2010 League Registration now complete

And we have secured 36 entries for our 2010 League Season. These teams have now been split into 6 divisions each containing 6 teams, with 2 divisions of 6 in the 'Northern' area and 4 divisions of 6 in the 'Southern' area.

The full group draw is as follows;

Northern Area

Waveney Division
Cretingham Bell A
Kings Head Laxfield A
Kings Head Laxfield B
Kings Head Laxfield Ladies
Poacher Cratfield
Three Horseshoes North Cove

Blyth Division
Bell Inn Walberswick
Cretingham Belles
Hoxne Swan PC
Star Inn Wenhaston I
Star Inn Wenhaston II
Sunset Boulevards (Diss)


Southern Area

Deben Division
Aldeburgh Boules Club
Dolphin Thorpeness
Golden Key Snape
Greyhound Pettistree
Jolly Sailor Orford
Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham

Orwell Division
Deben Vikings
Henley Cricketers
Martlesham Womens Institute
Suivre Les Boules Playford
Turks Head Hasketon
Ye Olde Coach & Horses Melton

Gipping Division
Bramford Cock 'N' Boules
BT Antares Allstars
Hollesley Shepherd & Dog
Ipswich PC '09
The Exiles Bealings
Woodbridge Town Petanque Club

Stour Division
Brantham Bull
Royal Oak East Bergholt
Royal Oak East Bergholt (Dicky B)
Wheatsheaf Tattingstone 'The Chaff from The Wheatie'
Wheatsheaf Tattingstone 'The Stooks'
Wheatsheaf Tattingstone 'Wonders'

Reason To Celebrate...Part 2

Once again the 'corks are a'popping' in the Coastal League today as official notification was received that we were successful in securing a further grant towards our proposed Summer 2010 project.

The London 2012 Open Weekend In Suffolk has granted our application towards the major portion of the events costs and we are indeed thankful to them for seeing us as a suitable recipient.

Details of our proposed project will be released during next weeks Registration Events.

New Logo for the Coastal Alliance

Other than jigging around with colour, fonts etc on the website to keep the appearance looking fresh, we've managed to get a professional logo design created and this will now appear emblazoned on just about every bit of official paperwork you see regarding the Coastal League.

Hope you like it and feel that it represents the Coastal theme and will be a good test of who actually notices!!

Items for sale at Registration Nights

Our usual Registration Night sale of petanque accessories will happen again at our evenings of the 25th & 26th February. So make sure you bring your pennies.

Firstly we have cochs at a 'credit-busting' 50p each (you will normally pay around twice as much elsewhere). We have a limited supply so please try to pre-order with us before the events to save disappointment.

Secondly we have acquired some Rule Books which will be made available for a contribution of £2 to those that want them. Again please try to pre-order to get your copy.

League secures boules deal with local supplier

The Suffolk Coastal Petanque League in partnership with Fox's Chandlery and Outdoor have agreed a special 'League Only' price for boules.

For the special price of £14.50 per set of 8 boules (this includes VAT), you can collect from their Chandlery outlet located at Wherstead. Teams registering for the 2010 season will be provided with a League Membership card at their respective Registration Nights and you would need to present this card at Fox's when paying for your boules, to take advantage of this offer.

Thank you to Simon & Nigel at Fox's for setting this up and helping keep our league local by being our local boules supplier.

Fox's Chandlery & Outdoor can be found at The Strand, Wherstead, Ipswich, IP2 8NJ

Divisional names prepared for new season

It made sense when we started the League to name the divisions after local rivers that were near to where the core of that division teams were based. In 2008 we had the Blyth and the Deben Division, then in 2009 with expansion occuring, we added the Orwell Division.

For 2010, although we cannot guarantee exact number of entries, we are expecting to need three more divisions to satisfy the growing interest.

Be ready to see the appearance of the following;
Waveney Division
Gipping Division
Stour Division

Any better suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Woodbridge Town Petanque Club born

Although we await the membership fees from two remaining persons, the newly formed Woodbridge Town Petanque Club has 6 confirmed and fully paid up players all raring to go for the new 2010 season.

The team will be using the Suffolk Coastal & County Council funded piste at Kingston Park, near Woodbridge and will be getting together during February and March for some pre-season coaching and playing.

Team members consist of persons reading local newspaper articles in and around the Woodbridge area and being 'moulded' into a new team, similar to how the Deben Vikings team were formed last season.

Coastal Alliance receives Sports Grant

Following a successful application process, the Suffolk Coastal Petanque Alliance have secured Sports Grant Funding for a special 2010 event from Team Ipswich & Free Rein.

Mr Simon Fletcher, Mr Lewis Fletcher & Mr Andy Wilson attended the formal presentations last Thursday evening in the Ipswich Town Hall Council Chambers, where details of the grant application were read out and along with the other 10 sucessful applicants, the grant cheque was handed over.

Details of the event will be made available upon the Leagues Registration Nights but the League will be looking for volunteers to help at the one day event, namely persons with CRB certification and/or persons with First Aid training would be sought after.

Newsletter Thanks

As you can imagine, some of the explosion of interest is down to getting petanque mentioned in local papers, village newsletters etc. Therefore I'd like to thank the following for publishing details of our Recruitment Drive (these are the just the ones I know of, if you've seen it elsewhere please let me know);

East Anglian Daily Times
Evening Star
Mendham website
Framfare
Starston Pigeon Post
Bentley Bugle
Wenhaston Word
Grundisburgh News
Ebb'N'Flow
Holton Post
Felixstowe TV
Hintlesham Link
Town Telegraph (Southwold)
Aldeburgh Gazette
Blythburgh Parish News
Aldringham Parish Council website & newsletter
Waldringfield Parish Council
Sax IP17 Community website
Discover Magazine (Ipswich NHS Trust) & Staff Intra-Net
Ipswich Flyer
Kesgrave Flyer
Woodbridge Flyer
Kesgrave News
Woodbridge Community News
Adastral Park News (BT In-House Staff Newsletter)
Harleston Grapevine
Diss Express
Diss Mercury
Hoxne News
Halesworth Community News
Martlesham Monthly
Village Voices (Hollesley)
Brantham Bugle
Village Voices (Orford)

2010 Registration Update

Whilst some of you may still wish to leave it to the actual Registration Nights before submitting your teams registrations, I'd like to thank the teams who have already submitted their registrations as follows;

Welcome back to existing teams
Bell Inn Walberswick (2009 Silver Medalists)
Three Horseshoes North Cove (2009 4th Place)
Kings Head Laxfield A
Kings Head Laxfield B
Kings Head Laxfield Ladies
Aldeburgh Boules Club (2009 Bronze Medalists)
Bramford Cock (previously Rushmere Rugby Rollers)
Deben Vikings
Golden Key Snape
Greyhound Pettistree
Royal Oak East Bergholt
Shepherd & Dog Hollesley
Suivre Les Boules Playford
The Exiles Bealings

And a big warm welcome to our new teams
Bull Brantham
Parrot & Punchbowl Aldringham
Martlesham Womens Institute
Turks Head Hasketon
Woodbridge Town Petanque Club
Wheatsheaf Tattingstone - 3 teams
Hoxne Swan PC (returning Champions of 2008)
Henley Cricketers
Star Inn Wenhaston I
Star Inn Wenhaston II



This is 26 teams so far and we predict there is around a further 7 entries still to be received between now and close of registration, so we are looking at a fantastic bumper season in 2010 meaning around 200-250 people playing on a regular basis.