 Camberwell Wins Gold for Running a Superb Australian National Doubles Tournament; Top Guns Dominate and CPC Seniors Do Well By Bill Claiborne Pisteup Editor Some of Australia's leading Pétanque players dominated the leaderboard at the 2012 National Doubles championship tournament as the Camberwell Pétanque Club showcased its sparkling new venue in Lynden Park over the weekend. Eighty-eight players comprising 44 teams in five divisions filled most of Camberwell's 24 pistes. They traveled from Tasmania, Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and of course from within all of Victoria. Eric Doublet of the France Pétanque Club in NSW and Patrick Dufresne of Victoria's Dove P.C. walked away with top honors in the Men's Division, followed by Peter Ally and Gerard Finette, both of Weird Entertainers (VIC) in second place and Pierrot Lubin of Weird Entertainers and Stephane Langlois in third place. In the Women's Division, Annick Masson of Weird and Margareth McCormick of WAPA Bayswater P.C., took first place, followed by Kate Mangan of Melbourne P.C. and Elizabeth Sowter of NSW Lake Macquarie P.C., in second, and Jacqueline Nemorin & Eileen Marie of Weird Entertainers in third. In the Over-60 Men's Division, Camberwell P.C.'s David Williams and David Walker won first place, followed by Adrian Clements and Antonio Stojsic of SAPL Club de Petanque d' Adelaide. In third was Vivian Wilmann of Dove and Santiago Mayor of St. Kilda.
 In the Open Consolante Division, Susan Begley of NSW Boules Artistes P.C. and Alison Birchall of Newscastle P.C. won first place, followed by Mico Charlot and Jean Marc Allegret of Deception Bay (QLD) in second, and Timothy Stevenson of Newcastle P.C. and Gary Hosie of NSW Boules Artistes P.C. As the sun dipped over the horizon on Sunday, spectators from clubs around Victoria rocked up to see the drama of close eliminations. They also openly admired Camberwell P.C.'s new venue and its attractive pistes and clubhouse. Our club won widespread praise for building the new pistes with mostly volunteer labor, and for hosting a superbly-run National Doubles Tournament on the weekend Richard Tarlinton, a key figure in the start up of CPC’s reincarnation at Lynden Park, put it most succinctly when he said, “Our club looked magnificent. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. The pistes looked stunning and the atmosphere was A1.” While the big prizes in the Men’s and  In a speech given jointly to the competitors, Camberwell Pétanque Club Secretary Sue Gray and PFA Director Jean Paul Boudan said they hoped that all competitors enjoyed playing at CPC's new home. “Camberwell is blessed with a multitude of wonderful volunteers who have worked hard over months getting ready for this event. But it would not have happened without John Paul Ernst. He has been the visionary, the expert on absolutely everything, and the hardest worker of them all,” Gray said. Gray and Boudan praised the CPC kitchen staff, led by Jose Perez and his wife, Jacquie, who worked tirelessly planning the self-catering operation and then working literally from dawn to dusk for three days providing sustenance to the hungry players. In a message to Jose and Jacquie, Gray said, “The club is very lucky to have you as its members and owes you a debt of gratitude.” Pisteup learned from a source in the kitchen that on Saturday night an exhausted Jacquie got home, had a shower and went to bed at 6 p.m., but was up at 5 a.m. to get ready for the next day in the kitchen. That is the kind of commitment that makes a club like Camberwell P.C. great. Well done Jacquie  Apart from John Paul Ernst, Gray gave special mention to Terry Barter, CPC Vice President, who worked tirelessly on the self-catering and other aspects of the tournament. For her own part, Pisteup call tell you on good authority that Gray was the driving force behind Camberwell P.C.'s winning the bid as host of the tournament, along with her partner, Richard Tarlinton, who is our liaison to the Boroondara Council and a member of Joint Management Committee with the co-tenants of the clubhouse. Kudos went also to Jose and Jacquie’s hard-working kitchen assistants: Nicole Buffet, Sue Gray, Terry Barter, Pat Osborne, Alma Claiborne, Trish Ritman, Felix Hernandez, Mary and Kevin Diggens, Pam Romanes, and Bee Moignard. Although he was not at the tournament, Clive Windley got special mention for his quiet, behind-the-scenes hard work throughout our move to Lynden Park. Most encouraging was the hard work put in by new members of the club, including Pat Osborne, Bee Moignard, Pam and Bob Romanes and Edward Parades. A club like ours is only as good as its members who are willing to volunteer their time and hard work. Gray also commended the “lovely ladies” Renee Obers and Elaine Chanloup, for manning the scoring tables all weekend; the barmen, David Garnham, Richard Tarlinton, Paul Veith, Philip James, Bob Romanes and Evan Gill. Helen and Colin Macnamara worked all day selling chits for food and  Characteristic of
Camberwell Pétanque Club, a number of members who were competing in the
tournament took time between games to lend a hand at the bar, carry umbrellas
etc. and pitch in with the non-playing volunteers. Finally, Gray gave thanks to
