St. B pétanque tourneyset for Aug. 25

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This article was published 17/08/2022 (1174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. BONIFACE

It’s not unusual to see baseball players doing their thing during the summer months in Provencher Park, but anyone passing the popular greenspace on Thursday nights since June may have also seen another sport in action. Since early June, free pétanque sessions, open to all in the community, have been held in the park.

In short, pétanque is a traditional outdoor game, native to southern France, and is played by two opposing players aiming to throw metallic bowls as close as they can to a smaller wooden ball.

To round out the summer sessions, players will compete in an end-of-season pétanque tournament to be held in the park on Aug. 25 from 5 to 9 p.m. The event is being held by L’Alliance Française du Manitoba in partnership with L’Union Nationale Français, Sports en Français and La Crêperie Ker Breizh.

Throughout the summer sessions, organizers have done their best to make sure participants have a good time: the UNF provides the equipment — the boules and the jack — and there’s no need to register, so participation throughout the evening.

The sessions are part of an Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (CDEM) initiative called Les Jeudis de la Francophonie, where visitors can also take in the Marché d’été St. Boniface Summer Market on Esplanade Riel or a French-speaking film at Movies Under the Stars at St. Boniface Cathedral.

“Things have gone very nicely this summer with the pétanque sessions,” said Adèle Tornare, cultural and communications project assistant at L’Alliance Française du Manitoba.

Tornare said part of the success of the sessions is that they’ve attracted a wide range of participants, and that it’s also been a hit with families.

“We’ve seen people of all ages and all generations, including some first-time players. It’s been a very chilled environment and people have been enjoying their time together,” Tornare said.

In terms of the upcoming tournament, it will feature 16 teams — at press time, there will still spots available — made up of three participants. One or two people can also register to participate and will be added to a team.

Registration is $10 per person and will include a crêpe made by La Crêperie Ker Breizh. There will be prizes for the top three teams, including gift cards and wine.

Anyone attending the event who doesn’t take part in the tournament will still be able to buy a crêpe, as La Crêperie Ker Breizh will be there all night, and “enjoy the relaxed energy and the company of others with a musical ambience,” Tornare said.

As well, the Sports en Français team will lead games and activities for attending children, which will allow their parents to take full advantage of the tournament.

“There will be activities for kids and teens, such as a relay, and they be will supervised while their parents are in the tournament,” Tornare said.

L’Union Nationale Français will also have a kiosk at the event and will be selling T-shirts and pétanque boules and jacks.

If the event is cancelled owing to inclement weather, refunds will be issued.

Go online at www.afmanitoba.ca for more information or to register.