Petanque England Skills Award
Petanque England (PE) are pleased to announce that Samueljacks Teamwear will take on the sponsorship of the Junior Skills Award scheme as of the 1st January, 2024. The company which is already involved in providing kit to both PE, and many regions is based in Norwich.
Proprietor, Steve Harris told us:
“We at Samueljacks Teamwear are pleased to be able to support the development of young petanque players, they are our future! We have always thought the PE Skills Award scheme was a good way of doing this and we are pleased to sponsor the scheme and give encouragement to our future champions”.
The Petanque England (PE) Skills Award scheme was launching in 1996 by David Lavelle and in the intervening 28 years has provided a pathway for young players to develop their skills in the sport from the introductory phase through to a high level of technical expertise.
Juniors start with the basics of how to play and achieve the White award. They progress to Green, Red and finally Blue levels. Red and Blue awards are focused on improving skills and achieving high levels of consistency that would be required to perform both nationally and internationally. The levels are attained over an extended time period so the young players would improve as they gained experience.
The requirements to achieve each level can be found below.
Successful candidates are presented with a medallion and certificate and their achievements are recognised at Club, Regional & National level.
PE qualified coaches based at local Clubs can start juniors on the journey to achieve the awards, they might need support and guidance from Regional Development Officers which should be forthcoming or they can make contact with PE Juniors via juniors@petanque-england.uk.
Our experience is that juniors and coaches enjoy the Award Scheme. It provides a clear route for the young player to follow with rewards as they achieve each goal. The scheme also provides coaches with a structure to follow as they take their charges up the ladder of progress.
We are grateful to Samueljacks Teamwear for their sponsorship of the scheme. They provide the medallions and the certificates to the successful candidates. The Company provides sportswear to many Petanque Clubs and Regional organisations and are pleased to play a part in encouraging the development of our youth.
White Award
The emphasis of this award is placed upon participation. Those taking the Award are likely to have been playing petanque for about six months. Candidates will need to complete all the listed activities in order to pass. A
pass will be awarded to any individual that can prove to the examiner that they can complete the tasks set out competently in a consistent manner.
The Examiner will be a qualified Petanque England coach.
Activities to be completed
1. Demonstrate to the examiner how you hold the boule correctly and how you find the correct size boule for yourself.
2. Demonstrate to the examiner the correct stance to adopt in the throwing circle before delivering a boule.
3. To be able to throw a boule using the correct grip.
4. To throw a boule demonstrating good use of back swing during the throw when pointing at 6m from the inside edge of the throwing circle.
5. To throw a boule demonstrating good use of back swing during the throw when attempting to shoot boule to boule at 6m.
6. To throw a boule to a jack at 8m demonstrating a good stance and steady balance throughout the throw.
7. To be able to throw a boule along a straight line without bringing the throwing arm across the body during the follow-through stage of the throw.
8. To throw a boule demonstrating a good release of the boule.
9. Discus with the examiner the use of the candidates second arm, i.e. not that used to deliver the boule
Knowledge
1. To be able to explain to the examiner what is meant by the following terms:-
a) Pointing
b) Shooting – and
c) Explain the importance of safety, what are the dangers inherent in the game of petanque?
2. To inform the examiner of the answers to the following rules:-
a) When the jack is thrown at the start of an end, what is the minimum and maximum distance from the inner edge of the circle that it can travel?
b) What is the minimum distance from the end line of a lane that the jack must be, when thrown at the start of an end?
c) What is the number of boules each player uses in a game of singles, doubles and triples?
d) All candidates should satisfy the examiner that they have learnt the basic throwing technique and that they know the basic rules needed to be able to play a game of pétanque
Green Award
Candidates will need to complete all the listed activities in order to pass. The tasks that are to be undertaken in this award are of an advanced standard to that of the White award. A pass will be awarded to any individual that can prove to the examiner that they can complete the tasks set out competently and in a consistent manner.
The examiner will be a qualified Petanque England Coach.
Activities to be completed
1. Demonstrate how to point a boule from a squatting position towards a jack placed at 6m from the throwing circle, stopping within 70cm of the jack.
2. Demonstrate how to hit a boule without landing more than 50cm in front of the target boule that is placed at 6m from the throwing circle.
3. Demonstrate to the examiner that you can throw a jack to within a circle of 1m in diameter whilst the examiner varies the distance to which the jack is thrown at least 3 times.
4. Demonstrate how to point a boule to within a circle of 70cm in diameter whilst the examiner is responsible for ensuring that the distance at which a boule is pointed to is varied at least 3 times.
5. Demonstrate how you measure the distance between a boule and a jack correctly.
6. Play as a double a complete game of pétanque demonstrating an understanding of the basic Official Rules of Pétanque.
The examiner will take note of the stance and balance of candidates when performing these tasks.
Knowledge
1. What is meant by the following terms: A pointer, a shooter and the milieu?
a) At the start of an end, when the jack is thrown, what is the minimum distance is can be from a jack or circle from another game?
b) When the circle is drawn or placed at the start of a game what is the minimum distance it must be from an obstacle? And from a circle or jack from another game?
2. Explain how you score points in a game of pétanque?
3. What happens if the jack becomes dead? Three scenarios?
4. Why is it important to mark the positions of the boule and the jack after each boule has been thrown? And the position of the circle at the start of an end?
