PST Storehouse conversion. Tony explained that this had not progressed as far as any had hoped partly due to long delays in receiving rental figures and changes in personnel within the Council. A summary of the information provided is given below :-
• Rent – £1,200 pa based on 300 sq ft @ £4 per sq ft
• Rates – £594.13 for 2009/10 year – under review
• Insurance – Linked with the Council’s block
policy for the building covering internal walls, ceilings etc.. There are 2 options:-
1) Basic – which covers fire, lightning, aircraft, no excess payment & cost approx £100 pa
2) Full – covers above + riot, earthquake, water ingress etc. Excess £250 and cost approx £200 pa

Any contents insurance would be our own responsibility.
• Utilities – Electricity & Water. Currently shared by the whole block. Agreement needs to be reached covering shared bills with Council.
• Lease – Standard lease that Council uses with other clubs. A 10-year term with 5-year review.

Tony went on to explain about Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) the eligibility being :-
1. open to the whole community without discrimination
2. organised on an amateur basis, promoting a recognised Sports Council sport
3. reinvest any income back into the club We meet all of these criteria. Benefits include mandatory 80% Rate relief (saving £475 a year on current rates) and income exempt from tax if turnover less than £30k pa.

There were numerous questions and suggestions from the floor. An Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) will be held when the club has received the draft lease and contract to take this forward.

Reports – Tony gave his report on the current year, a copy of which has been sent to everyone along with this newsletter. Olive gave a report on the club’s financial status which showed that as at the end of September we had over £7,000 in our accounts. It was noted that this includes a fund specifically to contribute to the running costs and fixtures & fittings for the potential storehouse.
2010 Subscription Rates – It was agreed to maintain the club’s subscription rates at £15 for adults (£7.50 for juniors) for 2010 but this would be reviewed when the club holds an OGM re the storehouse.
The New Executive Committee – with no contested positions voting was not necessary. Ray Ager as the new Club President gave a presentation with his thoughts for the forthcoming year. The new EC will be as follows :-

President                                                    Ray Ager
Treasurer                                                   Olive Sacre
Secretary                                                    Pat Connolly
Competitions Secretary                  Ann Wordsworth
Webmaster                                               Chris Holden
General Members                                Janice Doherty
                                                                          Nick Rowlands
                                                                         Alan Smith

Presentations
The club’s Triples trophy was presented to David Alfred and David Miller who won the competition along with Stephan Alfred.
2009 Doubles League – medallions were presented to Jill Chrismas & Bill Cooper who finished 3rd, Clifford Conway & Ann Wordsworth who finished 2nd and to the winners David Alfred & Tony Mann

Mixed Doubles League – medallions were presented to Ann Wordsworth & Tony Mann who finished 3rd, Janice Doherty & David Alfred who finished 2nd and to the worthy winners (losing only 1 out of 9 games) Jill Gebbett & Clifford Conway. See pages 2 and 3 for full report. Everyone who took part in the Mixed Doubles League was invited to receive a free fluorescent jack.

Dona Crisfield (pictured right) who became the club’s first ever 100th member on 29th August was presented with a bottle of champagne and a certificate to honour the milestone event

2009 Player of the Year – a table detailing the results for everyone that took part in any of the 11 competitions that qualified for inclusion in the Player of the Year Award was presented. Along with a sheet containing the winners of all the competitions hosted by the club during 2008. Both of these sheets can be found along with this newsletter.

 
In 5th place and finishing as the highest placed female with 58 points was Ann Wordsworth. In 4th place with 62 points was Terry Gibbons. In 3rd place with 87 points was Tony Mann and in 2nd place with 93 points was Ray Ager.

After finishing first in 4 club competitions, second in 5 others and amassing an amazing 114 points the
clear and deserved winner was David Alfred (pictured left). Tony went on to reveal a lengthy list of David’s many other achievements from this year before presenting him with the Player of the Year trophy.

Ray A               David A               Jill C
Lisa C               Pat C                     Clifford C
Bill C                Sheena C              Max C
Janice D         Jill G                     Terry G
Fergal H         Alan I                  Tony M
David M         Olive S                 Trish T
Jeff T               Ann W

 
Ann Wordsworth is our league organiser and has printed out scorecards and a player directory for every competitor. If you haven’t got yours already then speak to Ann.
The games can be played at any time and on any terrain between the competition dates as agreed by the players. Each player should play each other once. A win will earn 3 points and 1 point is earned for a loss. The overall winner is the player with the most league points and in the event of a tie the highest match points difference.

