Pétanque is a wonderful sport. The Czech Association of Pétanque Clubs (ČAPEK) is a member of the Czech Sports Association, and the Czech national team regularly participates in the European and World Championships, its biggest success to date being the silver medal at the Women’s European Championships in Turkey. The Czech junior team regular participates in tournaments in France and occasionally manages to beat even the world’s top-ranked teams.
But pétanque is also a great pastime and an excellent way of getting to know your teammates and opponents, of finding out who is a team player and who knows how to play fair. Pétanque requires you to adapt your tactics to your opponents’ abilities. Only one team can win, and more often than individual abilities the decisive factor is team spirit and the ability to focus, to agree on the right tactics, to follow through, and to maintain one’s cool even when the chips are down.
Anyone can learn the basic rules of pétanque in just a few minutes, but it takes a lot of practice to become a truly excellent player. The great thing about pétanque, however, is that experienced “professionals” and absolute beginners can play together without ruining the experience for each other. This is what makes pétanque unique.