Westow Petanque Club was founded in the early 1980s on a disused tennis court, kindly donated by Lord Grimston, to the village. It was decided to repurpose the court and the Club were very early adopters of the growing sport of Pétanque.
What is Petanque?
Most of us who’ve holidayed in France will have seen Pétanque being played in town or village squares and campsites. It’s a game similar to bowls but played with steel balls on rough gravel rather than grass. The terrains are deliberately uneven and this poses a challenge as rolling in a straight line can be difficult, often a lob out of the back of the hand applying backspin to give control is used. It can be played in various formats such as singles, doubles (2 per team) or trebles (3 per team).Points are scored by the number of balls a team/player have closest to the cochonnet. After each end the scores are recorded. The winner is the first to 13 points.
Club social sessions are held each weekend and we also participate in the North York Petanque League. We are a small club with big ambition to grow the participation in our sport and make it accessible to all. To further our ambition our trustees are currently fundraising and have received several grants from organisations such as the Lions club and Ryedale District Council, this will enable us to relocate to a new terrain (pitch) situated at Westow Cricket club and community pavilion, this will give us the use of top class facilities including toilets, bar and parking.
We are a small and friendly club and would love to welcome you to one of our taster sessions which are provided at no cost. We also provide boules to play with; all you need to do is come along and have a go, it’s an addictive fun and sociable sport.
If you’re interested in coming along please contact Tim Booley on 07935 141308 or email tjbooley@gmail.com.