MEMBER, FEDERATION OF PÉTANQUE USA AND F.I.P.J.P. - INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PÉTANQUE AND THE PROVENÇAL GAME. F.I.P.J.P. GOVERNS THE SPORT OF PÉTANQUE IN 79 COUNTRIES.
Petanque is a fun, healthy activity for people of all ages. Youngsters appreciate the development of important
hand-eye skills, middle-agers love the fresh air, using their aiming and tossing skills, and participating in the many social events
tied in with a great day of Petanque. Senior Citizens, too, can play petanque - in fact, many of the U.S. and World Champions are in
this group (although Juniors have National and World Championships too!). Petanque is a very welcoming sport for handicapped players as well
as the game was developed with wheelchairs in mind! (Read some history here)
With everyone from Oprah to Dr. Mehmet Oz encouraging us to "get outdoors and get healthy" the game of Petanque is tailor-made to help you
do just that.
Oakhurst Petanque Club, located near Yosemite National Park, is proud of each of its 80 current members and visitors are always welcome to come play in our regular Saturday morning or Wednesday afternoon practice sessions, and members of the club can play in any Federation of Petanque USA events for which they qualify and are welcomed at any FPUSA club in the nation! See the other pages on our website for full information about our location, our people, and what fun we enjoy on a regular basis.
And this is only about half our 80 current members!
It's Easy to Play Pètanque!
All you need to do, on a Saturday morning, or Wednesday afternoon during the Daylight Savings Time part of the year, is show up! Everyone in our club is eager to meet new friends, especially those who might enjoy our common interest in this zany old French game.
Pètanque is so easy to learn, literally taking just minutes, and the scoring is easy, as well. What is not easy about the game is the
way you become affected by wanting to learn all the things to help you play better games. After all: winning IS fun, and gradually you will come to know how to better your game by bettering yourself. Each time you step on the court to play, you can know that everyone else in
the world who plays Petanque plays by the same basic rules.
Your first lesson will involve these points:
1. Generally a coin is flipped, or something is done to determine which team will shoot first. Within that team, it will also be decided
(sometimes by a captain) who will be the first player. That player will draw a circle in the dirt, and should wipe out any circles from previous games which may lead to confusion. The circle should be a little larger than your (or anyone else's) two feet, and will stand in that circle and toss the coconnet (the little brightly-colored ball). Feet together now. And toss the "little one" somewhere between 6 giant-steps and 10 giant steps distance from your circle. (Giant steps refers to meters, the standard of measurement in Petanque worldwide. Oddly one 39-inch step is exactly a meter. If you practice it.)
2. If your captain agrees you'll also toss one of your two (if there are three on your team) or three (if there are two or one on your team)
boules. The object is to plant it as closely as possible to the cochonnet. You've now had your "play" and it's time for the opposing team to
toss. Their object, is to roll or toss a boule so it comes to a stop closer to the cochonnet than yours. If they cannot do it, they will keep
shooting - and using up boules - trying to get closer than yours. OR the famed "carreau" might come in to play. It's perfectly honorable for the
opposing team to take an aerial shot (carreau) at your ball to smack it out of contention. This of course would mean that whatever boule they
have on the court would be the closest boule to the cochonnet, and, therefore, it would become your team's turn to play.
3. Back and forth, the teams jockey for the closest boules. Somebody's trying to get closer; somebody's trying to get even closer or to remove (smack!) offending boules of your team to make way for theirs.
4. The game is over when one team has expended all its boules.
5. All gather around the cochonnet to determine whose boule was closest - and that team will score a point. If another of their boules is second-nearest the cochonnet, then they'd have two points. But if your boule is the second closest, the counting stops: the opposition scores 1 point.
6. Now play moves to the opposite end of the terrain, and your opposition has won first shot. They will a. clear any previous circles from the area, b. draw a new circle and c. shoot the first boule of round two.
And so it goes until one team attains 13 points and wins the game.
Our Petanque Club had its beginnings during a French-themed picnic held on June 4th, 1999 in Oakhurst, California.
The picnic was attended by 65 artists and their close friends, and for atmosphere the hosts invited members of the Los Angeles Petanque Club to come play petanque and teach us the game. A court was quickly constructed out of native gravel and dirt, and on the appointed day, guests arrived in "Monet-era" costumes, with their paintings on exhibit in the shade of large trees, French tunes playing in the background, and enjoying French foods.
The Los Angeles Petanque Club sent its president, Max Legrand and his wife Gisele, and Steve Bush and his wife, the late Dolores, as well as LAPC members David and Carol Randle. The six of them were such affable teachers and brought out the true fun of playing the game that the club formed spontaneously from the sheer joy of that day. By September 26th, 1999 the Oakhurst Group had a meeting at a local restaurant and elected officers, adopted bylaws and formally created Oakhurst Petanque Club.
In our ten years so far, we have had visiting teams from Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, and individuals from other countries around the world enjoying the dual fun of Petanque and visiting nearby Yosemite National Park. In 2008 Oakhurst hosted the 'over 60 National Team' of New Zealand, a large contingent from throughout the island nation, but who play the same game, the same way. All over the world now, Petanque is a rapidly growing sport, particularly in Europe and southeast Asia where - in Singapore, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Laos and other nations - it is accepted, as it has always been in France, as normal daily exercise.
Ahh yes! It's time to wake up at 2:00 a.m. and set your clock ahead one hour so instantly it's 3:00 a.m.
Once that's done in the middle of the night on March 14th, you then have a couple days to get your boules all polished up, your cochonnets
repainted and your resolve heightened because Wednesday Evening play resumes at Oakhurst Petanque Club Wednesday, March 17th and...
Be sure to wear some green as Wednesday the 17th is St. Patricks Day! Even though we won't be ridding Oakhurst of any snakes,
we will be sharing the excitement of having an extra day per week that the club is open. So y'all come! Early in the Daylight Savings season, play begins at 4:00 p.m. and as the days lengthen (and "hotten") we tend to be more 5:00-ish, taking full advantage of the one or two degrees cooler at "Two Rivers Stadium."
This handsome lad above - a grey squirrel - is Digger. He feels he "owns" our terrains and has little fear of people. He does enjoy the unsalted peanuts we toss to him, and always appreciates any other handouts from club members.
Below, another of our "pets" who is, after all, the emblem bird of Yosemite, the Steller's Jay, "Screech"(below).
And this is only about half our 80 current members! 
Our Petanque Club had its beginnings during a French-themed picnic held on June 4th, 1999 in Oakhurst, California.
The picnic was attended by 65 artists and their close friends, and for atmosphere the hosts invited members of the Los Angeles Petanque Club to come play petanque and teach us the game. A court was quickly constructed out of native gravel and dirt, and on the appointed day, guests arrived in "Monet-era" costumes, with their paintings on exhibit in the shade of large trees, French tunes playing in the background, and enjoying French foods.
