On Saturday September 19 Rye News will be hosting the Rye News petanque (boules) competition. Teams of three are invited to enter with two boules per player. The format will be either knockout, round-robin or a combination of the two, depending on the number of entries.
There will be boules provided for players who do not have their own and there will be parking on Strand Quay (subject to availability) for competitors.
Boules is an ancient game and according to the Boules Museum in St Bonnet-le-Chateau, near Lyon, there was a tradition, started in WW1, that a local waitress, Fanny, would allow customers who had been whitewashed (lost at boules without scoring a point) to kiss her on the cheek. This later developed into a humiliating ritual and as there are likely to be a few “nil points” scored in this competition it will remain to be seen if an obliging 21st century Fanny is available. Rye News cannot guarantee this. (this tradition also presupposes that all contestants will be male and in today’s non-Gauloise-smoking and equality-orientated society, that too is – hopefully – unlikely).
Last year’s winners were the team from William the Conqueror, Rye Harbour.
Entries will be accepted in advance or on the day and for further information contact Dennis Leeds-George, leedsgeorge1@btconnect.com or tel 01797 222396