Monday Competition:
The Monday competition is continuing with keen interest from all involved including the latest players, John O'connor, Eddie Phillips, Hamed Sako, Terry Stanley, Marie Doherty.
Following the AGM earlier in the year the Committee has agreed to move the next Competition to Saturday mornings with a view to permitting working members to play, should they wish, and broaden the appeal to potential new, younger members along with other BBC members who couldn't play on Mondays.
If there are less than 20 interested in playing Competition on Saturdays we will return to the Monday slot. More to follow before the start of October. Sample score sheet below:
Saturday Morning Coaching / Training:
To complement the Saturday Morning Training/Coaching Tom Buckley has created a 'Shooting Apparatus' similar to the one in Belturbet. It is dismantlable for portability as we cannot leave it on site so we will be looking for members who would store all or some of it. Those of us who have played in IPA Competitions know that prowess in 'Shooting' is the main difference between ourselves and better adversaries.
Tuesday Group:
The Tuesday /Thursday sessions are well subscribed and many new players are cutting their teeth on these days as well as the Wednesday morning sessions. It is wonderful, to have members playing most days of the week as new interested parties know they can attend on days that suit them.
The Mike Deegan Memorial Trophy Event: Friday 26th July 2024
Nigel, with assistance from Tom D organised a wonderful Singles Competition for St. Anne's and Bayside Boules in St Anne's Park, in memory of the late Mike Deegan. We discussed making this our annual memorial event as we recently lost Kitty Rowley and Shay Coyne. I think Mike's family would be fine with this arrangement. John Campbell, a great friend of all three, was the worthy, emotional winner of the event. After Nigel presented the perpetual trophy players from both clubs retired for a cake and coffee to Olive's Room at the Red Stables. Thanks to all who made the event possible.
BBC v MCBC Tuesday 30th July 2024
We had a return fixture with Malahide Castle Boules Club on Tuesday 30th July in Alden Park. We deliberately delayed hosting Malahide until we had our two extra pistes. The six pistes allowed us to maximise the numbers playing. Malahide brought 15 players and with Tom and Eileen D on admin duties Bayside had 15 players also. The morning was wonderful and the play excellent. Bayside won the event by a narrow cumulative score.
We asked that players attend at 10:00 to commence play at 10:30 following the organisation of teams and allocation of pistes. All players played three games. The Malahide triples stayed on their original pistes and the Bayside Triples rotated for three timed games. We didn't' draw for new teams after each game as time would be lost and we were due to for lunch at the Bayside Inn for 1 p.m.
We ordered platters of sandwiches from the Perfect Day Café, Greendale, which were delivered to the Bayside Inn. Dave Poole the barman has a brother who manages the Perfect Day Café so we supported two local businesses. Each BBC player contributed €5 to cover the cost of the food for both groups. There was a shortfall which the BBC picked up. We also contributed €50 towards the defibrillator fund in lieu of payment for the tea and coffee in the Bayside Inn.
Malahide made contact thanking us for the games and the hospitality. They really enjoyed the day. The following day I got an email from MCBC to say they were applying for two extra pistes in Malahide to match our situation !!
Called to the Bench....
We were pleasantly surprised on Wednesday 7th July when two new, composite park benches arrived at the pistes courtesy of Fingal Co. Co. Operations [ Ted Lynch and John Mark Bentley ]. We repositioned them so that visitors and members can use them to view matches. They both have wheelchair accessibility. They are very heavy and hopefully indestructible!
Sligo Petanque Club v Bayside Boules Club. Sat. 10th August 2024
The long awaited visit to Sligo happened on Sat. 10th August. We were short on numbers but Sligo insisted they were ready and willing to host us. They were happy that we were willing to travel from Dublin. As Connacht Development Officer for the IPA I was particularly delighted that were able to fulfil the fixture.
All seven of us left Howth Junction by DART at 8 a.m. and travelled free [except Hamed !!] from Connolly to Sligo, arriving just after noon. We were collected from the station and ferried to Mitchell Curley Park where a welcoming party were ready to meet and greet. They fed us royally as they had a combination of hot food, salads, tea/coffee and multiple bottles of water before play.
Their chairman, Anthony Cawley, directed operations and we played a mix of singles, doubles and triples over the next three hours.
The weather was spectacular with views of Ben Bulben and Knocknaree from the venue. They had some excellent young players whose skill set kept us at bay and they won the outing by a considerable margin.
Their facility is a template for national competition. The terrain is vast, by Irish standards, with a boundary fence and a coded gate. They recently had two 'perspex team shelters' installed for a nominal fee by Sligo Co. Co.
The people were a lovely, welcoming group and I never enjoyed losing so much!!
They dropped us back to the station where the train took the strain and we were home by 9 p.m. after a great day. Needless to say the weather was the true winner!!
Our thanks to our local HOPE BREWERY who provided us with 'Gift Packs' of locally produced beer at cost. Our thanks to Wim and his Team at Howth Junction.
N.B. Sligo Pétanque Club will visit us in Alden Park on Saturday 7th September . The players who travelled to Sligo will be automatic choices , if they want to play. As with the Malahide event we will collect a fee from our member/players to cover the cost of any food/refreshment for all. As it is an afternoon fixture on a Saturday and the soccer season has started we may not have easy access to the Bayside Inn but we will work on that. Will keep you posted.
IPA Inaugural National Interclub Competition: Sat 17th August 2024
BBC was one of five clubs who entered the first national interclub competition. The organisers had hoped for greater representation from across the island but, as many clubs are in their infancy, they are not in a position to find six players willing/able to compete nationally.
Each club could forward six players by the registration date. They could have a 'Coach' if required. Ciarán used his data base from a variety of competitions last year to select the premier candidates. Some players contacted were not able to compete on the Sat. 17th August. One player had to be from the non-dominant gender.
Our eventual team was: Ciarán, Dirk, Chris, Tom B, Mary G, Tom D.
We played in one half of the draw against Drumod Petanque Club [Leitrim / Cavan] . The other half of the draw had Cavan Pétanque, Ormeau Pétanque and Park Pétanque. Everyone played a Singles, Doubles and Triples match.
Our Doubles were: Ciarán + Dirk Mary + Chris Tom B + Tom D
Our Triples were: Ciarán, Dirk, Chris Tom B, Mary, Tom D
Winning your Doubles counted 3 points; Triples 2 points and Singles 1 point. We won our side of the draw meaning we played Cavan Pétanque in the final, playing Single, Doubles and Triples once again. We performed commendably whilst losing out. The difference was, once again, the ability of some of the younger Cavan contingent to shoot on sight.
However, we were the silver medal winners on the day in the inaugural, All-Ireland Inter Club Competition 2024. Well done all involved. In time we hope other members will feel confident enough to attempt IPA events.
In our celebration we are aware that there are other players on the island who would definitely have challenged for honours but you have to be 'in it to win it' so congratulations to BBC. We are putting our name on the map and three of our team had not played IPA sponsored events before!
Open Day Sun 25th August Offering a chance for locals to play the game of Boules.
We propose to advertise an OPEN DAY where locals can try the sport of Boules / Pétanque. We will have trial boules available from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. We hope to have a few members available to support the venture on the day. Posters will be sent to BBC Facebook Page as well as that of the Bayside Community Centre and Bayside Community Association. I'm encouraging members to contact anyone they think might be interested to come along, also. [Weather permitting]
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Finally BBC wishes to commiserate with Sharyon Dunphy on the sudden, sad loss of her husband Michael, recently. Despite her grief she has bravely attended her Dance and Boules activities. Great to see her and we hope the Boules, in some small way, supports her journey. RIP Michael.
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