Muriel and Stephane Langlois for organizing the following sponsors: Evian, Red and
White vineyard, Palomba Antipasto, Calendar Cheese, and Bettocchi. Camberwell Pétanque Club is grateful to these sponsors. Petanque Federation of Australia Sports Director Andre Deramond said that Camberwell Pétanque Club had “set a benchmark for all Australian pétanque clubs with its first-class handling of this tournament.” He told Pisteup that its “commitment and its participation of members were absolutely fantastic.” Deramond gave special mention to John Paul Ernst, not only for designing the new pistes and  Deramond also said that while some of the new pistes were a bit fresh (soft), overall the playing area was “fantastic” in its design, marking and scoring boards on each lane. “It makes other clubs feel like going up to the next level of excellence,” he said. Tournament umpires
were Ray Beaumont of South Australia
and Danny Green of Mt. Macedon
Petanque Club. Announcement of cash awards, trophies and medals was made by PFA
Director Jean Paul Boudan. Josh Frydenberg, federal member for Kooyong, presented the prizes. Sue Gray said that as Warren Sowter, PFA National Director of Coaching, was leaving at the end of the tournament he congratulated Camberwell P.C. for turning on a good show. Similarly, Stan Wilson and Glenis Head from Gawler P.C. in South Australia were green with envy over our pistes and the club's enthusiastic volunteer involvement. Congratulatory emails flooded into Sue's computer. Typical of them was one from Jean Claude Dufroux, president of the St. Kilda PétanqueClub, saying, "Well Done Camberwell, You were very well prepared and you had an impressive number of volunteers making the 2012 National Double a very special and enjoyable tournament. Thank you  CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS BY JENNY CUTHBERT AND PATRICK HAMON
Grand Opening of Lynden Park Club House  Defunct Bowls Club Metamorphosizes to Vibrancy By Bill Claiborne Pisteup Editor Under splendid blue skies befitting the Grand Opening of a stunningly beautiful restoration of the Lynden Park club house, Camberwell Pétanque Club members and representatives of the Victoria Veteran Car Club and local Girl Guides watched Boroondara Cr Coral Ross cut the ceremonial ribbon yesterday (April 14) and declare the venue officially opened. Ross said that the $800,000 project to completely renovate and expand the defunct East Burwood District Ladies Bowling Club’s club house and surrounds had “injected new life” into what had been a somewhat dowdy and architecturally uninteresting, not to mention underutilized, venue. The Camberwell Petanque Club, mostly with volunteer work by its members, converted the former bowling green to a pétanque playing area (pistes), which will be showcased April 28-29 as it hosts the Australian National Doubles Tournament. Filling in for Boroondara Mayor Heinz Kreutz, who was travelling interstate, Gardiner Ward Cr. Ross praised the cooperation of the three tenants who will be sharing the club house. She also commended Boroondara City officials who worked on the project, including Lynn O’Donnell, Recreation Planner & Projects and Adel Calache, Senior Project Architect Projects & Strategy. In the face of proposals to tear down the old bowling headquarters and revert the land to the adjoining park, one car club activist, Hugh Guthrie, is understood to have appealed to the Council to renovate the building instead as a way of encouraging more community sports and cultural activities. Richard Tarlinton, Camberwell Pétanque Club’s representative to the joint Lynden Park Management Committee that oversees the operating finances of the venue with the Veteran Car Club and the Girl Guides, and who also is the club’s liaison with the Council, read a brief speech by Camberwell Pétanque Club President Bill Claiborne and also offered his own thoughts on the significance of the day. The club, which provides sporting and recreational activities to a diverse membership of many nationalities and all age groups in the Boroondara Community, was formed in September, 1998, when several friends living in the area began informally playing the French game of pétanque, also known as boules, on a patch of gravel in nearby Wattle Park. After relocating to Hawthorn’s St. James Park, the club is now back in the Lynden Park area, proving the old adage that what goes around comes around. The difference is that whilst the club started out with 12 members, it has now grown to 78 and counting. Even though 23 of its members hold licences to play in National and International competition, we are still known as a social pétanque club known for its camaraderie and joie d’vivre. “We commend the Boroondara Council for the stunning renovation of the Pavilion, and I have no doubt that this venue will soon be the envy of pétanque clubs far and wide. In fact we have already been selected to host the 2012 Australian National Doubles Pétanque Tournament later this month, which we believe will focus the attention of the national pétanque community on this little corner of Lynden Park. “But, more importantly, what the Council has done is to have breathed new life into a dormant sports venue and made this beautifully restored community facility available to all