KENT PETANQUE ASSOCIATION

ISSUE No.89 NOVEMBER 2013

Page 1 KPA GAZETTE

TOP TABLE

DAVID BAXTER—MARTIN EGGLETON—KEN BUCHAN—MIKE CUBBITT and MICK NASH

Another successful evening of Annual General Meetings of the combined , “Kent Petanque

Association” and the “Shepherd Neame K.P.A. Leagues”.

A few notes and comments…..not minutes !

This was the first time that the AGM’s were held at Gravesend Rugby Club, following on

from the previous years at Lordswood Sports & Social Club, with a successful format pio-

neered by Mick Weston of Lordswood and the KPA Committee. Mike Cubbitt of Graves-

end Rugby Club welcomed the members, and introduced guest of honour and presenter of

the KPL Trophies……...Dougie Dick from Shepherd Neame.

Around 70 members attended this evening, which can be considered great support for

Petanque in Kent. 70 members for any AGM is good…..for a minority sport such as

Petanque, 70 is excellent. By the reactions and lack of criticism from the floor it can be

assumed that the organisers of both the K.P.A. and Shepherd Neame KPL are on the

right course, and have the support of

the membership. The end of year ac-

counts show a healthy £9387 in the

KPA General fund, £3000 in the Shep-

herd Neame KPL Fund and £1600 in the

Junior Fund. The KPA Treasurer pro-

posed that the KPA subscriptions for

members should be unchanged and re-

main at the 2013 level….the proposal

was carried. Also recorded that follow-

ing the recent EPA, A.G.M. the EPA

member subscriptions will also remain

the same for year 2014. DOUGIE DICK—DEAN ASHBY and JACK BLOWS

Every year….the KPA Chairman….MARTIN

EGGLETON selects and presents a tro-

phy...named the “Taylor Trophy” to a wor-

thy individual who has made a significant

contribution to Petanque in Kent. This

year the trophy was awarded to MIKE

CUBBITT of Gravesend Rugby Club.

Excellent evening ! !....however it still

amazes that some players and teams that

have won honours throughout the year

are too tired to turn-up to receive their

trophies…….particularly in the case of the

KPL where the Wednesday League match-

es are the mainstay of competitive petanque for the majority of players…..strange ?

Praise was given to RAY KEEMER-RICHARDS (KPA Membership Secretary) with the as-

sistance of MICK NASH (KPL Secretary), who managed to increase the membership fees

income by around £300 by chasing and cajoling members who were less than forthcoming

with their membership fees in previous years.

The K.P.A. proudly records the addition of three new excellent petanque venues in Kent,

thanks to Gravesend Rugby Club, the Railway Inn at Sole Street and Istead Rise Commu-

nity Centre. All three clubs were helped by cash grants from the KPA/KPL to add to funds

that they raised from other sources.

DAVID BAXTER proposed another “bright idea” that was overwhelmingly and enthusiasti-

cally supported by the membership…..to go forward with the proposal to arrange for a

Sports Psychologist pilot scheme with a limited estimated cost (to the KPA) for a provi-

sional limited number of players to be subjected to the “psycho-magic”, and if successful,

to be followed by a full scheme for the involvement of more players.

One of the Teams from the “BAT & BALL” P.C.

DOUGIE DICK and the boys from the “RAILWAY P.C.” - DEAN ASHBY,

JACK BLOWS, SCOTT ASHBY AND NEIL PHILLIPS

Page 2 KPA GAZETTE

Probably the most interesting aspect

of the evening was a proposal from

the “BAT & BALL P.C.” …. clearly and

eloquently presented by MARTIN

PENNELL. The “old chestnut...” KPL

League teams….and the use of

“substitutes”. We all have misgivings

and various experiences regarding

this issue, and it is not the first time

to be raised at an AGM. The more ob-

vious of complaints being that…...the

substitute rules benefit those Clubs

with “several” teams, and are to no

advantage to those clubs with one or

two teams. By MARTIN’S assessment

there were 37 Clubs who entered

teams into the KPL Shepherd Neame

Summer League, seven of which have

multiple teams that “could” be advantaged by the “substitute” rules, but in practice only

four clubs are advantaged ( due to two or more teams from the same Club being in the same League).

More to the point….some of the bigger Clubs can…..and do….base their team arrangements

and player selection around the “substitute” rules, and even instigate their own “Club “

Rules to that effect. The outcome does do not always appear to be within the “spirit” of

the game to other Clubs.

