Members are welcome to practice on FPC terrains at any time.
Although the terrains are adjacent to Fareham North-West Community Centre, they are not under the control of the centre but are leased from Fareham Borough Council by FPC and managed and maintained by the club. However, if you wish to use the terrains for practice while other activities are under way at the community centre, please use the wooden corner gate (at the car park end) to access the terrain, not the patio area.
Please note that the community centre toilets and kitchen facilities are only available to club members at times when the centre has been hired by the club.
We welcome visiting petanque players to Fareham on our Wednesday evening club nights from 19:30, all year round. We have a selection of spare boules available for you to borrow if needed. Visitors are welcome to play at Fareham up to three three times per year, but if they want to play more often they are expected to join the club.
Visiting players are required to be members of the EPA (or other equivalent national body), for insurance reasons.
We also organise a number of open competitions throughout the year, when all are welcome – see our events page for details.
A game of petanque typically lasts around 30-40 minutes, although games of 60-90 minutes are not unusual.
In some competitions there is a time limit and a whistle is sounded after an agreed time. Any teams still playing are allowed to finish their current end, after which the score is recorded.
Each game is played to 13 points
The terms “jack” and “coche” in petanque are interchangeable and both mean the same thing – it is the small wooden or plastic ball that boules are aimed at. Coche is a shortened version of cochenet, meaning “little pig” in French.
It is common for petanque players in the UK to refer to “the coche”, but the official term used in the EPA rules is jack.
Article 3 – Approved jacks
Jacks are made of wood, or of a synthetic material bearing the manufacturer’s mark and having obtained the FIPJP’s approval in line with the precise specification relating to the required standards. 3 Their diameter must be 30mm (tolerance: + or – 1mm). Painted jacks are authorised, but at no time must the jack be capable of being picked up with a magnet.
“Mugs away” is a slang term used in club nights and other informal competitions, meaning that the team who lost the last game plays first in the next game.
It could be interpreted as “loser goes first”.
Pointing is where a player throws their boule with the intention of placing it in a particular position, usually close to the coche. Any player can point, but players who specialise in pointing are known as pointers.
Although pointers will often be trying to place their boule closest to the coche, there are many occasions where it is necessary to place a boule in a blocking position to make it more difficult for the opposition to win points.
Shooting is where a player throws their boule with the intention of moving an opponent’s boule or knocking it out of play. When the opposing team has a boule positioned very close to the coche, often the best strategy is to attempt to “shoot it”.
Any player can shoot, but players who specialise in shooting are known as shooters.
Good shooters can also choose to “shoot the coche”, bringing an end to an early conclusion.
A “carreau” is a shot that knocks an opposing boule away from the jack and replaces it in almost exactly the same spot with the thrower’s own boule.
Generally considered the best, most technically difficult and most impressive shot a player can achieve.
To “fanny” the opposition is to win a game without the opposing team scoring any points – i.e. 13-0.
To be “fannied” is to lose a game without scoring any points – i.e. 0-13.
The origins of the term are a mystery, but in France when a player loses 13 to 0, they are said to fanny and must kiss the bottom of a girl named Fanny. In France you will often find a picture, woodcarving, or pottery figure of a bare-bottomed girl named Fanny.
FPC have their very own Fanny for this purpose – generously donated by Martin and Nicole at the 2015 AGM. In some competitions a novelty prize is awarded for “first fanny”.
A melee is a competition in which players enter as individuals and are put together into teams of 2 or 3 by means of a random drawer for each game. Games are played in timed rounds and at the end of each round another drawer takes place to determine the teams for the next round.
Each player scores the number of points won by their team in each game, and the overall winner is the individual player who has scored the most points.
Due to the nature of the competition, winning a melee is often a combination of skill and “a good draw”.
When the coche is moved out-of-play and both teams still have boules left to play, it is said to be a “dead end”. Neither team scores any points from the end and the end is re-started with the same team keeping control of the coche.
If only one team has boules left they win the end and score points equal to the number of their unplayed boules.
“Shooting the coche’ is a legitimate tactic, with a player deliberately knocking the coche out of play to either force the end to be replayed or to directly score points if the other team has no boules left.
On club nights, ad-hoc teams are often chosen by a “throw up”. A coche is thrown and all players simultaneously throw one boule towards the coche. The relative position of each player’s boule is used to determine who they will play with.
Membership of the English Petanque Association (EPA) is mandatory for all FPC members. As well as supporting petanque’s national body, membership includes insurance when playing petanque and protects the club and its’ committee members from legal liability in the event of any accidental injury while playing at Fareham.
Full details of EPA insurance can be found on their website here: http://www.englishpetanque.org.uk/insurance.html