The results of the league go towards the 2010 Club Player of the Year Award.

Please remember to keep Ann regularly informed of your scores. Good luck to everybody taking part.

 
A win earned 3 points and 1 point for a loss. The overall winners were the team with the most points and in the event of a tie the highest match points difference.

 
No team remained undefeated throughout the league but with only one defeat in 10 games Jill Gebbett & Clifford Conway were worthy winners amassing 28 out of a possible 30 points. Their only defeat was against the 2nd place pairing of Janice Doherty & David Alfred who achieved 8 wins, 26 league points and the highest points difference of +49. Their 2 defeats were against the eventual 3rd place pairing of Ann Wordsworth & Tony Mann and a surprise 2-13 defeat against Dona & Max Crisfield.

The final league table is as follows :-

Key
W  Games Won            

 L           Games Lost

For     Points scored               

  Aga       Points conceded
+/-      Points difference          

 Pts         League Points
Pat Connolly & Terry Gibbons got off to a great start winning their first 7 games but lost their momentum in their final 3 games which they lost. This left them in 4th place overall with an inferior points difference to Ann W & Tony M.
Congratulations to everyone who took part. Special mention to Dona & Max, who have only been playing for a few months and won 50% of their matches, finishing a very respectable 6th place.

Some interesting (or not!) facts & figures :-
• Janice D & David A conceded only 66 points in their 10 matches
• There were 3 fannies (a 13-0 defeat) – two of them were inflicted by Nick R & Chris H against Di & Chris V and against Pat & Eddie K. The other was inflicted by Jill C & Bill C against Trish & Jeff T
• Winners Jill G & Clifford C won one game to 12, points, two games to 11, one game to 10 and three games to 9 – that’s a lot of close games!
• There were 4 games that finished 13-12 – Pat & Eddie K were on the receiving end against Trish & Jeff T and Jill G & Clifford C. Nick R & Chris H lost to Ann W & Tony M 12-13 but beat Jill C  Bill C 13-12
• Though Pat C & Terry G won 7 and lost 3, their defeats were heavy ones losing to 1 point wice and to 4 points once. Therefore their points difference was only +8
• The most popular result was 13-9 which occurred 9 times
• The second most popular score was 13-1 which occurred 7 times
• The least popular result was 13-10 which only occurred once

Ann Wordsworth was the league organiser and she did a great job encouraging members to take part, play their games and hand-in their scores. This must be one of the first times that all the games in one our club leagues have been completed. So congratulations to Ann for organising a fantastic Mixed Doubles League for us this year.

This knockout competition is to find the top 4 club teams in England who will then play off in a separate event to find the overall winning club. The winning club will represent the EPA at the Confédération de Européenne Pétanque (CEP) European Cup for Club Teams competition. All clubs registered with the EPA with a minimum of 6 members (one of which must be of the opposite gender to the other 5) are automatically entered in the draw. Each club is allowed one team. All players must be EPA members for the current year and hold their membership through BHPC to play for BHPC.

Our squad is as follows :-
Main squad of 6
Ray Ager                                            David Alfred
Janice Doherty                                Norman Hazelden
Fergal Hogan                                    Tony Mann
2 reserves
Pat Connolly                                     Terry Gibbons

In the 1st Round we were drawn against The Junction Inn who withdrew so we received a walkover into round 2 where we faced our friends from The Welcome Stranger. The match was played on Sunday 22nd November at the PST. The conditions were atrocious with relentless strong winds and horizontal rain. With Norman unavailable Pat was brought into the squad.

Each match consists of 7 games played over 3 rounds as follows :-
Round 1 – Triples – 1 mixed & 1 open
Round 2 – Doubles – 1 mixed & 2 open
Round 3 – Triples – 1 mixed & 1 open
Teams are awarded 1 point for each game won and therefore the team with the most points (or wins) after the 7 games is the match winner.

Our Mixed Triples team in round 1 consisted of Janice, David & Fergal & they were up against Sonia, Rob & Herbie. It was a close game but the Welcome Stranger won by 13-7. In the Open Triples Pat, Ray & Tony faced Adam, Mick & Geoff who quickly established a 6-3 lead. In the next end Pat put in a great first point and they shot twice and missed. Their following points were some distance away and with our 5 remaining boules our team got “le sac” (a 6 point end) making it 9-6 to us. In the next and what proved to be a final end our team scored 4 to win the match 13-6.

