About Us
Botany Bay Pétanque Club is a very friendly club with over 50 members, where we play both social and competitive pétanque. We are one of the ‘sections’ of Botany Bay Cricket Club, where we are based, and we are affiliated to Pétanque England, which is the national body for the sport.
With our increasing membership, we recently built a second terrain, which has provided us with an additional three pistes. We meet every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday morning from 10:30am until about lunchtime. Club members are also able to use the pistes for playing at other times during the week. There is also a competitive mêlée, comprising four half-hour timed games, every second Sunday of the month, starting at 10:30am, throughout the year. There are prizes for the three highest scoring players each month and a special trophy is awarded to the overall winner at the end of the year.
Last year, we introduced a mixed doubles competition and this year, we are planning to provide some more opportunities for competitive matches for those members who wish to take part.
Introduction to Pétanque
Pétanque, which is sometimes called boules, is a sport that can be enjoyed by all the family. It can be played for fun in the garden, or more seriously, within a club and up to Regional, National, European and World Championship level.
Games can be played in singles, doubles or triples formats. In singles and doubles games, players have three boules each; in triples it's one fewer. Boules are metal balls about the size of a cricket ball, each weighing approximately 700g. Players take turns to throw a boule towards a small jack (known colloquially as a coche) that is between 6m and 10m in front of them on the playing area, which is called a piste. The boules that are closest to the coche, when everyone has thrown their boules, score points. The first player, or team, to score 13 points wins the match.
Club Membership
Our members will be happy to welcome you and help you get started. No experience is necessary and we can even lend you some boules! There's no charge for your first three visits to the club, and, if you find you're enjoying playing the pétanque, you can apply to join for a very modest annual subscription.
If you have any questions, would like to find out more or, maybe, join us for a game and a chat, please get in touch by submitting your details in the 'get in touch' form at the bottom of this page. We look forward to hearing from you!
