News

Jane Guest was the winner of the Xmas jumper competition

A great result for a player whose petanque career only started this year. Next monthly melee is Sunday 8th January. Can Jane defend her title?

Sunday 4th December. Cold and wet and sunset at 3-46pm but 18 teams ate bacon sandwiches for breakfast, played all day in light showers and arctic winds and enjoyed themselves immensely for just a fiver each but unfortunately HPC teams didn’t get anywhere near the top places. Readers may not know some of the names who did make the top 3 places but they are all county level players for Yorkshire and Dag is the regional coach.

Having said that CAPS were holding 2 for the price of 1 at 10-10 but it slipped away in the last end and were 7-7 with @AK but couldn’t make it to 13.

Big Gs nearly won their last game of the day only losing 11-13.

Sunday 4th was the culmination of 6 months of monthly melees and it was damn close run thing. On the day only one person won all 3 games but a 3rd place secured the win for Jane. The trophy will be engraved and presented at a future date. It stays in the clubhouse and anyone can see all the previous winners’ names engraved on the base.

But over the 6 month season 48 players took part in the monthly melee and the cumulative table is below. 10 people didn’t trouble the scorers and the overall winner was not determined until the final boule was thrown on Sunday.

The next competition starts in January.

A beginners guide to Yorkshire Winter Pairs

Players new to pétanque probably won’t know about regional events but every 2 weeks in winter there is the opportunity to play competitive pétanque in Yorkshire. These generally take place on Sundays at clubs around the region and attract players from all over Yorkshire plus a few from other regions such as North West or the Midlands. You don’t have to be a Yorkshire member or a Pétanque England member.

Competitive means that the players take it more seriously and take more time than a social game at Huddersfield. They know the rules and play to them. Teams study the game situation more closely and consider all options before deciding on the right shot to play and can display high skill levels. You can play against relative beginners who are trying it out or against players who have played for Yorkshire (Huddersfield has had 5 members who have done this) and occasionally players who are or have been England Internationals.

These are full day events with usually 5 rounds. They are all a snake format where each team plays 5 of the other teams. They start at 0945 and end about 1600. Throw in a 2 hour drive each way to a distant venue such as Bridlington and it makes for a long day. Each event has between 12 and 30 teams battling it out.

But a dedicated group of players goes to these events and has a great time. They take their own chairs, lunch and flasks of coffee and full cold/wet weather gear so they’re ready for anything to play the game they love. There are no fixed teams – players mix and match according to who’s available. Friendships are made and players improve faster in this hothouse environment. Complete beginners find it hard to start with but if you persevere eventually you find your feet and start winning a game or two.

In Winter 2022/23 we are halfway through the season with 6 winter Pairs completed and 6 more to come in the second half of the winter. 14 Huddersfield players have taken part this autumn and nearly 100 players are listed in the results table on Yorkshire Pétanque website.  Here’s the top 10 in the league table at the end of 2022.

The next event near us is at Mirfield on Sunday 29^th January. If you want to watch play will start just before 10 am. If you want to enter ask a committee member for advice. It’s £10 a pair. Here’s the rest of the calendar.