130th Post - Officially now Bayside Boules Club

Condolences:  BBC has offered the condolences of the Club to the O'Callaghan family on the sad loss of Clodagh who with her husband, Andy, played with the original players before her illness struck.  Many of our players knew her personally and our Monday session has been cancelled as a mark of respect. R.I.P. Clodagh.

IGM:  Our Inaugural Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 2nd March at 7pm in the Bayside Community Centre.  The outgoing ad-hoc committee [ Tom D, Ciarán, Agnes, charlie O'D, Eileen D, Chris G, Nigel, John O'C, Tom B ]  put a lot of work since late 2019 to date and for the organisation of this meeting and were delighted with the positive response and turn out.  In order to avail of an supports offered by Fingal Public Participation Network [ Fingal PPN].  All attendees had paid the €20 subscription to the new Bayside Community Club which included the membership of the Irish Petanque Association [IPA] and their insurance cover.  Any players wishing to playin IPA Competitions will pay an extra €20 and the small fee to cover costs on the day of competitions.

The new committee, as elected:     Chairperson: Chris Grehan    Secretary: Tom Donnellan    Treasurer:  Ciarán Walsh    +  Anne Doyle    + Dirk Juergen Starz

Fingal PPN:  To register for Fingal PPN we had to hold  an AGM; have an acceptable Constitution; elect Officers to run the 'Club';  hold regular minuted, meetings; and open a Banking account if we  wish to receive grants etc.  

Membership:  We have over 50 paid-up members which makes us one of the larger 'Clubs' in the country.  We hope that when the two new pistes come on stream that we can grow the playing numbers while retaining the friendly atmosphere of the 'Club'.  The last iteration of the Monday Boules Competition is about to finish and thereafter the Club Singles will be open to all who wish to play and we'll try to accommodate all-comers.

Cabinteely Petanque:  We had our first Away Outing of 2024 at the invite of Cabinteely Petanque at their unusual terrain on the grounds of Cabinteely House.  The pathways in front of the building were challenging to play on but they organised a nice event where we played three games with three boules each.  We had ten players in attendance with our identifiable caps.  As they had more players than us they played two boules each. They were victorious but the whole experience was very positive.  They were a nice crew and joined us for coffee afterwards in the local café / toilet facility, which is a great bonus. 

IPA Singles:  Sunday 23rd March.  Ciarán, Dirk and Tom D played in the Leinster IPA Singles Competition in Marlay Park.  There were 20 players from various clubs around Leinster.  We were drawn  in two groups and played five timed games initially.  The top four from each group went through to the quarter finals.  Tom D was lucky not to have met 'shooters' in his group games and qualified to play in the 1/4 finals.  He was beaten by a very good pointer who made the final only to be beaten by a player who can shoot at will!  Despite the occasional shower, the clash with a Parkrun and the packed car park the day was well run.  Those who could shoot were likely to feature highly though a good pointer made the final.  Shooting is not everything but it helps if you have it in our repertoire.

BBC Monday Competition:  

The competition is going to the wire. So little separates Chris and Tom B that anything could happen. There will be one more Group A Monday Singles and when the new Pistes are delivered we will change the format.

Cancelled 25-03-24 as a mark of respect to the O'Callaghan Family.

Facebook:  When the Facebook page goes live it will contain, among other things, the timetables for BBC events and the IPA events, which have to be entered at least a fortnight in advance.  Please avoid being in any photos if you don't want your image to appear on the Facebook Page.  Excuse yourself rather than having the burden on the media manager.

Maintenance:  Our thanks to the crew Charlie, Agnes, James, Jim, Tom D and Tom B who volunteered for some ongoing maintenance at the pistes in 2024.  It will involve some Strimming; Mowing; Weeding; Edging; Marking out; Graffiti removal; Flower Beds; Raking; Litter picking and any other minor works.  We will ask for greater numbers for special events.

Extension:  As requested, we have decided on a layout for the proposed extension to the pistes.  We forwarded the diagrams and dimensions to Fingal Operations.  They will probably have a site meeting with us before commencing work.  They will wait until the ground dries up before bringing in heavy machinery.  Hopefully the installation will be ready by May.  

Provincial Development Rep. for the IPA:  Tom D was recently elected as Provincial Development Representative for Connacht within the IPA.  His role will be to try to develop the sport within the five counties of Connacht over 2024.  Sligo has the only developed Petanque Terrain of the five counties.  I hope that BBC and other clubs might be able to assist by visiting a couple of proposed locations over the year to demonstrate and play with any comers in friendly mixed competition to help establish at least one group in each county.  More anon......

Some items to come in 2024:  [ We may not get all done but we'll try!!]

New Pistes       Friday Night Boules         Bastille Day        Home v Cavan / Malahide / Lucan  

Away v TBD        Singles Matchplay        Doubles Matchplay        Coaching        IPA Events       

Shooting Comps       Mike Deegan Trophy          Train the Teachers                Open Day 

Encourage senior classes to play        Parent/Grandparent + Child Competition

Business Houses Blitz