Merry Christmas from Georgio

Hi there People   The Vikings Petanque Club and is Members would like to wish everyone a '' Merry Christmas '' and '' Happy  New Year 2012 '' be safe and we will see you on the Piste again for another year of Petanque in 2012.   ‘’ Don’t drink and drive, otherwise I want see you in the new year in the Petanque Grounds if you do Drink & Drive.’’   Club President Georgio Vakauta

Great Petanque Gift Ideas

With Christmas so close it can be hard to find something useful and practical for your petanque obsessed partner, friend or whatever. I found two great gift ideas for you to consider. They would certainly serve me well during my petanque tournaments. Have a great Xmas and even better new-year.

WBS TriplesTournament

This event is sponsored by WBS

Players around New Zealand are looking forward to one particular petanque event on the playing calendar next year. It is the annual iconic WBS Triples tournament. Just playing in it is everyone's wish and entry applications are normally received by the organisers months before the event. Wairarapa Building Society Triples Tournament is organized by the Masterton Pétanque Club and will take place on 25th & 26th of February at the Masterton Park Bowling Club venue. Play commences at 0900 hrs on Saturday, 0830 hrs on Sunday. Download your PDF entry form here.

Audio Messages to Members.

In the past I have looked at audio messages as a means of keeping the petanque community informed about important things. I remember Graeme Morris helping me out with a test using a standard mobile phone. This is years ago and things have changed, so it is time to try out some new technologies. I made a test recording with AudioBoo (see below) and I would like opinions from people. Do you think this would be something we could do with? If you have an iPad, iPhone or any Android smart phone, and you would like to do a couple of tests, let me know. I will give you my AudioBoo account details so you can evaluate the simple process. All you have to do is download the AudioBoo App to your device. The test audio below was automatically sent to the NZPetanqueClub twitter page. It is also simple to copy and paste the link into any web or blog page like this:

New Graphics on World Championship Website

I am happy to see that the World Women and Juniors Petanque Championships website now has professional graphics. In an earlier post I stated that the graphic looked like it belongs to a "family beach petanque party - slinky tops and straw hats". One commentator replied: "Nothing wrong with the graphics". Well, it's great the organisers have seen it my way and have made changes. This looks fantastic!

(click on image to enlarge)

For all Petanque Coaches and Trainers

Was listening to this and thought that I should share this with the wider petanque community. A lot can be learned from this interview and I highly recommend it. Either listen to it by following the link, or better still, download the interview to your mp3 enabled device - that way you always have it (It's 34 minutes long). "Gary Hermansson - Sports-Minded Sports psychologist Gary Hermansson tells Chris Laidlaw that success on the field is all in the mind - and describes why some sportspeople choke under pressure. Gary has been team psychologist for NZ at Commonwealth and Olympic Games, for the NZ Equestrian Team at the World Equestrian Games, and with the Black Caps."

Christchurch Singles Tournament

Today was the day of the Christchurch Singles, and the day dawned with a minus 2 and a clear sky. Well, it turned out to be one of the best days, absolutely no wind, clear blue sky with a blazing sun to quickly warm us up. It wasn't long before we were in Tshirt and shorts - truly fantastic petanque weather. Lorraine and I look as though we've come from the ski fields - both sporting a glamorous tan at a fraction of the cost :-) Before the start of the tournament the organisers took us all through the house playing rules. And instead of telling us when a boule is out, etc we voted on the various options available. This uber democratic process was much appreciated by yours truly as you can imagine. Mainlanders are so relaxed and practical, North Islanders could learn a thing or two. Anyway, a big congratulations to Graig Mcenzie who won the final against the title holder Brian Westerbeek 13/10.

Click image to enlare PS. Saw this number plate at the tournament on the car park.

The Resilience of Lyttelton

The community of Lyttleton (Christchurch) has suffered enormous damage to their township infrastructure and community spirit from the numerous major earthquakes. It is also this Lyttelton community spirit and resilience that makes this place very special. Lyttelton is friendly and close knit - I know it from the farmers market, the vibrant music scene and the numerous quality coffee shops that have now all been destroyed.