of the people of Lynden Ward and beyond. This could never have happened without the vision and commitment to community development and healthy sports activity that was held by you and the other Councillors, and the dedicated officials of the Boroondara Department of Leisure and Cultural Services who worked so hard on the project.” Tarlinton added that the transformation of the playing area from neglected synthetic lawn bowls greens to the splendid 24 piste alleys of today “could not have happened without the direction and commitment of our own “Wonderman” John Paul Ernst, without whom the pistes would have been nowhere as good as they are. If something goes wrong, he knows how to fix it. If something needs to be built, he knows how to construct it. Thank you, John Paul,” Tarlinton said. “To all assembled, we hope that now that we are settled in we can entice you to come out and play a bit of pétanque, one of Australia’s fastest-growing sports.” David Wright, president of the Veteran Car Club of Victoria, which was founded in 1955 and whose members are pre-1919 motor vehicle enthusiasts, said there are approximately 300 sports and leisure clubs in Boroondara whose diversity is represented by the eclectic group of Camberwell Pétanque Club, the Veteran Car Club and the Boroondara District Girl Guides. CPC holds social pétanque competitions weekly on Friday twilights and Saturday afternoons, depending on the season, as well as inter-club or invitational tournaments and, for the first time on April 28-29, a National doubles tournament. The VCC organizes rallies at club venues across the state, and holds meetings fortnightly at the Lynden Park club house, including “Natter Nights” at which members share their experiences with their restored cars. The club house also boasts an extensive library of books about vintage cars. Wright waxed eloquent about the Council’s transformation of the building from what was a dowdy structure with little architectural appeal, to beautiful home for the sharing tenants, thanks in large part to the addition of an entrance portico and additions to each end. The renovations also included a new kitchen, new toilets, storage areas, offices and more. “We are sure these premises will be put to good use,” Wright said. Sue Steegstra, representing the Girl Guides of 1st Hartwell and 1st Burwood Units, also saw symmetry in the Grand Opening Day ceremonies. She noted the first Girl Guide unit in Australia opened in what is now called Boroondara, just a suburb away in Burwood Road, Hawthorn. “The unit opened in February 1911, a hundred and one years ago. So Girl Guides have been around for a long time providing recreational and leadership opportunities for young women,”Steegstra said. “However today we are celebrating a more up to date and local event, the opening of a new facility which the Guides will share with other community groups. We would like to congratulate Boroondara Council on the fine refurbishment of this recreational facility. With the Girl Guides moving to the facility there is a real sense of symmetry or the continuation of a life cycle. This building was established as a recreational venue for the East Burwood Ladies Bowling Club. Those women would have come here for fun and friendship, to learn new skills and to challenge them. “Now through the renovation of the building by the Boroondara Council this building will have a second lease of life. It will play an important part in the lives of a new generation of women, this time young girls and young women who will also come here for fun and friendship, to learn new skills and to challenge themselves. We know that the opportunities offered by the Guiding program to this new generation of girls, and the girls who will follow them in the future, will have a positive impact on their lives. We thank the Council for their support by making the facility available for the Guides to use,” Steegstra said. The Girl Guides sang some campfire songs, and then led the audience in singing the National Anthem. Following the Grand Opening ceremonies, 38 Pétanque tragics took to the pistes for our regular Saturday afternoon social pétanque. Winner in the Men's Division was Antoine Buffet, with 4 wins and a delta of 30, followed by John Cook, 4 wins and a delta of 25. Sue Gray won the Women's Division with 3 wins and a delta of 25, followed by Barb Solnordal, with 3 wins and a delta of 7. Well done all! CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS  Click here for more photos by john cook  CPC founders do the hard yakka on St. James Park pistes 12 years ago A Special Pisteup Feature
Blast from the Past:A Walk Down Memory Lane Following are some snapshots of memorable moments during our 12 years at St. James Park, Hawthorn, before we moved to Lynden Park, Camberwell, near where the club was founded. Our St. James Park Pistes Being Renovated in 2009  CPC Providore John-Paul Ernst checks out the unique piste dividers that he designed and built. John-Paul guided other CPC volunteers in installing the dividers, which include benches and an easily-removable section for access to adjoining pistes by disabled players. The club owes a debt of gratitude to John-Paul for his skills and hard work in making our pistes the best in Victoria.
