General French News | Nottingham set to become 'centre of excellence' for petanque

A man who fell in love with the game of petanque during his French holidays has set up a new club in Nottingham, with dreams of one day hosting international competitions in the city.
Brian Forbes came up with the idea of establishing Nottingham City Pétanque club after realising that there were only two clubs in the county of Nottinghamshire where the game could be played.

According to The Nottingham Post, the new centre will boast 28 international-sized playing areas - or 'pistes' - with the possibility of dividing that space into 36 areas for casual games.

Mr Forbes hopes that with the new club, he will be able to turn Nottingham into a centre of excellence for the sport and attract national and international competitors to take part in events.

The popularity of pétanque is growing rapidly in the UK and France, particularly among young people, and Mr Forbes has already contacted a number of local schools about participating in a schools league.

The pétanque enthusiast says that the facilities will be unique to the area, and believes that major championships could be held at the club as early as next year.

'There's no other such facility that's going to be so large. We will have the greatest number of good courts built to an international standard in the East Midlands,' Mr Forbes told The Nottingham Post.

'We are going to stand a very good chance of bringing the regional championships here next year - and perhaps the national championships the year after,' he added.

Author: J.Jeffries
Posted on: 08/10/2010