There are over 50 Petanque Clubs in Australia with over 1500 licensed players. Many more play the game socially.
The Smythesdale Petanque Club is a small but active group who play the sport. The Club was established about 2 years ago and now has 27 members.
Members of the club have played in tournaments in Victoria and around Australia but until now the Club hasn't had a home of its own. Members have played on home “pistes” (the ground that Petanque is played on).
However that is about to change as the Club takes up residency in an underused section of ground at the Woady Yaloak Recreation Reserve in Smythesdale. The Reserve Committee of Management has agreed for the Club to use the ground at the front of the stadium. This area, originally the official entrance to the Stadium, had fallen into disrepair in recent years.
Now the Golden Plains Council has agreed to clear the area of weeds and lay some gravel onto the area. This will allow the Petanque Club to play up to 10 consecutive games across 10 pistes in the area whilst making use of the facilities of the Reserve.
At the same time the cleaned up area will be usable for other Recreation Reserve user groups and the adjacent primary school for other activities.
The Petanque Club will be kicking off use of their new home with their inaugural Annual Tournament on Saturday Oct 15th when about 100 people are expected to attend from around the State.