I was there last Saturday and noticed this new Lyttelton Petanque Club and it is a great example of this resilience. It had its grand opening the previous weekend, and from all accounts it was a big success with around 100 people turning up. I have felt for some time that this type of informal petanque club is something we need to see more of. It's great for street communities and city parks, no fees, complicated regulations, affiliations, etc. It is a place for getting together and having fun - think village square France.

click images to enlarge

Tool for PNZ, coaches and trainers.

I came across BigBlueButton the other day, and thought it would be good to share this with the wider petanque community. BigBlueButton is an open source web conferencing system that enables organisations to deliver a high-quality learning experience to remote members. I have done some test runs and it seems an excellent free tool for PNZ, coaches and trainers. It would also be good for AGMs when a good number of people cannot make it to the meeting because of distance.

Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

World Petanque Championships Graphics

Looking at the graphics on the Women's and Junior World Championships website, you'd think it is a promo site for a family beach petanque party - slinky tops and straw hats.
A shame that such unprofessional graphics have been signed off by whoever is in charge. This is after all a World Championship.

New PNZ Website

The new PNZ website is great. It is good to see its functional design and general consistent layout. It is equally great to see the strange collection of unrelated links at the bottom of the home page have been removed.

My compliments also go to Brian Smith who has put untold hours into building and maintaining the previous PNZ website.

Weird Entertainers Open Doubles

Date: Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 October 2011
Venue: Weird Entertainers & Pétanque club, Sydney Pargeter Recreation Area, Power Raod, Endeavour Hills, Sydney
Entry fee: $60 per player
Closing date: 24 September 2011
Maximum 44 teams.
Download entry form here

Interesting to see the $60.00 entry-fee per player. If players want decent prize money they will of course have to pay hefty entry fees. All good.
A shame however about the patronising: "Note: A prize will be awarded to the best ladies team." It looks like there are still pockets of resistance in Australia.

What a great Transtasman from Jean Claude

"Dear All,
What a great Trans Tasman
New Zealand retained both the Open and Senior trophies at the weekend in Melbourne.
But: We had a lot of Fun and every game was a challenging battle against the best players from New Zealand......"
Read more>>>

Petanque players doing it for themselves

It is great to see how NZ petanque players have taken to the Web. Two additions are Twitter and more recently a new space for petanque players was created by Ruby Vakauta at Facebook PATONKAZ. PATONKAZ seems to have a good future with already over 40 members and a good number are active participants. Petanque players doing it for themselves has to be a good thing. I encourage everyone to take part in this by joining up.

The greatest little Petanque Club in the world

"MASTERTON PETANQUE CLUB: Masterton Petanque Club have been in existence since the early 1990s and have provided many of the country's top players. Four national titles have been won and no fewer than eight members have represented New Zealand. Masterton has the highest representation of any club - five - in the Kiwi line-up to take on Australia in a transtasman battle this month."
Taken from this page.

MID-WINTER DOUBLES TOURNAMENT

It's on again!
MASTERTON PETANQUE CLUB
MID-WINTER DOUBLES TOURNAMENT
Saturday 4th June and Sunday 5th June
New Zealand’s Unique Undercover Petanque Tournament
Held at the WAIRARAPA A & P SOCIETY SHOWGROUNDS
(Chester Road, Carterton)
ENTRIES CLOSE:30th May
START TIME:Games commence at 9.00am.
ENTRY FEE:$50.00 per team
CASH, WINE and TROPHIES to be won!
Timed Games: 1 hour plus 2 ends.
Download your entry form here.

Your help/feedback

Could I please ask a question to the readers of the blog - I desperately want to do something to help improve tournament participation at our 2 day tournaments, I have serious concerns over participation numbers and the future of our tournaments. I am seeking feedback as to why people are not participating? Ideas on how we could stimulate growth of these tournaments? What is keeping people away? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated … thank you Sarah-Jane

Membership & Affiliation Fees - a different approach

It really pays to look at how other counties deal with membership / affiliation fees. People in New Zealand may well have done this but have not shared information. Thanks Rita for shining a different light on this fee issue and making it available to all.
Read more>>>

A Letter From Rita

Rita de Beer from the Cockle Bay Petanque Club has written down some of her thoughts on this page. It makes for rather sad reading and I sincerely hope PNZ will allow the Cockle Bay remit, and at the same time give the club some space and time to decide what they want to do with regards to staying affiliated to PNZ. Please do not give these good people from the Cockle Bay Petanque Club deadlines and ultimatums.

