Carole Woodward, the Playing Captain of Whitnash Windmill Pétanque Club based in Pétanque England’s Heart of England region explains how they have developed a great strategy to attract young people to our sport.
A couple of years ago we decided to invite our local secondary school Duke of Edinburgh students for a ‘Come and Try’ session at our club during school hours with a view to using pétanque as part of the award requirements. I have been asked by several people how we have made this successful, so I have written this piece which describes how we have progressed and made this work so well.
How it works
There are four aspects to the Duke of Edinburgh scheme – Physical, Skill, Volunteering and Expedition, and students have to commit to three to six months regular participation for the first three of those disciplines. This is a plus to start with, rather than the one-off invitations to scouts, youth clubs, etc as you have the chance to really get them involved on an ongoing basis.
You will need to keep a Log of all the skills you teach them, and maybe take some action shot photos of them (with their parents’ permission, of course) and at the end of the year you need to complete an Assessors Report of their progress for each student, highlighting their achievements.
Pétanque England runs a Skills Award Scheme (White, Green, Blue and Red) and so the White Award could be their first goal, and looks impressive in their Assessment Report. They receive a medal and a certificate (kids love a medal!) for this achievement, and details can be found on the Pétanque England website.
Spreading the word
We have had success in recruiting two or three juniors each year this way, and it has had a knock-on effect, as our juniors have got so hooked on the sport that their siblings and their friends have also now joined our club – recommendation is the best advertisement tool. We currently have 21 juniors at Whitnash who play regularly as opposed to seven juniors 3 years ago. Several of them have competed in competitions not only at our club and in our region, but also nationally, and we currently have two juniors who are in the England Junior Squad. All juniors can also take part in the national coaching sessions and competitions if they wish, with a view to improving their skills with opportunities to play around the country.
To make it successful you will need to be able to provide weekly sessions for them, and so you need a suitable venue and committed volunteers, and at least one person in charge who has a current DBS certificate. Our motto is “make it fun”. If they don’t enjoy it, they won’t stay. So we teach them all the basics right from the off and build on that until they become competent. I can say with confidence that all 21 of our juniors have a fantastic time at our club, and apart from our weekly club night many of them go down there 3 or 4 times a week to practice, and they are all becoming very able players.
Regular events
We now hold several club competitions specifically for the juniors – Singles Champs, Pairs Champs, Shooting Champs, Pointing Champs and we have recently run an Adult/Junior league during the summer holidays, which has proved successful so we will pursue this in the future. We also run quarterly Junior Club League matches (13 weekly matches in each quarter, so we play all year round), alongside our senior one, and we hold Skills Coaching each week too, where we teach them a particular skill, eg shooting into a tyre, lobbing over a pole, pointing into a circle, throwing a coche into a circle, promoting a boule, etc. At the end of each practice session, we hold a little competition to score up to ten points each week, which forms a Quarterly Skills League, and this really gets competitive and is fun for them, and they enjoy competing for the trophy each quarter.
We also have fantastic support from our members, offering their experience and encouragement to the youngsters, which is so appreciated, and also the juniors’ parents, who attend weekly with them even through the winter months (armed with blankets and hot water bottles….seriously!) to support and encourage and it has become quite a social event for everyone each week.
Changing lives through our sport
Pétanque for many of our juniors (and adults) has had a massive impact on them and has transformed and enhanced many lives. It is especially rewarding for anyone with ADHD, autism, social awkwardness, anxiety, loneliness, etc .and is particularly good for juniors who are not otherwise particularly ‘sporty’. We have built a ‘family’ at Whitnash and everyone very much enjoys the social aspect as well as the sport, and many new friendships have been formed. Even some of the parents are now hooked and joining our club so it is a ‘win/win’ situation.
I would encourage every club to try this method of recruitment. The DoE students have to make their choices of activities in the first couple of weeks of September, so the best person to contact at your local school is the Duke of Edinburgh Lead Tutor, maybe with a copy of any correspondence to the Head. You only need two or three youngsters to start with and from our experience this will grow into friends and siblings joining in. For next year, I would suggest contacting the schools in the summer term to offer a ‘’Come and Try” session, which will give the students the summer to think about their options, ready to start in September.
You can find more information about the scheme on www.dofe.org
In their own words…
Below are some comments I have received from some of our junior members.
“Pétanque is a fun activity to do with my friends and it is exciting to learn new skills”
(11 years old)
“Pétanque has helped me become more confident in myself. It has taught me not to give up when you are having an off day. It has helped me form new friendships that I am grateful for. The skills it has taught me are valuable in life. These include, patience, listening, having respect and learning to enjoy myself”
(14 years old)
“I have thoroughly enjoyed playing Petanque since I started just over a year ago! Since then I have grown and grown and played in some pretty large competitions. What I love about Pétanque is everyone I meet is so encouraging and supportive and it really is a great sport!
(11 years old)
“Pétanque has boosted my confidence massively, making me socialise with people I’ve never met or seen. When I first joined there were only 2 familiar juniors at the club, encouraging me to become friends with them instantly, now there are around 20 juniors making us the club with the most juniors in England, it’s such a welcoming club and all members of all ages are super lovely and supportive of new members”
(14 years old)
“I started out my petanque journey almost 3 years ago now and there’s no looking back! I first found this great sport when Whitnash Windmill Petanque Club invited us Bronze Duke of Edinburgh students down to the local club to have a try and take up as a new skill or physical! Petanque has changed my life so much and I have met some incredible and supportive people. Most weekends now I am competing in competitions with fellow juniors or adults! I’m now really looking forward to representing the Heart of England Region in the biggest annual Petanque competition in a couple of weeks! (15 years old)
(15 years old)
“The thing that I have loved for my child is being able to mix with people of all ages, respecting her elders, and helping the younger ones. It is time away from the screens and out in the fresh air. We are so pleased that she has found pétanque in her life.”
(Parent)
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Do you have a great story about your club or region that you’d like to share on P365? Just get in touch – contact@petanque365.com – we love pieces like Carol has written. Don’t worry about being word perfect either – we can edit if need be.
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