So after the 1st round it was one game to each club. The next round was the doubles round. Our mixed doubles were Janice & David who played Sonia & Rob. Our open doubles pairings were Fergal & Tony who played Mick & Herbie and Pat & Ray who played Geoff & Adam.

Pat & Ray finished their game first with a 13-8 win putting BHPC 2 games to 1 up. Fergal & Tony struggled in their game and lost 8-13  making it 2 games all overall. However Janice & David won 13-5 to put BHPC in a 3-2 lead before we were due to break for lunch and some respite from the weather.

However one of the Welcome Stranger’s squad was not feeling well and the weather conditions were not helping and they offered to concede the match. Offers of lunch in the warmth of the Iron Duke were not taken up and it was with regret that the last 2 games of the final round were conceded giving BHPC a 5 games to 2 victory.

So we progress through to the 3rd round where we have another home tie against our friends from the Crowborough Social Club who received a walkover in the 2nd round as the Bricklayers Arms couldn’t field a team.

This match will take place in early January and we hope for everyone’s sake that we have better weather !

When people learn how enthusiastic and willing you are you will also find other opportunities open to you. Early in October Ray and Tony found that their regular team members were not available to make up a triples team to play in an open event at Adur and they asked me if I’d like to join them. I said “yes” immediately before they had the chance to change their minds, but I must confess to being more than a little nervous about playing with such good players in the sort of tournament which attracts other toprate players within a considerable travelling distance of the venue.
However – those who dare! As all readers of the newsletter will have guessed, Ray and Tony made me feel very comfortable and relaxed, but, as none of you will have guessed (me neither) we went on to win the competition and a cash prize as well, both experiences a novelty for me. Of even greater value was the enjoyment of playing with people who have lots of experience of playing at this level and are willing to share their knowledge of what makes a team successful, not just with technique and tactics but also with the character to remain relaxed and considerate to their team members when things aren’t going as planned.
To understand the personal qualities of successful players really needs the experience of partnering them and therefore of creating opportunities for this to happen by simply being there, being willing and by being keen to learn. The particular tactics for the team on this occasion however can be written about more easily.

We knew that the Adur members played mostly on the lower, smoother terrain and our tactics were therefore that, when facing Adur opponents, we would choose to play on the higher, more challenging terrain if we won the toss. Also, each individual attempted to play within a plan that was discussed and agreed by the whole team.

Other tactical decisions included throwing a medium-length jack until we knew enough about our opposition to compare their strengths and weaknesses with our own and then we might choose to throw a different length jack in the light of what we had learned. Another element which helps in all competitions is to ensure that the game situation is kept under review after each boule so that all team members agree on what is being attempted with each play. This helps with the focus and concentration needed to be as consistent as possible over the course of a day’s play.
There is much to be gained in entering as many competitions as possible in the various formats the club offers as well as trying open competitions at other nearby clubs, such as Adur and Crowborough, and you will find that your skills improve and your enjoyment increases. Furthermore, as explained above, the less experienced you are the easier this is – so make a resolution for next year to put yourself out there as much as possible in the competition world before you get too good and it becomes more difficult!

Ray Ager adds his thoughts I’d just like to say what a pleasure it was to play – and win! – with Tony & Jeff. Both joined the club as beginners and both regularly attended the club’s Beginners to Winners coaching sessions and both have really applied themselves to the game. The results are clear to see.

Speaking personally, I know very well I’m not a naturally talented player but, like Jeff & Tony, have tried to learn and practice as much as possible, to improve my game. Although for many pétanque is “a fun game” to play well you have to treat pétanque as “a serious sport”, i.e. correctly learn the basic techniques, train, practice, build a team, play competitions, etc, etc, just like any other sport.

The club is going from strength to strength – I’d love to see Sussex advance is a similar fashion and for Brighton to have some of the top regional teams. I hope that next year we’ll see developing support for coaching at both a club and regional level

The 3 BHPC teams were :-
Pat Connolly & Ray Ager
Janice Doherty & Fergal Hogan
David Alfred & Tony Mann

 
There were 10 teams in total and they were split into two leagues of 5 for the morning sessions with 3 games in total being played in each league by each team (including a bye in each league in each round). Unfortunately for the BHPC teams they were all drawn in the same league and all had to play each other in the morning. This kicked off with Pat & Ray beating David & Tony with a terrific display of pointing from Pat. Janice & Fergal lost their opening game and then had to play David & Tony in the 2nd game which they also lost. Pat & Ray had a bye for their 2nd game (a 13-7 win) and then beat Janice & Fergal in their 3rd league game. David & Tony won their 3rd game too.