The Great Pyramids of Camberwell? Nope. Just piles of sifted gravel on our club's pistes ready to be re-spread to make the playing ground more playable. Led by Clive Windley, volunteers have worked hard on the pistes, hand-sifting the gravel, spreading, raking and rolling. All members of CPC extend their heartfelt gratitude to these hardworking volunteers for transforming these notoriously boggy pistes into first-rate playing grounds. It's not easy work and they happily pitched in. FOR MORE PHOTOS OF OUR PISTE-BUILDING AND RENOVATING CLICK HERE 
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The Great Shed Dedication  |
 At top left, Richard Tarlinton, then Secretary, and Bill Claiborne, then President, cut the ribbon to our humble new shed, which was generously erected for us by the Boroondara Council's Department of Culture & Leisure. Our shed was a far cry from our current home at Lynden Park, Camberwell. At bottom left, the club's new banner is unfurled at St. James Park. Above, the Camberwell pétanquers happily raise their glasses of bubbly in a toast.The shed isn't very big, but we learned to be grateful for little blessings. We managed to cram in a couple dozen chairs, four huge sun shade umbrellas, a BBQ grill, file cabinets, many sets of boules etc. |
All Hail Camberwell Pétanque Club!
The Gang's All Here
A Hairy Day at the Camberwell Pistes
Three beards on a piste: When Peter, Dennis and Bill formed a team to compete in the 2008 Victorian Triples Championship, Bill was told he had to grow a beard overnight to "fit in" with his teammates. It's not easy growing a beard overnight, but with a little help from a novelty shop on Elizabeth Street Bill was able to rock up for the competition looking just like his partners.
Christmas Dinner is a tradition at Camberwell P.C.
Hitting the Road to Show Off the Camberwell Flag
The Away Team at the 2009 annual Pyrenees-Camberwell Challenge at Avoca. Overnight
road trips are not only fun for competing on unfamiliar pistes, but for late night revelry with
newfound friends in country Victoria. Whichever team lasts longer at the pub usually wins the games.
Barbecue lunch on the Pistes--a very old CPC Tradition
Lunch at the Camberwell Pétanque Club at St. James Park when we were half our current size
Camberwell Pétanque Club gather for a group photo at St. James Park after winning 2007 Maldon Battered Boule Challenge Trophy. In above photo, Bill Claiborne, president, proudly holds the trophy in center of second row.
An Invitation to Try Pétanque--Funny Name, Great Game
Players scoring the boules during a game at our club
Join some entertaining and enthusiastic Pétanque players Sunday afternoons year-around and Friday evenings during summer at our beautiful new venue at Lynden Park. We have a BYO picnic lunch on Saturday afternoons during the Standard Time (Fall, Winter) months and a Twilight social pétanque/barbecue on Friday evenings during Daylight Savings Time months (Spring, Summer).
The Camberwell Pétanque Club is widely known as a inveterate social club whose members enjoy playing the game, quaffing good wine and eating good food amidst entertaining company.
Pétanque first came to Australia in the 1960s with French immigrants, and in recent years has grown to the point where Victoria alone has 16 clubs. The Pétanque Federation of Australia lists 47 clubs nationally, with 1,200 registered players and more than 7,000 participants. You can play as competitively as you like or as socially as you like. Either way, you'll enjoy yourself among our club's 40 members (and growing). We'll supply boules and coaching whilst you are trying the game!
For more information, please contact: Sue Gray, secretary, at 9853-6661; Bill Claiborne, President, at 9348-0639; or Terry Barter, vice-president, at 9803-3330.
Pétanquers enjoying lunch and a bit of wine between games
Our Sponsors and Affiliates
Below are some sponsors and affiliates of the Camberwell Pétanque Club
To learn more about these sponsors and affiliates, click on the logos below
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Secretary's
Report To Members
By Sue Gray
Congratulations and a hearty “Well done” to Camberwell Pétanque Club’s army of volunteers was the message that emerged from the CPC's May Committee meeting after we successfully hosted the National Doubles Championship.
So take a bow you wonderful volunteers
Now that it is over we can rest up from all those working bees and just enjoy playing that “great game with the funny name.”
