Petanque Club heads south for tourney

By Elizabeth Gabriel

(Updated: Friday, March 28, 2008, 4:23 PM)

Members of the Oakhurst Petanque Club will leave Two Rivers Stadium behind next month for a tournament beside the cruise terminal in San Pedro.

Jan Claire, past president of the club, said this is a big event in the petanque year and the club is sending 10 couples to compete April 13.

It's a triples event and Claire said the Oakhurst team of Kathleen Claire, Nathan Doster and Pat Stampher are a trio to contend with.

"They have a good chance to take one of the three trophies," he said.

Doster and Stampher live on the coast, but are local members. When they come over, they sweep tournaments, Claire said.

Others attending from the local club -- although they may not live in the Mountain Area -- include Larry and Trish Adams, playing with Jan Claire; Ed and Mary Mann, playing with Mary's cousin Cathey Halley of Hollywood; John and Tisha Harris, playing with Brian Kincade and Rich and Polly Starkey, playing with Colleen Coffman.

Petanque is a French game. The player stands in a small circle with his feet together and throws three metal balls (boules) in an attempt to get closest to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet or jack.

Claire said San Pedro has ideal courts in one sense: they are crushed brick over clay.

They are somewhat less quiet than the local courts, however. Here, birds sing, oaks whisper in the breeze and water gurgles through the Fresno River and Oak Creek (hence Two Rivers Stadium). There, the helicopter taxi to Catalina Island lands and lifts off feet from the courts, and the Vincent Thomas Bridge is above.

"We have to listen to the traffic rattle and rumble over the bridge," Claire said. "Yes, it affects concentration, but then that's part of the game."

Standings, schmandings

Teams from Los Angeles, Palm Springs and San Diego will participate and possibly Sacramento.

"The tournament really is not about standings and scores," Claire said, "It's about the fun and the friends."

The San Pedro tourney ends with the prize banquet where first-, second- and third-place trophies are awarded.

"We've never won at San Pedro," he said cheerfully. "But we always have fun."