has been made to play there next year against Suffolk and a team of players from the Netherlands.

This weekend sees both the International Women’s Day Doubles Qualifier taking place at our club on Saturday 17th, and the third round of the Inter-Regional Qualifiers at Mansfield on Sunday 18th. Good luck to all taking part.

The Thursday Pairs league continues with games this week marking the half-way point in the League. Both Riders and Reivers are more than holding their own, with hopes of success later in the season.

On a more domestic note, our Club Melée on 27th June was a tight finish with three players on five wins but Kevin has the best points difference so is this year’s champion, with me 2nd and Malcolm 3rd.

Don’t forget to place your order for club kit if you need anything – see Margaret for details.

Finally, keep an eye open for advice on playing arrangements following the lifting of Covid restrictions due on 19th July.

Neil

Over the weekend of 3rd and 4th July 2021, we hosted the Nottingham Open Doubles and Triples. Despite a pretty dire weather forecast, we got away with very little rain, and a successful weekend. For the doubles on the Saturday we had 27 teams taking part, with 17 in the triples on Sunday. Particular credit goes to the National Youth Squad, who took second place on both days, and were a credit to their coaching team, not just for their performance, but for their approach to their game, and friendliness and respect towards their opponents.

The Doubles was won by "Shoot or Bust", Ewan Cameron and John Geddes. Second were the National Youth Squad A,  Bailey Ingles and JJ Inkley. "??", comprising Pip Gilman and Christian Seville came third.

On Sunday, "PAT", Trevor Allen, Phil Price and Alistair Rabbage won the triples. Second were the National Youth Squad, Angus Hamilton, Bailey Inglis, JJ Inkley and Sam Rattue. "Rainworth Kestrels", Roger Allcock, Morris Goodman and Colin Lane came third.

A massive thank you to everyone. To those who helped set up the venue, to Carol and Margaret for the catering and the raffle, to Elaine for doing the scoring. But mostly, of course, to all those that took part.

You can find more pictures of the weekend on our gallery page.

Here are the complete placings for each competition:

Doubles

1. Shoot or Bust
2. NYS a
3. ??
4. The Shadows
5. The Js
6. Pat and Col
7. NYS c
8. Fox in Sox
9. K and J
10. Bry;s Surprise
11. CC Tops
12. Team Williams
13. NYS B
14. Priceless
15. Him and Me
16. X
17. Lincoln Bramleys
18. Vantastic
19. Irritable Boule Syndrome
20. Al and Col
21. Boulistic Duo
22. Fortyniners
23. The Junction
24. Double Trouble
25. High Rollers
26. The Bournemouth Massive
27. French Connection

Triples

1. PAT
2. NYS
3. Rainworth Kestrels
4. ???
5. French Connection
6. Green Eggs Parma Ham
7. Shoot or Bust
8. Irritable Boule Syndrome
9. The Reformers
10. The Shadows
11. Hunters
12. WWW
13. Hit or Miss
14. One Seven Seven
15. Que Sera Sera
16. In For A Penny
17. KP x 3

As lockdown eases we are more able to return to playing competitions. 16 members took part in a club melee on Sunday 27th June. After five timed games, tnree players had a 100 per cent record of five wins. Malcolm Dowsett came third with a points difference of plus 39.  He was only just behind Neil Hunt who had plus 40. Kevin Frost won the event with plus 44. Congratulations to those three, and thanks to all who took part in a successful and fun day.

The competition season is hotting up ! The Thursday Fours League got underway on 20th May with a win for our Reivers team over club rivals Riders. Since then Riders have secured a win and a draw, and Reivers two draws.
Further afield it was well done to Jill for finishing third in the Ladies Doubles at Rainworth, and to Wayne, Kevin, Brian and Paul in the Petanque England Veterans Doubles at Leicester. Also well done to Malcolm for reaching the semi-finals of the Gold competition at the Luton Doubles and to Keir & Jackie for winning the Silver. Further afield still, the club was well represented at the PE weekend in Gravesend. Wayne reached the quarter-finals in the Gold section of the Mens Doubles, with further success for Soeli and Jill in the International Womens’ Day Open Triples.
On a more domestic note, the club will be holding its annual pairs melée on Sunday 27th June, 09-30 for 10.00am start. Please put your name down on the sheet in the cabin so we know numbers for the day. There will be 5 timed games, and partners will be drawn at random before play commences. Entry fee will be just £1 per player.
However before then, on Sunday 20th June, the club will be hosting the 2nd Round of the Inter-Regional Qualifiers. Normal club play will be available in the afternoon, but remember the car park may well be full up. Volunteers will be welcomed next week to do some preparation for this event - weeding and general tidying up in particular. Can you all bring a raffle prize or two for both this event and the Nottingham Open weekend in July.
We now have a price list for club kit – see the sheet in the cabin, and remember you will need to pay up front before we place the order.
Also did you know that if you buy anything online it’s worth checking out the Easy Fundraising site first to see if your retailer is linked to the scheme ? Going in through that route raises money for the club – every little helps !
Neil