This is what I found on one of their pages: "Cockle Bay Petanque Club has now been told that if their fees aren't paid before AGM, their remit will be withdrawn"

This is the remit: "That the Cockle Bay Petanque Club requests Petanque New Zealand to levy a lower affiliation fee of $5.00 per person for the over 60s non National Tournament players"

PNZ Club Championships

I see, only just posted on the PNZ website, where this years organiser, of the PNZ Club Championships, to be held in Rotorua, next month. Now requires, that "all" members of a team, must belong to the same club. Begs the Question: regardless of where one lives, is "multi memberships" of clubs allowable? If Not, and in recognising the fact, that the vast majority of club members are purely social players. That along with the huge drop off in numbers of competitive players -that have resulted in, the normally well patronised competitions being cancelled. And the $60 per player entry fee! It will be interesting to see how many "purest" teams take part?
Sincerely Dave Bosley.

Petanque NZ 2011 AGM Agenda

"Please find attached the agenda for the 2011 Annual General Meeting of Petanque New Zealand.

I also attach the Minutes of the 2010 AGM (previously circulated April
2010).

I would appreciate it if you could let me know
(a) if you intend to have a Club representative at the AGM - if you have a member who is competing at the Triples they could fulfil this role; or

(b) if you will be authorising another club representative to vote on your behalf. In this case, the written authority to do so must be lodged with the Secretary (by post or email) before the start of the meeting.

Also, a reminder that if your Club wishes to vote at the AGM, its affiliation fees must be paid (they are due and payable by 31st March 2011).


Regards
Barbara Whittington

Secretary
Petanque New Zealand"

Fourth Player in the Nat. Triples

I received four emails (one last night and three this morning) and all are the same forwarded corespondents about a "fourth player". No intro text was provided by the four senders apart from FYI. The corespondents is basically about the fourth player in the Nat triples. I am going to remove all names from the emails and will put them later today on our Wiki.

Please remember if you are commenting on this post or any other post on this Blog, sign off with your name.

Go to Emails.

Cockle Bay Petanque Clubs decision to withhold payment

"To inform all interested what is behind the Cockle Bay Petanque Clubs decision to withhold payment of P.N.Z. Affiliation fees."
Go to this page

Cockle Bay embarks on direct action against PNZ

During their AGM last Sunday the members of the Cockle Bay petanque club have decided to withhold all payments to PNZ until PNZ comes around and answers some of their questions. This is as far as I know the first case in New Zealand of direct action against PNZ by an affiliated petanque club. Will we see a domino effect? It remains to be seen if this will change the way PNZ communicates with its members.

On a more positive note, the Cockle Bay Petanque Club has also voted to donate $500.00 to the Christchurch quake fund. Fantastic!!

Christchurch

Power has just returned. No water yet. We are ok for water. House is good. We have not slept during night. Unbelievable aftershocks every twenty minutes.

Extremely frightening on my work 6th floor. Was thrown about. Hurt my knee - getting better now. When I got up from the floor all I could see through our windows was rapidly rising large and dense dust clouds in all directions - so many building have completely collapsed. The most frightening part apart from the violent shaking was the loud angry noises the building made - truly powerful and frightening very loud noises. I think I've been very lucky.

Lorraine at work - only doing critical patients.

Major tournament failed to attract the numbers

Subject: Rotorua Doubles tournament 5/6 March 2011
"I regret to inform you that this year’s tournament which you have entered has failed to attract the number of entries needed to make the tournament successful.

It is appreciated that there is still a week before the close off date but to avoid people making arrangements we felt it was necessary to cancel the tournament now.

To date we have received 8 entries after two teams pulled out. We guess it is a sign of the times but hope that Club teams will come to Rotorua for the National Club Championships in April.

Please advise your playing partner.

A full refund will be posted out in the next few days.

