News

Minutes

Present 25 potential club members.

2 Friends of Greenhead Park.

This was an informal meeting with a broad agenda designed to decide whether the attendees wanted to come together to form a club based at the park.

We are grateful to 4 members from Heckmondwike Petanque club who attended and who related how their club started 2 years ago.

1.         Why a club?

It was stressed that a club did not automatically mean playing in leagues but had a social side. There would be internal club competitions and also opportunities to travel for social fixtures with other clubs and possibly joining in Northern Petanque events throughout the region.

All agreed to start the club from the first week in March and hope to recruit members over the following 6 weeks with an AGM to be held on 13^th April at 1pm to formally constitute the club and elect officers, choose club name, decide on subscriptions etc.

2.         How much?

The terrain had been built by KMC following discussions with local petanque players and councillors. It is a public park so anyone who wants to play petanque when the park is open may do so if they have their own boules. However KMC would allow a club to reserve a few hours a week at no charge.

The park toilets were freely available but were closed by the park café when the café closed which may be earlier than the club’s finishing time.

The community room in which the meeting took place was also available free of charge for non profit making groups although some restrictions were in place from the café which would need discussion. Alternative bases and storage areas were discussed and we will need to talk to KMC to resolve these issues.

It was noted that the nearby pub had toilets and other facilities and may be a useful base in summer. An annual membership fee of between £5 and £10 would probably be needed as there may be some insurance costs. It was noted that there may be grants available to assist in club development.

Heckmondwike club said  they had a few fundraisers doing simple activities which raised enough for incidental expenses.

3. What do I need to play?

As most of the facilities were available at no cost there would be few expenses. The group has a stock of boules and coches and members could borrow these until they felt confident enough to buy a set of boules for themselves. Guidance would be available from the club to assist members in buying boules. Other accessories may be useful and the club may assist in bulk buying of scorers, pick-ups etc. The other crucial component was a few plastic garden chairs to use next to the terrain and an appeal was launched for unwanted chairs which could be stored near the terrain. 4 have already been promised.

4. When will the club meet?

More than once a week. Sunday afternoon is an obvious choice as there will be plenty of potential new members walking past and previous taster sessions in the autumn had attracted about 50 interested parties. A weekday afternoon was also suggested and in summer an evening session. The community room is not available every weekday as other activities have already booked regular slots. We may be able to operate without the room. These days would be decided in the run up to the AGM. There was also the possibility of one-off events on notable dates throughout the year.

5. Any other business?

Helpers.

Although one person could run the club and attend every session to organise there will be times when this person might not be available because of holidays etc. The club needs some volunteers to assist in organising a club session. These need not be officers of the club just people who now and again could open up the base/store, pull out the chairs and rakes, draw games, assist with rules queries and close it all down at the end of the session. Paperwork and resources will be provided.

Competitions.

There would be regular competitions within the club. The club would probably host a few open events where non club members could play and there would almost certainly be fixtures against local clubs – Heckmondwike, Honley and Leeds. There is no league available at present to play in but one may be formed soon. It is hoped to run a “trial” melee soon.

Playing Calendar

A draft will be prepared for discussion and approval at the AGM.  Each date will require an member to organise the games etc.

Coaching.

More experienced players would share their expertise with newer members but it would be possible to bring a regional coach to the terrain to develop members’ skills and teach them the etiquette and expectations of playing in regional events.

6. Questions & close

There were general questions which were answered by the meeting. Any other enquiries can be sent by email. The date for AGM has been booked with the café.

Not content with the Huddersfield Examiner we’re now to be found in the Yorkshire Ridings magazine.  As well as features on major cities tucked away on page 32 is an article called “The french game that’s conquering West Yorkshire” and you can see pictures taken at Heckmondwike, Honley and of course Huddersfield with accompanying text saying how great a game Petanque is. The article is by a local man who you might remember turning up, asking questions and taking photos in the autumn. The only thing missing is contact details for the clubs but hopefully people will be able to find Heckmondwike, Honley and Huddersfield terrains.

The mag costs £2-25 and we found our copy in Tesco’s. If you’re a quick reader you could read the whole article in 5 minutes but you might need longer trying to spot people you know in the photos. I’ll bring my copy this sunday, Let’s prepare for a rush of members starting with the meeting on Sunday at noon!

It’s time to start

The weather’s been quite kind and (famous last words) no sign of significant snow and ice so let’s pull together the blog followers, the email followers and get this show on the road.

What show? A petanque club based at the Greenhead Park terrain with between 20 and 50 members, regular meetings, the occasional club competition and a social fixture with our nearest neighbours (Heckmondwike).

To set things going there will be a meeting at 12 noon on Sunday 23^rd February at the community room at the Park (next to the café). All welcome; agenda supplied on the day but the basic aim will be to discuss and decide on what sort of club we want.

 

After the meeting I hope we can start taking members from in March with a view to holding an inaugural AGM in April where more formal things can take place. A committee, a constitution, insurance, membership fees, dates of club meetings, volunteers to help organise the club sessions.

We’ll need a base for club stuff (spare boules, paperwork, numbers) and I hope the Community room will provide this.

We’ll need to agree on some days for club sessions for members only and I think we’ll have to continue with Sunday afternoons in the short term and add a weekday afternoon session and in summer an evening session. We’ll also have to organise some competitions and fun events.

Hope you can make it. Once we’ve decided some basics we’ll run for a few weeks and then hold an AGM, collect subs and confirm or change this.

To all who have visited the terrain over the last 10 weeks, to all the regulars who have turned up many times, to the steering group for steering, to all the children who have tried the game, to all the regional players who’ve sent an encouraging message, to anyone who’s looked at the blog (over 1,300 hits and 15 followers), and to Kirklees Council for building it.

Last Sunday we agreed to have a break in January and start taster sessions again in February. But the weather forecast is so good for Sunday 29th December (sunny and 10 degrees) that we’ll have a session on that day then take a break for the winter. Bring any leftovers from Xmas and I’ll bring a table and we can maybe have a bit of a do to end the year and make plans for 2014.

Sunday December 1st saw a visitor. Ted Beetham, expert player, qualified coach and a nice bloke to boot called in and played a few games and made some nice comments about the terrain.

Some regulars turned up for the 3rd or 4th Sunday (Sue, Sandra, Michael, Christine and Charlie) and a few newcomers as usual.

We’ve had some cards printed and give them out to interested people. All in all it’s going well.  Sunday 8th as usual with Paul and the spare boules but following Sunday (15th) he’s got a family do to attend. Back to normal on 22nd.