Irish Petanque Association Council

New Officers will be published in News Above in the IPA minutes document.

Irish Petanque Association Membership

The IPA offers the following types of membership:

I. Affiliated Club: A local club becomes an IPA affiliated club, on the payment of the required fee.

II. Affiliated Member: Members of an IPA affiliated club who pay the required fee.

III. Ordinary Member: Anyone who is not a member of an affiliated club becomes and ordinary member on payment of the required fee. Categories at (ii) and (iii) will be eligible to compete in all IPA competitions and will be entitled to attend and vote at AGMs. Under 18s in categories (ii) and (iii) are regarded as 'junior' members.

IV. Honorary Lifetime Membership: Conferred on individuals who, in the opinion of the IPA Council, have made a significant contribution to Petanque in Ireland.

Irish Petanque Association Insurance

The Irish Petanque Association carries a global insurance that covers members of affiliated clubs, affiliated and ordinary members, whether they are playing in club events, national events, international events or merely practicing.

Insurance Certificates:

2011

Irish Petanque Association Fees

The Irish Petanque Association Fees

2015

New Fees Structure will be in the minutes in the News Section.

Irish Petanque Association Annual General Meeting

The Irish Petanque Association Minutes of AGMs

Policy: An AGM is required to be held before the end of February. The IPA's Constitution sets out the conduct and business to be considered at an AGM.

New AGM minutes will be uploaded in the News Section.

2015

2014

2013

2012

Secretary’s Report 2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

Rules of the game

Please see this document from the Federation Internationale de Petanque et Jeu Provencale to learn about the rules of the game.

RULES OF THE GAME

Building a Piste

For International competitions and national championships the minimum dimensions of a single piste are 15 m x 4 m with a 30 cm surround before any solid barriers. These dimensions, however, are frequently altered for club and leisure situations to take account of limited space situations. Many club pistes are 12 m x 3 m.

Petanque may be played on any surface but grass is not recommended. Gravel or hard earth is the favoured surface. Topsoil should be removed to a depth of 6 to 8 inches (150  - 200 mm) and a layer of hard-core, brick rubble, stone etc laid in the bottom.  This should be compacted down to approximately 4 inches (100mm) using a wacker plate or Roller. The area can now be filled with crushed quarry stone 1 ½ inch down to dust. This is known as type 1 subbase or scalpings. A heavy roller over this, if it is not too dry, will provide a hard firm surface. However if played on at this stage the large stones will come to the surface. The area will need subsequent rolling and watering to settle the stones down. A shower of rain (hosepipe) would be beneficial.

A solid surround of some sort is usual to a playing area to prevent boules that are out of play rolling considerable distances or causing injury. A wide variety of items are seen used for this purpose, most commonly, old railway sleepers, planks old kerb stones, old telegraph poles etc. Depending on the size of the edging available it can be incorporated at any stage after digging 4-6 inches (100-150 cm) above the finished playing area.

Once the material so far included has been very well compacted, a thin layer of limestone grit or 3mm gravel should be spread over the area and rolled until relatively even. The ideal surface will take some time to appear as some pistes take time to settle. During the first year you may find soft areas appearing where for frequent boule landings take place. The surface can be maintained by raking the surface with a wire leaf rake. Care should be taken to try to place the jack in differing areas of the piste. Boules make good whackers for the surface. Any large stones working their way to the surface should be removed from the area.

The overall surface should not be “Billiard Table” level so that a certain amount of thought and skill will be required to cope with the odd small irregularities in the surface. A piste should be an ever changing surface as the above structure compresses with rolling, whacking, rainfall, general play and a constant walking up and down of the players

Code of Behaviour

Players

During all competitions in individual games players are expected to

1. Play and abide by the rules of the game as instructed by the organiser(s) and umpire(s) of the day.

2. Play the game in a sporting manner including completion of all games and series of games.

3. Not use foul, abusive or insulting language particularly to other players, officials and spectators.

4. Accept without argument the decision of the umpire

5. Observe the correct dress of the day  6. Not drink alcohol during games for the duration of the competition. Arriving under the influence at the start of the day is unacceptable 7. Not smoke during games or on the terrain at any time (Even if on the terrain and watching another game).

