 THE FOUNDING MEMBERS of the new FPUSA club first met as members of Club Francais de Sacramento, a French cultural organization that has long offered petanque as part of its social activities and is also a member of FPUSA. The group realized that they had one big thing in common - they love to play and compete in petanque. Their Sunday games eventually morphed into weekday training after work, even during cold winter months. They would text each other every day about when to meet up and play until it was too late to stay out. Petanque became their life. While they appreciated the foundation built by Club Francais de Sacramento, the group realized that Sacramento needed a club dedicated solely to petanque so that resources could support players. Thus, Sactown Petanque was formed in January 2022 and is believed to be the first club in the U.S. to be founded by players, a majority of which are members of Sacramento’s Hmong community.  Christophe Sarafian, who serves as president of the newly formed Sactown Petanque, and Brendan Cohen, president of Club Francais de Sacramento, are collaborating to support each other’s events. The new club shares the long-established courts at the Mather Sports Center, as well as others in Florin Creek Park, both in the Sacramento area.
Barely a few months after formation, Sactown Petanque demonstrated its commitment to petanque by bidding on, and being awarded, several FPUSA regional tournaments, as well as the Triples Juniors’ and Women’s World Qualifiers on the weekend of Oct. 1-2. With donated funds and time from its members, they created an online shop (sactownpetanque.com/shop) to promote petanque through fun t-shirts and accessories. Proceeds from the shop will help support members participate in out-of-town tournaments, which can be costly for many players. As a new club with not-so-new players, Sactown Petanque is excited about being part of FPUSA and appreciates the support it receives from the petanque community. They can’t wait to play. Comments are closed.
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