The two proposals relating to the “substitute” rule were accepted by the meeting with

only one Team voting against. So for the 2014 Season……”a player may only play for a max-imum of two teams in the league in one season “ AND “no player can play for more than one team in the same Division”. And food for thought ?.........maybe next year a proposal to

totally abolish the use of “substitutes” in the Kent League Divisions ?

AND…. finally a serious point raised

from the floor in any other business

records that….. The KENT Region of

Petanque has probably the largest

number of licenced members at 670,

and only a total of 16 Juniors. What

are we doing about it ? The KPA and

several Clubs have tried various

schemes in the past to encourage

youngsters, and there is one more in

the pipeline at present…..but there is

no likelihood of a sudden increase in

Junior membership in the very near

future.

Another team from the “BAT & BALL P.C.” -

CAROLINE EDWINS, TIM EDWINS and REBECCA RUDDICK

Hartley Team the “HAWKS” - EILEEN FOWERS,

BRIDGET SNOW, WENDY BROOKS, RON FREEAR,

BARBARA POTTER , and GILL PEARSON

Page 3 KPA GAZETTE

The MANAGEMENT—JOHN—SUE—ANGIE and CHRIS

Two Kent Club teams playing at Whittlesey indoor bouladrome were Hartley Country Club

P.C. members….Babs Carr, Jim Carr, Mags Yates, Barbara Potter, Ken Potter,

Hilda Griffiths, John Griffiths and Ron Yates….and a team from the Duke of Wellington

P.C. members….Keith Atkinson, John and Judy Moore, Jill and Lee Wood and

Steve Wilkinson. The other teams were “The Yorkies” and “Saddle” from North York-

shire, a team from “East Midlands” and a team made up of mainly local Whittlesey play-

ers. These friendly Club competitions are held regularly in the months of November and

February at the bou-

ladrome organised by

ANGIE and JOHN

GOUGHAN and SUE

and CHRIS who travel

down from the York

area for the weekend.

They have been run-

ning these weekend

competitions for

about 8 years taking

over from a local cou-

ple who ran the com-

petitions for several

years previously.

Gravesend Rugby Club

were probably the

Page 4 KPA GAZETTE

Town centre of WHITTLESEY that has a

train station spelt WHITTLESEA

first to enter a Kent team, and Hartley have been

entering teams for the past ten years. It was a

first for the Duke of Wellington P.C. with some of

the teams players relatively new to

petanque….although team organiser Keith Atkin-

son has been playing for donkeys years and first

played at Whittlesey with the Gravesend Rugby

Club. The weekend competition is based upon a

series of double and triple matches over ten

rounds, giving a total of 25 games for each team.

A good, friendly but competitive atmosphere and

the top team for this weekends event were the

team “Extreme” comprising of mainly local Whittlesey players. The Kent teams finishing

places were 4th for Hartley and 5th for the Duke of Wellington. ANGIE GOUGHAN and

her team of organisers put in a good deal of time and effort to ensure a successful week-

end and lay on a supper on Saturday evening and buffet on Sunday lunchtime…..and provid-

ed several bottles of wine for the top teams. These weekends are an excellent advertise-

ment for petanque….and the new comers from the Duke of Wellington enjoyed their first

entry into a weekend competition. Whittlesey is a two hour drive from Kent so for travel-

ling Kent teams, an overnight stay is necessary, and although Whittlesey is not blessed

with an over supply of accommodation, there are plenty of hotels and guest houses near-

by. By coincidence both Kent teams arrived around the same time on the Saturday and

both also by coincidence or previous experience had a mid-day breakfast in the excellent

“SUNSHINE CAFÉ” in the town centre……..great to see that a café of this standard, qual-

ity and value for money still exists !

A good weekend of petanque had by all.

JOHN COOMBER URSULA FULTON

MICHAEL GEAR

HARRIERS REMEMBERANCE DAY

DOUBLES—photos by JACK MILNER

Page 5 KPA GAZETTE

Held at STAR MEADOW SPORTS CLUB . Attending were…

Martin Eggleton, Ken Buchan, Mick Nash, Andy Mills, Mike Cubbitt,

Richard Spillet, Corrine Cooter, Mark Cooter, Ray Keemer-Richards,

Janice Keemer-Richards and Ron Yates.

Not much to report…….just a couple of points…..not minutes.

Mike Pegg makes another surprise comeback to put himself forward as the EPA Presi-

dent.

Recognised that the Regional Qualifier Finals at Hayling Island was a success for the

Kent squad, but accommodation needs to be better managed for next year and will proba-

bly result in early block bookings based on an estimate of attending players. Early guesti-

mates based upon the past couple of years would suggest that there is a preference for

caravan accommodation rather than the half board chalets for most players.