Fifteen CPC members are looking forward to visiting St. Andrew's Beach on 20th May for a friendly game or three, and as soon as the Victorian Pétanque calendar is released (I'm told it won’t be long) we will set a date for The Trusty Tape Challenge. It is Camberwell's turn to play host to the Pyrenees P.C. members and repay them for the great hospitality they showed us. As you will have read on Pisteup we now have our own Facebook page, created by Bill Claiborne, so no-one can accuse us of being old fuddy-duddies. Check out the new page at https://www.facebook.com/PetanqueInMelbourneAustralia . Ignore the box that pops up asking you to join Facebook. You don’t have to join, so just enjoy the page, which, for now at least, is intended to get information about our club out to a younger demographic to provide more balance to our club. It has a map of our venue’s location, a Melway reference and other information about CPC and the game of pétanque.
It good to see that Saturday games are being so well attended (30 on Saturday, May 12) and it's great to see Christian Draschler back playing and no doubt taking pride in the club he helped found with a couple of mates in nearby Wattle Park so long ago. As you know Christian and Don Miller were co-founders of CPC nearly 15 years ago. Don tells Pisteup that after returning from an overseas business trip he intends to start playing again.
In Saturday’s friendly competition (May 12) Christian won the Men’s Division with four wins, followed by Howard Brown with three wins. Narelle topped the Women’s Division with four wins, followed by Rolande Hernandez with three wins.
Our membership continues to grow, and we are pleased to welcome Jenny Chaperon to our ranks. We ask our new Lynden Park area members to spread the word to friends or acquaintances in their neighbourhoods to drop in on a Saturday afternoon and give pétanque a go.
Vic League
Launches
Website
Victoria Pétanque Clubs Inc. now has a website, created by Pisteup's editor. For Victoria and national pétanque communiques, CLICK HERE or on the VPC logo above.
Comes to
Lynden Park
The Camberwell Pétanque Club has moved into the former Ladies bowling club in Wakefields Grove, Camberwell, and it cordially invites its new neighbors in Lynden Park--and fun-loving people everywhere--to come take a look at this lively French game of boules and see why our club has become known throughout Victoria for its conviviality and joie de vivre. In the summertime we play Twilight pétanque at 4:30 p.m., followed by a barbecue, and in Winter we play Saturday afternoons.
You'll find further information on this website, or you may ring CPC's President, Bill Claiborne, at 9348-0639 or 0405440608
Following are a few archived photo albums on this website that were posted before our Picasa web album (link above) was created:
2009 Camberwell Classic Doubles
2008 Victorian TriplesChampionship
2008 Camberwell +60 Tournament
2008 Independence Day Tournament
--Bill Claiborne
Pétanque
Rules
Click on the link below for a Pdf copy of the current pétanque rulebook issued by the International Federation of Pétanque and Provençal Game. It also contains the latest Pétanque Federation of Australia playing rules, and includes on the last two pages the Code of Behavior for Players and Local Rules.
Other Links
CPC Calendar
Victoria Pétanque Clubs Inc. Link
Camberwell P.C. Committee Members
ph. 9348-0639, mob. 0405-440608
Terry Barter, Vice-President, 9803-3330
terrybarter@optusnet.com.au
Sue Gray, Secretary, ph. 9853-6861, email:suzigray@bigpond.com
Correspondence to: 4/12 Rochester St., Kew, VIC 3101.
Colin Macnamara, Treasurer, macmail@exemail.com.au.
John-Paul Ernst, Providore, john.ernst@bigpond.com
Sandra Brown, Committee, 9818-4688 brownh@internode.on.net.
Alma Claiborne, Committee, 9348-0639
Grahame Knight, Committee, gknight@netspace.net.au
Photo by Mary Diggens
"Piste-up" creator and editor: Bill Claiborne claiborne@bigpond.com
(Optimum size for submitted photos is approx. 700X525 pixels. Please, do not send a bunch of huge, 2 megabyte photos. They crash my Bigpond inbox).
Christian Draschler and Don Miller, co-founders of the Camberwell Pétanque Club at Wattle Park in 1999. Shortly afterward they moved to St. James Park. "Build it and they will come," they are reported to have said after laying gravel for our pistes. Right-o, boys.
Here are some simple ways to be kinder to your boules, along with a list of some equipment you should have at hand.
CLICK HERE for the entire story.
Parlez-vous Francais?
Test your knowledge here
So, you think you know the rules of Pétanque, eh? Well, Pétanque Federation Australia has just released an online quiz with which you can test your knowledge of the game and see whether you pass or flunk. If you fail, put on your dunce cap. If you pass with flying colors then give a thought of becoming an umpire. But first start by CLICKING HERE
(Tip: You don't have to enter the personal information they ask for. Just leave it blank).
When you're finished with the exam scroll down this home page to the "RULES" link in the right-hand column to bone up on the official rulebook.
Great website!