It is my pleasure to present the Annual Report for the Wellington Pétanque Association. A pleasure because, while I unexpectedly found myself in this position the help and support I have received throughout the year from so many people has been tremendous. It has been an unusual year impacted by covid19. Hopefully with the assistance of vaccinations we will be able to continue playing Petanque without further interruption.
During 2020/2021 we moved from holding face to face WPA meetings to Zoom electronic meetings. Without the need to travel this change has enabled all but one Club to attend nearly all the meetings. This was clearly a very popular move and one we will continue with.
My special thanks to the Tournament Subcommittee of Graeme Morris, Claire Wilson and Michael Rocks. Without their work there wouldn't be any WPA tournaments, one of the main reasons for the very existence of the WPA. Special thanks also to Val Clarke who has done an amazing job throughout the year not only recording the WPA meetings, but also some Tournament Subcommittee ones, providing minutes the same day/night. Thanks also to Secretaries Barbara Nicholls and Simon Grant, Barbara for her work in helping find our way through the move to Zoom meetings and Simon for taking up the role of Secretary at very short notice. Thanks to Michael Rocks for keeping our financial records & to Moises Burgos for managing our web site and keeping it up to date. Also a big thank you to all the Clubs who hosted tournaments and the incredible number of volunteers without whom we would not be able to continue. On behalf of Pétanque I thank you all and ask you to continue your good work.
In August 2008 the region's PNZ registered umpires, both Regional and Club, got together and formed an Umpires Subcommittee with Gwen Hill as Chairperson. The aim was to provide two PNZ registered umpires to each WPA tournament. This worked very well until Gwen retired but has now fallen by the wayside to the detriment of the game.
PNZ have provided various items to enhance the umpires identification and also ensure that other players participating in tournaments who are not designated umpires for the event are able to get on and concentrate on their game. Players should refrain from questions of anyone they think know the rules and, instead, ask the official umpire for rules interpretations. It is up to the umpires to decide on the tricky questions and, as per PNZ's "Player Code of Behaviour"; players during the game are expected to accept without argument, the decision of the Umpire.
There are a number of players in the region who are interested in becoming club/regional umpires and it is hoped that as the year progresses Nadine Simpson (National Umpire) will be able to run Zoom training sessions for them, enabling them to become PNZ Certified Umpires.
This surely bodes well for Pétanque in general as they will be able to help club members understand and use the rules. It will also make it much easier to find umpires for WPA tournaments.
Having a specific person overseeing umpiring in our region, supporting and following up on umpires needs would be a great step forward. I ask you all to search within your Club membership for someone with an interest in umpiring who will take on this position. They will not be on their own, they will get help and advice when needed.
Otaki Club has gone out of its way to support coaching by providing access to their facilities on a number of days, their generosity is really appreciated. Thank you to the Club and the members who have helped in the background.
A big thank you to Graeme Morris who has kept up his good work running coaching and training sessions for a large number of players, many of whom have become Wellington Representatives. Graeme's willingness to give so freely of his time, both in our region and with Representative Teams where ever they are playing, is outstanding and all those involved appreciate his work and that of those who assist him.
Now that we have 90% participation from Clubs at our meetings, WPA decisions will in future be more representative of the members. Next, I would like to see greater involvement from Clubs and individual players in the operations of Petanque throughout the region. There are a number of people not mentioned in this report that work really hard behind the scenes but there are also players who participate in tournaments and even at Club days expecting everything to be done for them. This is not the way forward for our sport and, hopefully we can find ways to encourage these members to get more involved to the benefit of all. I believe there are a lot of untapped skills in our membership. Finding and engaging those people will be a challenge.
Two particular activities I would like to see addressed over the next 12 months are the upgrading of our web site and the updating of our constitution. I have spoken to Moises about the web site and will have further discussions with him. If you are aware of anyone with a particular interest in Constitutions please let me know.
I hope you all enjoyed your year of Pétanque and will continue to do so in this coming year preferably clear of Covid19
Claire Bradburn
President