The preliminary yearly accounts for the KPA show that the income from membership fees

has increased by around £300 due the due diligence of the Membership Secretary and

League Secretary in pursuing 50 members who have not been that forthcoming in sub-

scriptions in previous years. The preliminary accounts show a figure of £9430 plus £1639

Junior Fund in the bank, excluding the funds of KPA Summer and Winter Leagues .

Recorded that a KPA player injured her wrist when she fell during a game at the Chair-

man’s Cup, by tripping on a lane “string” and falling backwards…..which tempted several

comments that there had been several similar injuries sustained by players over the

years …. tripping over lane strings and falling backwards. Suggested that a thin heavy

plasticised lane boundary line be used….similar to that used at present by Lordswood and

Hartley…..a line that lays on the ground contour without the need for excessive secur-

ing…..and will also provide some “give” when contacted. Suggestions to be investigated

further with possible recommendations to Clubs.

There was general agreement that the proposal for a KPA Sports Psychologist should be

investigated further.

Accepted that the KPA subscriptions should remain as is….however there is a strong like-

lihood that the EPA subscriptions will be increased.

Nominations for Committee Members were finalised for presentation at the forthcoming

Annual General Meetings.

DAVID BAXTER announces that he is no longer a mem-

ber of the E.P.A. Management Committee.

David has been a long time Petanque activist serving on

the original South East Region, B.P.A. and latterly the

E.P.A. Management Committees. He started his playing

career with Gravesend Rugby Club P.C. and at present is a

member of Hartley Country Club P.C. and is a member of

the K.P.A. Management Committee. David has always been

an innovator, an ideas man who follows his schemes to fruition. An enthusiastic “do-er”, a

rare characteristic that will be missed from the E.P.A.

Page 6 KPA GAZETTE

SUNDAY 10th NOVEMBER. Report and Pictures by DENISE WILLIAMS

A creditable 15 teams turned up on a bright sunny Sunday, to play in the Harriers Remem-

brance Day Doubles on the 10th November 2013 at Tovil Working Men’s Club.

The main competition was a keenly fought match contested between two teams from the

Railway Tavern – Scott Ashby and Jack Blows (Olympus) and Mike and Debbie Capelin

(Dragons). Scott and Jack winning 13 –5. The Plate competition was played between

Becky and Tim Edwins (Bat & Ball) and Michael Gear and Martin Edwards (Harriers) Tim

and Becky winning 13-11. Cash prizes were given in the main competition and wine prizes

for the Plate winners. Clubs represented were Lordswood PC, Railway Inn PC, Bat & Ball

PC, Hartley PC, Whitehouse PC, Crowborough PC, Istead Rise PC, Walnut Tree PC and Har-

riers PC.

The team of

SCOTT ASHBY and JACK BLOWS and

DENISE WILLIAMS of HARRIERS P.C.

The team of

BECKY and TIM EDMONDS and

MICHAEL GEAR President of HARRIERS P.C.

RITA COOMBER MIKE CAPELIN RON FULTON Photos by JACK MILNER

Page 7 KPA GAZETTE

KPA GAZETTE Page 8

Three local Kent players made recent trips to Canada…..one remains….snowed up with the

lumberjacks….that person being world traveller KEN PINDER (Duke of Wellington P.C.)

last seen chasing an elk up the side of the Rockies with 3 Integrale boule in

hand…..something for dinner maybe ? ….good old local boys armed to the teeth and

dressed like bushes told him that they normally shoot elk with a gun !.....Ken said that he

would stick and shoot with what he knows best ……….a set of 75mm diameter boule ! Ken

said that some elk meat and roast potatoes would make a nice change from his daily diet

of “Poutine” the local Canadian dish…...a plate of chips covered with melted cheese and

gravy poured over the lot….sounds disgusting….and it is ! …...a dish that is hard to stomach

for a player accustomed to the post match quality cuisine and fine wines served at the

Duke of Wellington Ryarsh…..so much for the trials and tribulations of the modern day

world traveller.

And KEN and JANET provide the latest news of their round the world trip….

So where did we get to last time………………..After our stay in Thailand we flew to

Sydney and were met by our dear friends Margaret and Marcello Mori, ex DOWPC

members. Now you have to have very close friends indeed to ask to stay for six weeks.

Well we had the most fantastic time and are indebted to them and their family for taking

us into their homes and allowing us to share so many fun times.

