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SOME OF YOU might be curious as to the difference between petanque federations and confederations. The FPUSA as a federation, belongs to the FIPJP, the international federation, but we also belong to the Pan America Confederation, which is comprised of federations from the Americas. Every federation that belongs to the FIPJP also belongs to a confederation.
The PanAm Confederation is one of the smallest, with only 5 member federations, and according to Mike Pegg, President of the European Confederation, the European is "the largest Confederation with 40 member federations." In August of 2021 FPUSA World Championship Qualifiers were held in Portland Oregon at the Portland Petanque Club to determine what Men’s and Women’s teams would represent the US at the World Championships in Denmark this May. Tish Harris and Chia Vang were victorious for the women and Joseph Hassoune and Hourai Baba for the men.
The World Championships are composed of Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles along with Men’s and Women’s Singles. Here are profiles of the four players competing this year. By Jeanne-Marie Browning & Bleys Rose
Austin, TX – Women in petanque have made a splash over the last few years, increasingly participating in competitions and steadily improving their level of play. The trend gave birth to the idea for the first Women’s Petanque Retreat, a women-centric event. Kasia Sliz, a member of the New York petanque community, threw out the idea of recruiting an experienced women coach/trainer, which started a ripple among U.S. petanque women that turned into a tidal event culminating in the last weekend of March. Kasia had started a female-oriented petanque group on social media and detected demand for a training camp specifically for women. A total of 42 participants from across the USA and Mexico joined together for workshops and strategy discussions, as well as training in shooting and pointing skills. They left with a new sense of confidence that they will carry with them onto the courts. |
