Eye Saints Community Boules Club was founded in 2021 to promote and have fun playing the French game of pétanque (also known as boules).
The name Eye Saints was chosen to be in keeping with Eye Saints Football Club who also play at the Community Centre Playing Field. With the help of the Community Centre trustees, Eye Town Council, grants, sponsorship and members’ fundraising, the founding members converted the derelict tennis court into a competition-standard terrain with two playing pistes. There is a shed for equipment, a recycled fence, seats and two rain shelters (with many thanks to Mid Suffolk Council for their grant aid).
The Club boasts two competition-standard open terrains which can be divided into eight terrains for major competitions (over 12x3m) or six for international standard (15x4m). Not only those, but also two rain shelters, and benches set round the terrains. And the new benches cater for every need…
Boules is fun and easy to learn, and the Club welcomes all ages and abilities, and can provide practice balls for learners. We meet on Wednesday and Sunday mornings between 10am and 12 noon, and meetings are characterised by fun and friendly banter, which is continued at social events during the year such as the summer barbecue and Christmas meal.
For the more competitive among us, we enter teams each year in Suffolk Coastal Petanque Alliance (SCPA) league which boasts some 35 teams in the Suffolk Coastal and Mid Suffolk area, and we have been quite successful.
The rules of pétanque can be found on the Pétanque England website:https://www.petanque-england.uk/ andat https://suffolkcoastalpetanque.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SCPA-Summer-2024-Rules.pdf
