California Petanque Masters Tour

Upcoming Tournaments

Petanque Talk Index

The idea of organizing a California Petanque Masters Tour (CPMT) came to me as a result of watching the French Masters series over the years. Another motivation for developing a Tour was the observation that International Level players in the US have few opportunities to play Select Tournaments with their teams in order to hone their teamwork.

Since I already keep track of the tournaments in California, it made sense to use that information in order to identify a series of Select Tournaments around the state for teams wishing to focus on more top level play .

The criteria for choosing the specific tournaments in the series are as follows:

1. They must be Open Select Tournaments - no limitations like being mixed, or one or the other sex only.

2. The tournament must be a one day event, to lower cost of participation, and make it easier to schedule around work, for out of town players.

3. The tournament must be hosted by a club that is within a specific distance of the center of the California Petanque Community. So some otherwise attractive events at the geographic extremes will not be included.

4. With the exception of similar Regionals, the tournament must be open to all Californians and not be a National Tournament. The Nationals bring people from outside the state and that could confuse record-keeping for the Tour. And so long as both FPUSA Regions in California have similar tournaments - ie. both have Regionals Doubles or Triples so that players in both Regions have equal chance at gaining points - then a Regional might be included in the Tour.

There are no other criteria that I have used and my decisions as to which tournaments will be included in the tour are somewhat arbitrary. I have tried to get a good mix of north and south, but folks are going to have to start traveling more if they want to test their skills. Hopefully assembling the Tour early in the year will allow participants to set those days aside well in advance and organize their vacation time accordingly.

Tournaments in the California Petanque Masters Tour

Stage One: May 17, 2009 San Pedro Open Select Triples San Pedro, Hosted by the Los Angeles Petanque Club - DONE!

Stage Two: October 11, 2009 Select Doubles, Los Angeles, Los Angles PC

The Tour in 2009 met with inexplicable resistance from the Norther Californians. Perhaps they believe that they have adiquate opportunites for their top players to hone their skills against other top players. Or maybe they just don't care one way or the other. If that is the case, I suspect that the center of the petanque world in the US will soon reside in New York.

It is my hope that the Tour in 2010 will consist of a mix Select Doubles and Select Triples tournaments in the SW Region. Being confined to the SW Region it will make consistent participation easier for teams to travel (carpool) together to the tournaments and share lodging if necessary. Triples is the format for the World Qualifier, but in doubles, the skills of the individual players will be more in evidence. At this point we are looking at 4 Stages south (two hosted by LAPC and one each by San Diego and Palm Desert?), one Stage Central Coast, and one Stage northern part of the Region (Oakhurst or Fresno?)- a nice spread around the Region.

Current Rankings

How players will earn points toward their ranking on the Tour:

1. Each Tour tournament that a player participates in earns one point - two points if the tournament is more than 100 miles from their home.

2. Placing in the top four earns bonus points.

3. Placing in the top eight earns points.

Top players at each stage will earn the prestigious Yellow Shirt! Only awarded to the top team at each Stage.

I would suggest that players form 4 person teams. Why 4 person teams? Well, for one thing the Petanque World Championship teams are 4 person teams - 3 players plus the alternate. The Tour is designed to help Teams qualify to respresent the US at the Worlds (and to do well once they get there!). So forming a team that you can stick with for the entire Tour, and after, will give you a huge advantage over teams that are formed up just before the World Qualifier tournament. Your team will have more experience on more different terrains than individuals that mostly play locally and against the same players week after week. Teams will get to know each member's strengths and weaknesses, thereby making better team decisions - player A may not travel well, and so not shoot as consistently until the second game (good to know before he starts throwing his boules away in the first game!). Player B may point better after lunch. Player C may be easily upset by discourteous opponents. Player D may lack stamina in the heat. A Qualifying tournament is terrible place to learn these things! Better to learn these things during the Tour and make the necessary adjustments.

Since the Tour consists mostly of Select Doubles tournaments, a 4 person team will allow for two doubles team. Or if one person can't make a Stage, then one can drive to allow the other two to arrive relatively rested. The driver can certainly find a pick-up partner to participate upon arrival, or can serve as support person for the other two, taking videos to be analysed later and serving as coach for the day. Sometimes, having the freedom to be a critical observer can be very instructional! If two of the four can't make the Stage then the team still has a team to send and accrue points - and gain valuable experience as to the other competitor's strengths and tactics, and the terrain's peculiarities - that valuable information can be shared with the other teammates upon returning home..

If you would like a Tour Participant's Packet when they are available, send your email address or your mailing address and I'll get one to you.

Please contact me at: bouleman@gmail.com

Please tell your friends that might be interested in participating in the Tour as well. Any help in getting the word out and maximum participation is appreciated!

How well the Tour works will depend in large part on the cooperation of the hosting clubs and their tournament directors. If they do not get the needed information to me, it will be difficult for me to credit the correct amounts of points to the people wishing to participate in the Tour. So please remind the tournament hosts to get their results to me!

Clubs that do not cooperate will be dropped from the Tour in the future and be replaced by better organized events.

The other Masters...

The French have a Master Tour that travels around their country's resorts each year with top players participating. To be part of the Tour requires successfully negotiating a guantlet of incredibly challenging tournaments in order to glean points to qualify for the Tour. Needless to say, these are the top players in the world!

Each year a DVD is produced about the Masters Tour. It is worh acquiring! You can get it at Petanque America.

Here are the teams for 2010 - I can't wait to see them in action! Many of my favorite players are included this year!

Rappel des équipes :

Equipe A : S. Robineau - K. Malbec - S. Le Bourgeois - F. Perrin
Equipe B : P. Quintais - P. Suchaud - H. Lacroix - S. Cortes
Equipe C : B. Rocher - D. Rocher - C. Fazzino - C. Sarrio
Equipe D : A. Savin - J. Darodes - C. Sevilla - J. Molinas
Equipe E : Wild Card : Z. Radnic - M. Durk - JM. Puccinelli - B. Le Boursicaud
Equipe F : Africa Team : K. Lakhal - P. Emile - F. N'Diaye - A. Kouande
Equipe G : Equipe de France : M. Loy - T. Grandet - D. Hureau - P. Milei