Red Award
In order to pass this award candidates will need to attempt all the skill activities and achieve a score of at least 6 out of 12 in every activity. One mark is awarded every time the task is completed successfully. The Green Award must be held before the Red Award can be taken.
The examiner for a RED Award must be a PE qualified coach not involved in coaching or mentoring the candidate for the Award, ideally the examiner will come from another Club.
Activities to be completed
1. Demonstrate to the examiner that the candidate can lob a boule over a rope/bar that is positioned at least 3m above the ground consistently into a circle that is 2m in diameter placed with its front edge at 6m from the throwing circle. The front edge is that closest to the throwing circle.
2. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can hit a boule without dropping short, using a soft looping shooting method to hit the target that is placed 50 cm behind another boule at 6m from the throwing circle. The target boule should be 6.5m and the obstructing boule 6m from the throwing circle.
3. To hit the middle boule out of three that are positioned side by side with a gap of 10 cm between each of them. The boule will be placed at 6m, 7m and 8m distances from the circle.
4. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can promote a boule by landing no more than 50cm in front of a target boule and bring the target boule to within a 50cm radius circle around the jack placed at 7m from the throwing circle.
5. To be able to point a boule from a squatting position to within 50 cm of a jack placed at 6m from the throwing circle. The examiner will take note of the candidates stance and balance when completing these activities.
6. Be able to complete a competition score card and enter results onto a league sheet.
7. To play as a double a complete game of petanque adhering to the Official Rules of Pétanque utilizing the shots performed in this award. Candidates will pass this exercise providing that they have shown to the examiner that they have worked tactically as a team. This task must be completed to the satisfaction of the examiner in order to pass.
Knowledge
1. Explain to the examiner what is meant by and then give an example of when it would be appropriate to use the following:-
a) Trailing the jack.
b) Promoting a boule.
c) Lobbing a boule.
d) Discus etiquette on the terrain, give some examples of good and bad etiquette.
2. Inform the examiner of the answers to the following rules:-
a) Entitlement to move the circle back.
b) What is the minimum distance required for a jack, when thrown at the start of an end, from the side line that separates the lanes or the dead boule lines at the side of the lanes.
Blue Award
To receive this award participants should attempt all the skill activities and achieve success and consistency. In order to pass this award candidates must obtain eight out of twelve in 8 of the first 10 tasks. On completing 8 out of 10 tasks, task 11 must be completed to the satisfaction of the examiner in order to pass this level. The Red Award must be held before the Blue Award can be taken.
The examiner for the Blue Award will be a qualified PE coach who has not been involved in coaching or mentoring the candidate and who should ideally come from another Club.
The Red Plus Award might be given when 4 of the following practical activities, from the Blue Award, 1-10, are completed successfully to the standard outlined above.
Activities to be completed
1. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can throw a jack to within a circle of 75cm in diameter. The centre of the circle to be 7m from the throwing circle.
2. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can point a boule to within a circle of 50cm in diameter whereby the examiner is responsible for ensuring that the distance at which a boule is pointed is varied at least 3 times.
3. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can lob using the correct throwing method over a rope/bar which is 3m above the ground landing the boule in a circle that is 1m in diameter, the front edge (that closest to the throwing circle) placed at 6m from the throwing circle. The boule must remain inside the circle in order for the boule to score.
4. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can lob using the correct throwing method over a rope/bar which is 3m above the ground landing the boule in a circle that is 1m in diameter the front edge placed at 9m
from the throwing circle. The boule must remain inside the circle in order for the boule to score.
5. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can hit a boule without dropping short, using a soft looping shooting method to hit a boule that is placed 40cm behind another boule. The target boule placed at a distance of 8m from the throwing circle, the obstructing boule at 7.60m.
6. To hit the left boule where two boules are placed side by side, 10cm apart, at varying distances within the minimum and maximum distances defined in the Official Rules of Pétanque.
7. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can promote a boule by landing in front of a boule and bring the target boule to within 20cm of the jack at the minimum distance, 6m.
8. To be able to point a boule with the use of spin landing in a 50cm diameter circle which is to the side of three boules and then spin the boule from the left to the right to within 1m of the jack which is placed 2m directly behind the three boules in front of the jack. The three obstructing boule, should be not less than 5m nor more than 6m from the throwing circle.
9. To be able to point a boule with the use of spin landing in a 50cm diameter circle which is to the side of three boules and the spin the boule from the right to the left to within 1m of the jack which is placed 2m directly behind the three boules in front of the jack. The three obstructing boule, should be not less than 5m nor more than 6m from the throwing circle.
10. Demonstrate to the examiner that a candidate can point a boule that moves the jack placed at 6m back by at least 10cm.
11. To play as a double a complete game of pétanque adhering strictly to the Official Rules of Pétanque and showing to the examiner that they have worked tactically as a team.
Knowledge
1. Candidates should be able to explain to the examiner what happens in the
following circumstances:-
a) What can be removed from the terrain during an end.
b) What happens if a boule or jack is displaced by a boule or moving object from another game.
c) What happens if a boule or jack is moved in the course of measuring.
d) How far a jack needs to be displaced from the throwing circle in order for it to be declared dead. How close to the throwing circle can the jack be moved before it is declared dead.
This award will take the candidate between 1 and 2 years to complete.
Contact us
Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries or assistance. You can contact us via email.
juniors@petanque-england.uk
We value your feedback and suggestions. Let us know how we can improve and better serve the needs of our junior petanque community.