8. Not leave bags and other personal items, including drinks, on the piste. They must be a minimum of 30 cm outside the dead ball line so as not to constitute an obstacle. 9. Not to leave unplayed boules on the playing area. They may be left behind the dead ball line at the playing end of the piste. 10. Switch off mobile phones during games

11. Any player found to be in breach of this code of  behavior will be considered to be guilty of improper  behavior, and liable to any penalties which may be specified

       (a) in the IPA or club constitution

       (b) in the IPA or club b ehaviour code or

       (c) by the organiser(s) before during a particular game or event.

Spectators (Note that players are spectators for the purpose of any game other than that in which they are playing).

 1. Spectators must observe total silence when a player is preparing to throw a boule as required by article 17 of the FIPJP rules.

2. Only players involved in a particular game and the umpire(s)of the day are permitted on the piste during play.  Spectators, friends etc may not enter the playing area to advise, coach or otherwise communicate with the players.

3. Supporters and/or family or friends must not encroach onto the terrain or allow any pets or children to do so during play.

4. Spectators should refrain from making or receiving telephone calls anywhere near where games are in progress.

5. Any Spectator who, through his or her actions causes a disruption or disturbance on the piste, shall be removed from the ground as possible disciplinary action and/or suspension of license, if applicable and depending on the severity of the fence

Running a Competition

Following its AGM on 23rd February 2008, the IPA council re-adopted much of its existing competition policy, but also agreed on a number of significant changes.

These were principally that

       (a) When competition dates have been agreed, they will not be re-arranged, regardless of how few entrants.

       (b) For IPA national competitions, a minimum of 4 entries are required to make a competition viable, other wise it will be cancelled.

       (c) Pre-determined competition formats have been established for IPA National competitions

       (d) A Selection panel has been set up to determine teams for the Celtic Challenge

       (e) Separate arrangements have been agreed for selecting a team for World Championships.

The Full Competition Policy is available HERE

No Competition Info from 2010

No Competition Info from 2011

2012 CELTIC CHALLENGE

The 2012 Celtic Challenge was played in beautiful sunshine over 5/6 May, at North Down PC premises at Pickie Bowling Club, Bangor.

After the first day’s play, the situation was fairly close with Scotland and Ireland A on 14 wins, Wales on 13 wins and

Ireland B on 7 wins. However, on day 2, Scotland pulled away to finish with 31 wins, their second successive win in the

competition. The final results are shown below.

Of particular mention is the performance of Scotland 1 ( Paul Bretenoux, Robbie Stronach and John Wilson ) who finished

as ‘top triple’ with victories in all 12 matches for the second year running. Interestingly, one of their tightest games was

against Ireland B3 ( Owen Kelleher, Adam Kelleher and ‘Misty’ ) who matched them all the way before losing 13 – 11.

The top Irish Triple was Ireland A4 ( Richard Elvin, Sebastien Stevenot and Arshaad Dooreemeah. )The top Welsh Triple

was Wales 4 ( Peter Beresford, Gay Evans and Kon Tomczk )

Final placings

1. Scotland         31 Wins      + 124 points

2. Ireland A        26 Wins     + 32 points

3. Wales             25 Wins     + 23 points

4. Ireland B        14 Wins      - 179 points

Teams:

                 Ireland A1                               Ireland A2                               Ireland A3                              Ireland A4

                 Ireland B1                               Ireland B2                               Ireland B3                              Ireland B4

                 Scotland 1                              Scotland 2                              Scotland 3                              Scotland 4

                  Wales 1                                     Wales 2                                    Wales 3                                  Wales 4