Pétanque
Tournament coverage, results, and news from the world of pétanque — from village terrains to the world championships.
Club Night
Every Saturday, in towns all over France, the boulodrome fills up for the concours — the weekly club tournament that is half competition, half neighborhood reunion. In America, the equivalent ritual is the ladder night. Same hunger, different scoreboard.
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The US Open of Pétanque
In Manhattan's parks, La Boule New Yorkaise has turned a French village pastime into a New York institution — and with the US Open of Pétanque coming to town on October 10–11, the season is heading for its loudest weekend yet.
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The Road to Thailand
An American men's triples team just did what no American team had ever done — winning both the Panamerican World Qualifier and the Panamerican Open. In November, they carry the Stars and Stripes to the World Pétanque Championships in Thailand.
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Pétanque's Olympic Dream: The Long Road to Recognition
For forty years, the boules federations have knocked on the IOC's door — and watched breakdancing walk in instead. What the quest says about sport, legitimacy, and the French and American ways of wanting something.
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Finding a Game
Pétanque is quietly thriving in American cities, and pickleball is exploding across France. Here's where the two games are meeting in the middle.
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A Hundred Years of Pétanque
In 1907, a rheumatic man's friendship invented a sport. A century later, it is played on every continent.
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How Pétanque Works
A circle, three boules, one wooden jack, and two verbs: pointer and tirer. First to 13 wins.
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The Road to the Mondial
From Marseille's dusty squares to world championships: the competitions that crown pétanque's kings.
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Two Games, One Grammar
Pétanque and pickleball were born an ocean apart. Play both for a week and they start to rhyme.
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