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.