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Newsletter No.31 ~ 13th May 2021
It’s been a long time since the last club newsletter so as life hopefully returns to some
sort of normality, here’s an update on what is happening at the club.
Although there is to be a relaxation of restrictions as from next week, we still feel we
cannot open the cabin, and ask that you continue to bring your own refreshments to
club sessions. Because of this we are still not requiring you to pay £1 per session, but
your voluntary contributions are most welcome. Thankfully we have been able to
recover some of our lost income through your generosity, and I hope you will
continue to support the club in this way. Please remember that we must abide by the
rules, so the one-way system is still in operation, no crowding on the deck and respect
other people’s space.
Six new members have joined the club in recent weeks – Chris Brown, Malcolm
Dowsett, Jackie Rischer, Andy & Janet Sherwood and Robin Winter. Welcome all.
Paul Bult has now joined the Committee, and following Peter Newton’s resignation
as Treasurer, Margaret Newberry has come back on Committee and has agreed to
take on that role. Tony Vanns has also been appointed to the role of Vice-Chair. Many
thanks to Margaret and Tony, and to Peter for his contribution to the work of the
Committee.
Thank you to all who helped to carry out some maintenance on the pistes last week.
They are looking better. Although we are hoping that our weedkilling programme will
be carried out shortly, please take a moment when playing and pull out a weed or two
where you can. It all helps to make the site look more presentable.
On the playing side of things, the Thursday Pairs League will commence in the
coming weeks. We have entered two teams – Riders and Reivers – both placed in
Division One – and those folks who registered an interest in playing will be called
upon over the season as games progress.
Good luck to all club members playing in the Mercia Champion of Champions
Singles, Shooting and Doubles competitions this weekend, and in the first round of
the Inter-Regional Qualifying Competition the following Sunday. We intend to enter
the Eurocup competition again, but still have to play our final game in last year’s
competition in August. Look out for details, but remember this and some other
competitions are only open to Pètanque England licence holders, so perhaps think
about improving your skills by getting a licence and joining in.
Thinking about our competitive edge, we are going to trial a slightly different
arrangement for our Sunday afternoon sessions, when on the first and third Sundays
in the month, we will offer the chance for some coaching, to commence after the
afternoon tea-break. This will stand the club in good stead, and will help players to
improve their game and tactical awareness. We are fortunate that Paul Bult is a
qualified regional coach, and has offered to help with this initiative. Of course, if you
don’t want to take up this offer on those days, normal social play can carry on as
normal.
The Home Nations qualifying competition is not taking place this year, as has been
the case at the club for the last few years, but Mercia Region have asked us to host
their International Women’s Day Doubles Qualifying competition on 17th July.
Our own Open Weekend will take place on Saturday 3rd July for the Doubles
Competition, and in a new venture we will be running a Triples competition on
Sunday 4th July, Flyers and entry forms will be going out this weekend, and these are
Open Competitions for anyone to enter, and you do not have to be a PE licence
holder.
However, for club members only, we have pencilled in Sunday 27th June for a club
melee, and Sunday 8th August for a “pick’n’mix” competition in which players will
be allocated to teams by a random draw at the start of play, and stay in those teams all day – more details to follow.
A lot to take in but hopefully more regular newsletters will keep you in the picture
about what’s happening. Enjoy your game, and stay safe !
Neil

Today, 23rd April 2021 is our 10th birthday. We've come along way since 2011. We are now a well established member of Mercia Region, and have hosted a fair number of national and regional competitions. More importantly, we've had a great deal of fun over the years, with friends old and new. Thank you to all of you who have helped in our success, whether as members of the club or as friends.

​In the current situation, it doesn't really make sense to hold a celebration just now. But it may be possible to arrange something for later in the year, when things have eased up a bit more. Meanwhile, keep enjoying our sport, and stay safe.