M&M live in a suburb north west of Sydney called Baulkham Hills which is about forty

minutes from the City centre and the most convenient way to get there is by bus.

continued

We were able to buy a seniors day pass costing $2.50 (£1.50) which allows travel by all

forms of transport for that day, Bus, Train, and Ferries. This is not your ordinary bus

route Sydney’s busses have the outside lane on the Motorway and there are even bus

stops in the centre of the MW, These are segregated areas and passengers get to them by

overhead walkways then down to the bus stop. We had some very nice conversations

with Aussies going to and fro, one lady recounted her whole life to me and nearly missed

her stop. We had paid a short visit to Sydney several years ago but this time we could take

our time and select our tours and places of interest. We started with the early history oh

how Captain Cook discovered Sydney. Then it’s centre as a penal colony and how tough

life was for the convicts. However there was a very humane Governor who, rather than

locking people up, put them to work building the colony. His name was James Macquarie

and every town in Australia has a Macquarie street. For the history buffs I recommend a

book by Kate Grenville called The Secret River. We visited all the sites, Olympic Park,

Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay, and Darling Harbour and had the

most fabulous food and after dinner enjoyed fireworks, Laser shows and saw Jesus Christ

Superstar. A highlight of our stay was a visit to The Blue Mountains, where the huge area

of gum trees give off a blue hue in the sunshine. We visited Canberra and toured the city

ending up at the War Museum – easily the best I have ever seen. Marcello belongs to the

Mauritian Ex Pats Petanque Club and I was made very welcome and had some really

competitive games. They are charming people but spoke with very thick French/Aussie

accents. They think nothing of travelling to Melbourne for a competition.

We said our farewells with the promise to return next year and flew back to the UK and

then on to Italy for a wedding of a close friend and stayed at my daughter’s old farmhouse

for a month, dog sitting and doing Daddy jobs. We met up with Corinne & Rob Hey-

wood at their place in France, more jobs, then back to UK to our son’s home in Bath,

more dog sitting and lots more Daddy jobs. We then flew to Tunisia to stay with our

daughter again she lives in Sidi Bou Said. Her house has Lots of jasmine in the garden

and a huge Wiamarana dog to take for walks.

On the 11 September we flew to Toronto via New York and are now staying with Janet’s

cousin in Southampton which is on Lake Huron, everything is on a grand scale in Canada

Lake Huron is about the size of Wales. When you ask how far is a certain place they al-

ways quote the number of hours it takes to get there. We had the most amazing road

trip to Ottawa, spent Thanks giving with family, then on to Quebec, Montreal and home

via Toronto. The colours in the fall, as they say here were spectacular. Really getting in-

to the Canadian way of life and have been attending the local Rotary club meetings and

fully appreciate the great work that goes on. So I have now bought me a big check shirt, I

now go oot and aboot but what I want most of all is a big truck!!

continued

Page 9 KPA GAZETTE

A friend invited me to play Golf and I told him all about Petanque he said I should try

Curling, so for the past three weeks I have been to a beginner’s class. It was a bit discon-

certing being on ice in trainers but there are many similarities to Petanque. The first

stone (rocks they call them) is placed as a guard to the House, the sixteen feet circle. The

take out is our shot and the double take out is our big double. The slide delivery is like

doing the splits but older guys like me can use a delivery stick. Its great fun but the ice is

minus 25 degrees so every body comes off with a red nose. Just like playing in the Win-

ter League.

On 2nd December we fly to Miami, like the Canadian snow birds do, and make our way

up to Myrtle Beach South Carolina, taking the Silver Meteor Amtrak train to Charleston,

collect a rental and drive on up to MB where we have rented a cute wooden house just

one block from the beach. My other great passion is golf and MB has 20 courses close

by with amazing senior winter specials – breakfast, golf with a cart, lunch and two beers

for $30! Catching all the news in the Gazette and via the website, nice to see Kent at

the top of things again, Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone. Ken Pinder

CHRISTMAS HAMPER DOUBLES

Star Meadow Sports

Club Darland Ave. Gillingham ME7 3AN

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go to JACK MILNER , KEN PINDER, JULIE HUTCHINSON

for providing info and details for this issue of the

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Page 10 KPA GAZETTE

The final KPA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING FOR THE YEAR WILL

BE AT HARTLEY COUNTRY CLUB ON 5th DECEMBER AT 8pm. KPA members

or representative members from KPA Clubs are very welcome to attend.

