The format for the NZ/US competition was devised by NZ Sport Director and their "Team Selector" for this trip, Murray Porter. Murray was a member of New Zealand's National Team last September at the World Championship in Thailand. We got to know each other a bit at the Singapore International the week before the WC, and then in Thailand. He suggested the idea and I was surprised that it came to fruition so quickly. The format is a good one. It places emphasis on group achievement and team spirit. It is used annually for the Australia-New Zealand 60+ series, and perhaps other events. I was just following orders, so to speak.What made the format appear complex (and gave me a few headaches) is that we had a lot more players than New Zealand did.Why so? I wanted to keep the event as open as possible, to give every member a chance to participate. The way I saw it, our 60+ group contains a lot of loyal long-time members of the FPUSA. Their dues have kept the organization going through thick and thin over the years, sending teams to the World Championship, paying all sorts of expenses, not least of which was the malicious lawsuit that threatened FPUSA's existence a couple of years ago. This was our Seniors' chance to play petanque against members from another Federation, and a chance for FPUSA to give something to them in return for their support. Although things did not go perfectly, I have no regrets about including all who registered on time and came to play. I had composed teams in advance but, faced with a no-show and a few drop outs (for heat and health reasons), I had to do a fair amount of shifting around to replace players in different slots. Both days were special events for petanque in the Bay Area and the U.S. It was suggested to me that FPUSA should look into having special competitions for its Seniors --- a worthy idea that I will look into for 2009. The Kiwis do it. So maybe we can give it a try. Thanks to everyone who came and participated. And apologies to those who would have liked to have played another game or two but could not. Everyone seemed to "get the picture," that is, this was a (big) team effort and even those on the sidelines were part of the team. Special thanks goes to Dave Riffo, Frank Pipal, Laura Anderson, Carol Davis, Antonia Chavez, Teri Sirico and Christine Cragg, for all their efforts before and throughout the weekend. To Arbitre Extaordinaire Antonio Lofaro, and to the VOM and LPM Boards of Directors, as well as everyone who spontaneously pitched in to help make this event such a great success!
Until the next time,
Ed Porto
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