 
It was a seeded rolling knockout for the top 8 teams in the afternoon and Pat & Ray were seeded as the number 2 team whilst David & Tony were 6th seeds. Janice & Fergal did not make the main knockout but played against the bottom team of the other league in a best out of 3 plate and this they comfortably won.
In the main knockout both BHPC teams won to go through to the last four. David & Tony lost to Martin & Chris from the Wheatsheaf who went on to also beat Pat & Ray in the final. So Pat & Ray finished a very respectable 2nd place with
David & Tony winning their last match to finish 3rd.

There were 3 rounds in the morning before a break for lunch. At the end of the morning session only three players had achieved 3 out of 3 wins and these were David Alfred, Fergal Hogan & Tony Mann.
During lunch the competitors held a vote to decide whether 2 or 3 rounds would be played in the afternoon session (this had been agreed in the morning). By an overwhelming majority a further 2 rounds were organised.
The 4th round ended with further wins for David A, Fergal H and Tony M continuing their 100% record. In the final round however Tony lost his game but both David & Fergal finished as the only players with 5 out of 5 wins.
Having only conceded 17 points from all five games David Alfred was the winner with a point’s difference of +48. Fergal was not far behind conceding only 22 points to take 2nd place.

There were two players who both achieved 4 out of 5 wins but with a superior point’s difference Ray Ager claimed 3rd place over Tony Mann.

It was great to see some of this year’s new members featuring high up the table. Special mention to Daniel Taylor (5th), Jeff Taylor and Marcus Hayward (=7th), Chris Holden (9th) and Nick Rowlands (10th).
Here’s what some competitors had to say about the competition.
• It was great getting the opportunity to play with and against so many different people and picking up tips from so many of them – the club has lots of very generous players!
• It would be good to have this competition twice, at the start of the season and at then end
• It must have been a logistical nightmare for the organisers !
• I enjoyed the experience of playing with some of the more experienced club members
• It must have been complex to organise but it all ran so smoothly
• It was really good fun and a lovely end to the season
As has been acknowledged in some of the feedback this is a complex competition to run. However many competitors were roped in to assist with the draw (ensuring no one was teamed up with people they had already played with) and also helping with checking and totalling the scorecards at the end. It was due to this help that the competition ran so smoothly so thank you to everyone who helped out.

 You may have read Jeff Taylor’s report on the previous page of playing alongside Ray Ager and Tony Mann in this competition. The competition was also to be a fundraiser for the EPA Ladies Team that was to be representing England at the Ladies World Championships in Thailand this year. Debbie Elcombe of Adur PC is one of the members of the ladies team. Unfortunately it was announced before the start that the England Ladies Team would not now be going to Thailand. This was a surprise to all those present but the competition went ahead none the less.

 
It was a 5 round snake competition which is where each team plays 5 games always against different opponents (3 in the morning, lunch, then a further 2). Jeff was the first pointer, Ray played middle and Tony was the shooter. They got off to a great start winning all of their morning games. After lunch their form continued with a further win. In their final game they were up against Debbie Elcombe’s team and unfortunately they lost this match.

Surprisingly none of the teams won all 5 games and there were 3 teams on 4 out of 5 wins. Two of those teams had a superior, but same, points difference and were tied for 1st place. The BHPC team were one of them and Tony suggested a play-off which was turned down, the organisers suggested a toss of a coin which all turned down. Finally the 2 tied teams agreed to share the 1st and 2nd prize money between them and declare themselves as joint winners !

The awards were held in the wonderful surroundings of the Old Market in Hove and attended by various Councillors, the Mayor, the new Chief Executive of Brighton & Hove, staff from the Sport & Leisure team of the Council and various representatives of the community based sports and activity clubs in our city. Representing BHPC were Ray Ager, Pat Connolly, Terry Gibbons and Tony Mann.

Though BHPC did not win the award they were thrilled to be presented with a glass trophy & certificate as being “Highly Recommended” in this category.

It is fantastic that BHPC has been recognised in this category and is testament to all the hard work put in by the EC and many of the club’s members in promoting the sport, our club and encouraging members of the public to participate. Our involvement in the TAKEPART Festival of Sport, the Corporate Games, our own Come & Try days, our club and open competitions as well as engaging with the hundreds of passing public is recognised by this award.

There was also a raffle at the end of the night and we were double winners there with Pat winning a Canterbury Pro bag and Tony a £50 meal for two at Moshi Moshi.