John Edmonson (PE Juniors Head Coach) put together his second England Juniors team for a trip to Holland at the weekend (31/1 – 2/2/25); It was a good time for John to experiment, two of the boys from the Euro’s are now age barred, so the boys team only included one of the Euro team, Alex Warren, he was joined by Ethan Byrne, Alex Read and Nathan Huntley. The girls only had one change, Sasha Davies being given the opportunity to show her talent, she joined, Amy Geddes, Aimee Rickman, and Ayva Law.
The weekend started on Saturday morning with a joint coaching session between the English and Netherlands Juniors Squads, run at the P.U.K. Bouladrome, Haarlem, Amsterdam. It is fair to say that the English squad turning green with envy when they experienced the magnificent facilities at P.U.K. but we were also impressed by the quality of coaching on offer.
After lunch the players were split into pairs to play a competition. Coach John teamed Amy G with Aimee R, and Ayva joined Sasha; the boys pairs were Alex W and Ethan, plus Alex R and Nathan. The four English pairs were to play each of the Dutch teams during the rest of the day.
The first two rounds were even. Round one, the two Dutch boys teams beat their English counterparts, and the two English girls teams won both their matches. Round two followed a similar pattern. Amy & Aimee won their match vs. another girls team comfortably; Sasha & Ayva went down to the second of the Dutch boys pairs 9-13 having recovered from 2-8 down; Alex R and Nathan beat another girls pair 13-12 but Alex W and Ethan were fannied by the top Dutch boys team. Two rounds, 4-4.
The third round did not start ’till 1730hrs which was when dinner had been scheduled and you could see our teams were tired and hungry. This was reflected in their performance. Unfortunately we lost all four legs. The final match of the day came after eating and the Amy and Aimee combination put on a great show to beat the top Dutch boys team 13-3. Unfortunately the rest of the team could not follow their lead.
Sunday and the Dutch organisers placed girls v girls and boys v boys in a ‘semi final’ format. The Amy’s again showed their quality beating their compatriots 13-2. The boys each faced Dutch opposition with Alex W and Ethan going down to two, and Alex R and Nathan losing to seven.
‘The finals’ The Amy’s thus far unbeaten by the home girls teams had a torrid start gong 6-0 and then 8-2 down, they fought back well but the Dutch shooter had got her eye in and managed to squeeze her team home 13-9. Sasha and Ayva played superbly to beat the other Dutch team 13-8 to take third place. The two English boys teams played off for 3/4th place and it was quite a battle with Ethan and Alex coming out on top 13-10.
So my summary of the weekend, the kids learnt a lot. The difference between the Dutch & English boys was the Dutch could shoot and do so consistently – our lads put in some great shots but not often enough, there was not much difference in the pointing. The girls were very close, the team with the best performance over the weekend was Amy and Aimee but to take third place Ayva and Sasha also did well. The Dutch boys were all 16yrs, not absolutely sure but I think the girls were the same. Our boys were 12yrs, 14yrs and 2 x 15yrs and girls 2 x13yrs, and 2 x 15yrs. Those years make a difference.
Petanque England and their party are grateful to Jobbi Schefferlie and his colleagues from Nederlandse Jeu de Boules Bond for organising this event and hosting our party so well. Great coaching, great facilities and a great welcome, thank-you
We strongly encourage all juniors who take part in competitions or training days to share their unique experiences with us. Your personal story could be the next one highlighted on our website, inspiring others in the community. To submit your exciting petanque adventures, please send an email to mark.bell@petanque-england.uk
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We look forward to hearing from you and celebrating the accomplishments of our young players! Your contributions and stories are vital in showcasing the talent and dedication of our juniors, and together, we can continue to nurture the future of pétanque.