Paving the way for Pétanque

Cavan Pétanque Club is putting Belturbet on the map when it comes to the metal ball throwing game.

Established in August 2022, the club competed at international level for the first time this year bringing home the Celtic Challenge Cup.

The club has a team in the qualifiers for next year’s Celtic cup and are also aiming for the European and World Championships.

President of the club Kris Simpson described Pétanque as “the biggest sport you’ve never heard of”.

The game involves throwing a smaller plastic ball known as a ‘jack’ at least 6-10 metres in front of you. The player stands with their feet planted in a ring at one side of an alley, known as a piste. The game can be played in singles, doubles or triples.

The aim is to throw the metal boule as close to the jack as possible. This is known as pointing. Shooting is where a player tries to hit a component ball out of the way to get their boule closer to the jack. The person or team with their boule closest to the jack at the end of the round wins a point.

The best way to learn how to play the game is to go out to the club and have a go. It is suited to all fitness levels and ages, something Kris thoroughly enjoys about the sport.

“I’m not a sporty person,” she said, explaining that her brother Jer was the one who initially called her down to the club to play Pétanque.

“The second I started it I was like 'yeah, this is brilliant!'.

“It can be as competitive or as non competitive as you want.”

Along with her brother Jer, the pair train together, support each other with a bit of banter along the way.

Avid shooter Jer brings humour to the club, shouting “Boulin rouge” (a referecne to the sport's French roots) to acknowledge a good throw. When lining up to shoot, the laughter in his eyes is replaced by steely determination as he tries to hit an opponent's ball out of the way.

Club secretary Billy Gleadell explains the history of the game, which began in 6BC, and enjoyed a revival during the French revolution.

“Napoleon brought it from wooden balls to metal balls.”

“While they were standing around waiting for a battle, they started throwing cannon balls on the beaches,” he said, explaining that it just “grew and grew and grew” from there.

Originally from Essex, Billy's passion for the sport earned him the title of President of the Irish Pétanque Association and saw him appear on Virgin Media’s Ireland AM breakfast TV show last Saturday.

Billy is particularly proud of the establishments of the pétanque pistes at Belturbet Golf Club. Formerly a boules player, during covid the indoor game could not be played, which inspired the idea of creating outdoor alleys for a similar ball game, Pétanque.

The former railway track engineer crossed the new Boulodrom (the collective name for the court of pistes), pointing to the railway sleepers used on the outskirts, which were formerly used on the Dromod railway.

The club hope to expand their facilities to add three more pistes, a picnic area and a path for wheelchair access in the coming months. The latter is particularly important as Pétanque was the first wheelchair friendly sport in the world.

“There are no boundaries with it, you can play it from age four to ninety-four,” Billy explained, encouraging people to come to the club and try it out. The group meets on Thursdays at 7pm and Sundays at 5pm with at least one tournament per month. Those interested in joining can contact the Cavan Pétanque Club Facebook page or call Billy on 089-4352992.