Boules

Boules games, are games that involve rolling or throwing balls toward some sort of Target. The category includes such games as (French) petanque, (Italian) bocce, (English) lawn bowling and (American) bowling.

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These games have been recorded as early as 6th Century BC, and evolved from use of flat stones, stone balls and wooden balls. In the 19th century the game was played widely in France as boules. After WW1, cannonball manufacturing technology was adapted to allow the manufacture of hollow all-metal balls.

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Petanque

In 1910, Provence café owner, Ernest Pitiot looked at his chair-bound friend, Jules Lenoir, cheerlessly watch a game of boules. Lenoir’s rheumatism was playing up, and the days of him taking an energetic trot before throwing the ball, as was customary in the popular game of the day, jeu provencal, had passed. Pitiot came up with a new game that his friend could play. The length of the pitch was halved, and, most importantly, the players could throw the ball from a stationary start, with “pes tancats”, or “feet fixed”. You could even play sitting down (e.g. in a wheelchair). Hence the name “petanque” was adopted.

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Mornington Peninsula Petanque Club, MPPC

In 2011, seven residents of Mornington/Mount Martha, who were former members of the St. Andrews Beach Petanque Club, decided to find a location to play petanque closer to “home”. The site selected and adopted on 26th January 2012 was at Marna Reserve in Dromana, where the Italian Senior Citizens Club of Dromana had built a 6-lane bocce court and were sharing a pavilion with the Netball Club. To use these facilities, we were required, by the Italian Club, to join the Italian Club which had an added advantage of monthly Dinner Dances. Unfortunately, there were some unacceptable restrictions placed on the Petanque Players with respect to the number of members, surface of the pistes and playing inter club competitions, so on 8th June 2014 the players decided to incorporate as an Association, and leave the Italian Club. There were 23 members at that time.

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On 2nd July 2014 we were registered as an Incorporated Association as Mornington Peninsula Petanque Club Inc., as we had no “home” and were playing at various venues over the Mornington Peninsula. There were 17 “foundation” members. Michael Harrisson was elected President, Chris Nelms - Vice President, Eve Harrisson - Secretary and Treasurer, and Theresa Leahy - Social Secretary.

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We entered into discussion with the Mornington Peninsula Shire with respect to the building of our Terrain. Our first preference was an area adjacent to The Mornington Croquet Club at Civic Reserve as, in the Mornington Peninsula Shire Strategic Plan of 2008, this area was designated “Petanque or Croquet Extension”. This area was no longer available, and we were offered sites at Mount Martha Public Golf Course, then Citation Reserve, and finally Moorooduc Recreation Reserve. At the AGM in June 2016 a Site Committee under Chairmanship of Jim Crawshaw was established to manage the development of the Terrain at Moorooduc.

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At the end of May 2015 there were 37 Licenced Members with 8 Committee Members and at the end of May 2016 there were 53 Licenced Members including 10 Committee Members.  In June 2017 our membership stood at 46 and as of February 2018 our membership stands at 50 full members plus 6 associate members.  We will continue working towards attracting new members to our club. 

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In 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 we participated in the Peninsula Cup which is a competition between St. Andrews Beach, Portsea and MPPC.

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On 10th September 2017 Mornington Peninsula Petanque Club held a much awaited opening ceremony of its home ground at Moorooduc Recreation Centre in Derril Road Moorooduc.  It took months of working bees where our enthusiastic, hard working members got together and added finishing touches to the surfaces of the pistes,  painted outdoor tables and chairs, mowed and weeded and generally completed all things necessary to make our home ground at Moorooduc as appealing as possible.

 

Many club discussions have been held over the past seasons in relation to petanque associated clubs on the Peninsula and the PFA/VPCI  competitions. MPPC is a social club with occasional games at other peninsula clubs when invited. This has led to the introduction of a specific annual game with the Somers Club and consideration of other club competitions as they arise.  Members can always choose to play in other competitions across the state as they wish.

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MPPC has a monthly intra-club competition day on the first Sunday of each month.  All newcomers are encouraged to visit on these days to participate and enjoy the camaradarie of this club competition day.

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As at November 2019, MPPC has 49 members including 5 associate members.  We play at our home ground on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons with a summer break from mid December to mid January and a winter break for the month of July.  We welcome players of all standards together with those who wish to learn, to join us and experience the fun of our club, social interaction with members and learn about the great  game of French Boules.  We ask you to simply visit on the above days or contact our President or Secretary to discuss a potential visit.  Contact details are on the "Contact Us" page of our website .

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MPPC is developing a Sponsorship Program and a Community Support Program to assist the growth of the club and development of our playing area as well as our membership and operational programs within the community, providing focus on the increased knowledge of the game of Petanque.  We have an active Social Committee working together with a proactive  Management Committee, assuring continued growth and activity within the club's operation.

 

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