THE 2013 KENT CLASSIC held at LORDSWOOD SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB

on SUNDAY 6th OCTOBER

and organised by DAVID BAXTER

KPA GAZETTE Page 11

A good day in the sun and shade and the

Lordswood special micro climate. A reasonable

turn-out of players for this years Classic, and

organiser DAVID BAXTER continues to make

minor adjustments to the format to make it the

premier Petanque tournament in Kent.

Photo’s by JACK MILNER

KPA GAZETTE Page 12

No prize winners—just out for the day to enjoy the Petanque , photo’s by JACK MILNER

GOLD SECTION 1st Place - Kevin Spillet Greg Davenprt, Marcus Hickman £300

2nd Place - Colin Senneck, Mick Nash, Joyce Nash £150

3rd Place - Jean Christian Evrard, Micael Evrard, Sebastian Hautecoeu, Geoffrey Kinno £80

4th Place - Chris Watkins, Matt Horrigan, Barry Wing, Garry Atkinson £40

5th Place - Jeff Mitchell, Joe Phillips, Steve Myles, Dave Court £20

6th Place- Neil Phillips, Poppy Whatley, Chris Peat, Jack Blows £20

7th Place- Lasse Dithmar, Morten Saxild, Morten Junge £20

8th Place- Dave Chalkly, Dave Turner, Rachide Hanache £20

SILVER 1 SECTION 1st Place- Bob Gaywood, Martin Eggleton, Jean Louis Guiot £80

2nd Place- Martin Pennell, Mark Toulson, Jes Paine £40

3rd Place- Lee Jamieson, Nic Baxter, Sean Pendergahst £20

4th Place- Dean Saville, Sofiane Lachani, Sam Blakely, Ross Jones £20

SILVER 2 SECTION 1st Place- Frank Charlesworth, Christine peat, David Wicks Ron Phelps £80

2nd Place- Sebastian Sizun, Mark Barlow, Keith Vine £40

3rd Place- Richard King, Sheila King, Brian King, Alan Cregeen £20

4th Place- Tracy Turner, Martin Pry, Paul Turner £20

CONSOLAGE SECTION 1st Place- Eileen Fowers, John Fowers, Hazel Teale £45

2nd Place- Jim Carr, John Griffiths, Jeni Rush £25

A total £1040 prize money was paid out at this competition.

There were a total of 32 teams taking part comprising 106 players.

Another successful KENT CLASSIC

Page 13 KPA GAZETTE

For the discerning reader of the Gazette…..it is obvious that some of

the articles in this issue have no connection whatsoever with Petanque !

Which is an indication that we are now approaching the season of little

or no Petanque news. In an attempt to publish the Gazette monthly,

your views, comments and articles for inclusion in the months of

December, January and February would be greatly appreciated. Club

news, player news or straightforward obtuse and irreverent articles will be very welcome.

Please e-mail to……...www.ronyates6@btinternet.com

READ DECEMBER’S ISSUE OF THE GAZETTE FOR MORE PHOTO’s OF

TROPHY PRESENTATIONS AT THE K.P.A/K.P.L. AGM’s

In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be trans-

ported by ship. It was also before the invention of commer-

cial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite com-

mon. It was shipped dry, because in its dry form it weighed a lot

less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it

become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again,

of which a by-product is methane gas. As the stuff was stored

below decks in bundles you can imagine what could (and did) hap-

pen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time that someone came below

at night with a lantern…..BOOM !

Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was discovered just what was hap-

pening. After that….the bundles of manure were always stamped with the instruction

“STOW HIGH IN TRANSIT” on them, which meant for the sailors to stow the bundles

high enough off the lower decks so that any water coming into the hold would not touch

this volatile cargo, and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the acronym….. “S.H.I.T” (stow high in transit) ...which has come down

through the ages and is in use to this very day…….particularly to good effect by our

friends across the Atlantic.

DOUGIE DICK of

Shepherd Neame

with the Hartley

Kestrels Team

who came top of

Division 2 and will

be playing in Divi-

sion 1 during the

2014 Summer

Season. DOUGIE DICK with JOHN GRIFFITHS, HAZEL TEALE, HILDA GRIFFITHS

RON YATES and DAVID BAXTER

Page 14

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The KENT PETANQUE GAZETTE is edited by RON YATES.

Any item of news for inclusion in future editions should be sent to e-mail

ronyates6@btinternet.com The views expressed in the KENT PETANQUE GAZETTE are those of the

editor and contributors only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of

the KENT PETANQUE ASSOCIATON or the

ENGLISH PETANQUE ASSOCIATION

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