Believed to be the fastest growing sport in the UK for many years, boules now features 44 teams in five leagues playing in the Rye area on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings throughout the summer. Best of all, most people find the game easy to pick up in a short time.
So far this season only a few matches have been cancelled due to the weather. In the Tuesday B league Pipemakers of Rye have yet to win a match but Pub 31 of Winchelsea Beach have won all of theirs.
Last summer, the Pipemakers’ pétanque team of Kevin Pierce, Krim Dharamshi, Dennis Leeds-George, Dick Smith, Steve Mortimer and Steve Slade were the winners of the Wednesday B league. The Rye couple of Alan and Jan Pawson playing for Pub 31 of Winchelsea Beach were also the top scoring men’s and ladies players in the Tuesday B league.
The Inkerman Arms of Rye Harbour were winners of the “most beer” games in the Tuesday A league.
The Green Owl of Camber clinched the Tuesday C league title on the very last match of the season. Meanwhile, the Robin Hood of Icklesham were runners up of the Wednesday A league.
Wednesday B league winners Rye Bay Caravan Park won the league by two points from Fairlight Lodge.
The combined leagues players single competition held at Salt Farm shop East Guldeford was won by Joey Phillips of the Robin Hood team, beating Paul Turner of the Royal Oak in the final.
There was a large turnout of teams for the leagues pairs competition held at Rye Harbour, with the Pipemakers pairing of Krim Dharamshi and Steve Mortimer beaten in the final by Joey Phillips and Mark Stunt of the Robin Hood.
The East Guldeford Plonkers triple competition was won by The IPI’s team of P Turner, A Pawson and D Pearson from Pub 31. The 2013 season was one the most enjoyable of recent times due to the very good weather over the summer.
Pétanque or boules is a form of bowls where the aim is to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (jack). It is usually played on gravel or hard dirt called a terrain (pitch). It is popular in France where it is played by about 17 million people.