Month: October 2024

The York league is a long standing competition dating back to 1987, for Clubs based in the York area. Over the years it has become the main competitive league in the region. Six Clubs are currently involved, with two of them entering an A and a B team.

This year the format was slightly complicated; the first round of all teams playing each other once, at home or away, to determine two leagues of four teams each. Each division then played the other 3 teams both home and away. Another innovation this year was a grand final at which all teams came together at Wiggington in York for  a final match between teams in positions as follows 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 to be followed by a presentation of the York League Trophy.

Leeds played well all through the first round, coming out in first place with more games won than any other team. We continued our run of form into the second round, and the final, to win the league trophy by a significant margin having lost only one match out of the 14 we played.

This win continued our run of success in the York League, being the fifth year running have come away with the trophy. The season was a long one, with lots of travelling, it is nearly 50 miles to Westow on the other side of York, but we remained consistent and have developed a squad of good players with a great team ethos. 

Paul Matthews.

You may have noticed that we now have some new accommodation up at the terrain in the form of a gazebo, and come rain or shine (the former being more likely!) it will prove invaluable at future club events.

A huge thank you Paul and Alan for securing the fixings the other day… a very smart addition to our terrain.

Earlier this year, a number of Leeds players qualified to represent Yorkshire at the inter-regional championships held a couple of weeks ago in Suffolk. This is an annual competition organised by Pétanque England that sees teams from across the country take each other on to see who will be crowned champion.

Alan, Alan, Charles, Gavin, Mike, Neil, Richard, and Rosanna joined approximately 30 other players from the region and headed down to represent Yorkshire over two fun-filled days of pétanque.

Over 800 players took part this year, with teams representing the UK’s many pétanque regions including Kent, Sussex, and London, and we even had teams from Wales and Scotland. With some 100 terrains available for use, playing surfaces were varied and somewhat different to those at the Vesper Gate!

The main competition is split into two divisions, and this year Yorkshire were playing in Division II. After seven games each on day one Yorkshire were topping the league table, but all was still to play for the following day. However, the squad held firm and brought it home, with Yorkshire finishing top and winning a very impressive 56 out of the 96 games played over the weekend. The reward? Medals and a cup, and promotion to Division I next year!

Would you consider joining us next year? The inter-regionals are great fun to be a part of. Everyone’s there for the same reason and it’s a great opportunity to try some different terrains and meet other players from across the country.

With two Championship divisions and a further two Challenge competitions, plus a Juniors’ competition, there’s something for players of all levels to take part in. Have a chat with any of the players mentioned above for more information.

Leeds Pétanque have recently been in dialogue with the local Mölkky team to discuss meeting up formally for an introductory session for our members. This should be sorted soon and further information will be posted on the website. 

If you’re not familiar with Mölkky, the game hails from Finland and is probably best described as a cross between skittles and Pétanque, with a touch of darts scoring, with teams taking it in turns to throw a wooden pin towards numbered skittles to score points.

The local Mölkky team recently took part in the world championships in Japan and came 7th in the World Championships, beating former champions Estonia, and came a very creditable 7th whilst Finland were this year’s champions.

Paul in particular has become somewhat of an expert, and two weeks ago took part in the Yorkshire Open that was held at our Vesper Gate terrain. A combination of singles and doubles were played in leagues, then the knockout stages followed in the afternoon, and after a long day the doubles final was played in the near darkness aided by several phone torches! Paul and his friend Dave came in third in the doubles out of a total of 48 players! They now have bronze medals to show for it.

Not bad at all for players that have only been in the game for a few weeks… congratulations gentlemen!