Thank you for your support

Trevor
Secretary
Petanque Rotorua"

Great day in Christchurch

Nice time at the Christchurch club played a triples round-robin within 45 minutes plus one end. The one end after 45 minutes reduces the possibility of teams deliberately using delaying tactics towards the end of the 45 minutes when they are ahead - I like it! Lorraine and I had the good fortune to be teamed up with Theo Westerbeek a visiting Dutch player with 30 years international competitive play under his belt. What struck me most about Theo is that not only was he a hell of a nice guy, he was also a master petanque tactician. Tactical understanding and cunning displayed by Theo can only be acquired through many year of competition experience. The value of playing at a high tactical level is often underestimated I feel. Lorraine and I learned a lot from today. And yes, we also took some wine as winnings home.

Mystery Petanque Blog Discovered

I was surprised to see this line on the WPA website: "A new Pétanque blog, Petanquestuff has come to our attention. The owner has invited comment on the first posting regarding the Dwindling Entries at tournaments." The owner? Who is the owner of this Blog? Does the WPA webmaster know who the person behind this Blog is? How was this mystery Blog discovered on the WWW? The Blog was born with a first post on the 8th of February and mentioned by the WPA on the 9th of February. Why does this unknown and anonymous Blog deserve a mention on the WPA website?

Did the WPA web-master assume this was a NZ based Blog? Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that if you are running a publication (print or digital) you should provide contact details, name and in the case of the Web, a location (country).

Comments on the Petanquestuff Blog are moderated by the unknown owner/editor (I found this out when I submitted a comment asking who the editor of the Blog is).

Christchurch Petanque Club fun morning

Had a great time at our Christchurch Petanque Club this morning. Doubles in two groups of six teams. We played a five game round-robin. Each game is concluded after four ends have been completed (great for my short attention span - I blame computers and the internet for this infliction). We started at 9.30 and all was done and dusted just after 12.00 - I like it.

If you are a dedicated follower of our Twitter page you would know about the dates and place for the 2011 Transe Tasman series - go well New Zealand.

A very sincere Thank you

To all the members of the different Petanque Clubs who sent Tony, Nigel and myself beautiful cards of sympathy and letters expressing their thoughts at the sudden passing of Bill. We were overwhelmed at your kind thoughts. To those who attended Bill's funeral service, a sincere thank you. It was a testament to his popularity. To those who wrote Tributes on the Internet, I have been unable to get them on my computer (Tony says my computer is crap), but he, Nigel and myself hope to crack the code, and see what has been written.

To you all, a very sincere Thank you.
Ngaire Billing.

Representative Selection Process

"Changes have been made to the selection process for the 2010 – 2011 petanque season. The changes have come as a result of feedback from the survey last season, the ideas of a working party and PNZ Board discussions..."

Go to changed Representative Selection Process

Typos in our magazine

It is always great to get our NZ Petanque magazine in the mail box. It usually has two or three extensive articles that are fun to read. I have however noticed a lot of typos in our magazine. On the Web this would be easily fixed but in a printed publication these typos remain forever, and make for an unprofessional look.

There is no excuse for typos and authors should take more care before sending contributions to the editor. A lot of time and effort goes into writing multi page articles and it is important to followup with a thorough proofread before submitting work to the magazine's editor. The editor himself has of course the final responsibility to correct any remaining mistakes before going to print. In this way articles pass through two gates before inking takes place. Keep up the great work with our excellent magazine.

PS. Me no good type Egnlish fsat. yuo muts not cmplian ' bout the garmar.

Petanque New Zealand Player Ranking

Congratulations to Georgio Vakauta for again retaining the number one spot. Ron Sandilands who no longer plays at a competitive level is/was our top ranked senior player, and Nico Toyne our top ranked junior. Joanne Lippard is our top ranked female player.

The ranking list is based on results from the National Singles, Doubles & Triples Championships over two years. Points are awarded to players depending on where they finished in these tournaments.
Go to ranking table.

Twitter Page Survey Results

Nine people took part in our survey and as you can see our Twitter page is not much cared for. I will nevertheless continue with the NzPetanqueClub twitter page.

Thanks to those who took the time to participate in this survey.