Central Coast Petanque Club (CCPC)
San Luis Obispo County, California
The CCPC Petanque Terrain at Colony Park, Atascadero, California (middle of January!). The shade trees have grown since this picture was taken and more benches have been added! It just keeps getting better!
Petanque Talk!
Petanque Camp
The Central Coast Petanque Club membership is open to anyone living in SLO county - or outside the county for that matter!
The Central Coast Petanque Club is in its formative stages at this point. Members meet at Atascadero's Colony Park Recreation Center or at area wineries to play on their bocce courts, or walkways. Or anywhere that we can find a nice decomposed granite surface, or a bit of smooth dirt.
Petanque is a game very well suited to the California Central Coast area. The casual nature of the game is consistent with the sorts of folks that settle in SLO county (pronounced Slow county). And the fact that petanque terrain (playing areas) are unplanted means that backyard pistes (playing courts) are water efficient - they require no water! So unlike a croquet court, or lawn bowling (unless played on artificial turf) playing petanque makes you a good citizen of the earth in these times of global climate change and careful water use!
Petanque is also an incredibly accessible game - anyone that can swing one of their arms can play! Even people confined to wheelchairs can participate and the rules provide for wheelchair access to the piste. Young and old, male and female, large and small, athletic and not athletic, everyone is welcome to play and can play very very well! Because petanque is a game of finesse, and not strength or height or weight or gender. So no matter who you are, grab some boules and lets play petanque!
If you would like to join the Central Coast Petanque Club please contact me! bouleman@gmail.com
Score 12-12... after nearly two hours of play!
Petanque Classes!!!
Petanque classes are again being offered through the Atascadero Recreation Department during the Spring of 2012. The class is being taught by Petanque Coach Nathan Doster and is open to all skill levels. Learn curving throws, high lobs, and shooting for carreaux! Sign up your friends and neighbors for an evening of fun and healthful exercise - bring the whole family! Classes are taught on the official petanque terrain at the Colony Park Community Center in Atascadero.
Coach Doster and the Graduating Honers Class of 2009!
The next class will take place in Spring 2012.
You can register online at www.atascadero.org (Residents>Classes & Online Registration).
To register off-line you can go to Atascadero City Hall (6907 El Camino Real), or register at the Colony Park Community Center Drop Box (5599 Traffic Way), or at the Pavilion on the Lake Drop Box (9315 Pismo Ave) or by mailing in the attached registration form. It is best to pre-register (so that we know we have reached the class minimum). However, if need be you can come to class and can register right then and there at the drop box the Colony Park Community Center Drop Box lobby.
Colony Park Petanque Terrain, Atascadero, California
California's Central Coast petanque players are in the process of developing a regionally important petanque terrain. Shade trees have been planted, benches installed and truckloads of top-dressing applied. The terrain is perfect for casual play, and challenging enough for regional tournaments. There is room for 16 pistes (courts) as well as nearby areas that will accommodate many more games. Plenty of room for a large tournament!
Located at Atascadero's Colony Park Recreation Center the terrain is open for public play every day.
A couple of friendly games in progress, March 2011.
There are numerous places to play petanque in the North County. Several wineries have bocce courts that they are happy to allow petanque to be played on. Some of the city parks have areas that are suitable for petanque play as well.
In Atascadero, there a petanque terrain behind the basketball courts at the new Colony Park Community Center at 5599 Traffic Way that is used for petanque on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 (2:00 start time during the shorter daylight Winter months) until around 5:30, and on which a petanque class are taught through the Community Center during the spring, and fall.
There is also a good area to play near the maintenance garage, baseball field and picnic area at Paloma Park on the south end of Atascadero.
Wineries that I know have bocce courts in the Paso Robles, and Templeton area include Donati Family Vineyard tasting room at the corner of Vineyard and Highway 46 (west of Paso Robles), and Eberly Winery tasting room on Highway 46 (east of Paso Robles), and Robert Hall Winery also on Highway 46 east. I have done petanque demonstrations at the Donati tasting room and they are glad to have us use their courts. There are picnic tables nearby and plenty of parking and shade. The pine trees might drop sticky stuff sometimes so you might want to rake the court before starting play - there is usually a rake nearby.
There is an area in Paso Robles downtown park near the restrooms that is perfect for petanque! Unfortunately during the summer the park is often used for various community events - Wine Festivals, Olive Festivals, Lavender Festivals... but is generally clear during the week for a game of petanque in a beautiful small town park setting.
Many of the North County Parks also have baseball/softball diamonds with sand-clay infields that can be used for petanque as long as no one is using them.
In 2007 SLO Petanque Club sent its first team to the SW Mixed Doubles Regional Tournament in Oakhurst and brought home the Bronze for their third place finish! Again in 2008 a CCPC team brought home the Bronze in the Regional Mixed Triples Tournament in Oakhurst. 2009 saw the Central Coast Team make the cut into the finals round!
l-r 2008; Oakhurst Petanque Club President Manny Sanz, CCPC captain Nathan Doster, pointer Pat Stampher, shooter Bret Halebsky. Trophies, FPUSA medallions, and cash prizes! Not bad for a day of fun!
The CCPC Petanque Terrain at Colony Park has two challenging surfaces, the sand over hard ground with slopes, and our "International" Terrain with gravel (actually largish stones!)
The sand surface at Colony Park, Atascadero, California. The slope is from the basketball courts to the fence to the left of the picture. The "International" Terrain is in the far corner.
The "International" Terrain is covered with stones raked from the other playing areas and deposited purposely into this corner. The stones in the image are up to 3 inches across. Definitely not a place for the timid to play! But a lot of fun nonetheless! It is virtually impossible to roll on this surface.
During the summer months it will occasionally get over 100F. When that happens petanque players seek shade! This is the area that the CCP players go to during the hot days. It is just steps away from the official terrain, between the two softball fields. The surface there is very challenging with stones just at the surface, twigs, slopes and undulations, and it is always hard and fast. In the distance are the convenient restrooms.