Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

It is my pleasure to present to you the report on the petanque tournament in Mulhouse prepared by Britt Haller and Rolf Wojewodka.
At the 14th international petanque tournament, enthusiasts from Switzerland, Italy, France and Germany proved their skills and competed in fair and exciting competitions.

Mulhouse, a city in Alsace in France, was chosen to be the host section for this tournament. The city delighted the participants with its charming atmosphere and warm hospitality. The tournament not only offered the opportunity to demonstrate petanque skills, but also to make new friends and socialise with people who share a common interest.

The report provides a comprehensive insight into the highlights of the tournament, the exciting competitions, the emotional presentation ceremony and the cheerful atmosphere that accompanied this event. It shows the enthusiasm and passion of the players for this traditional game and the joy they felt.

I invite you to immerse yourself in the world of the petanque tournament in Mulhouse and let yourself be carried away by the enthusiasm and team spirit of the participants. I sincerely hope that this report gives you an insight into this enjoyable sport and possibly also inspire you to take part in a petanque tournament yourself next year at our anniversary tournament at Lake Constance.

Thank you for your interest and enjoy reading the report.

14th International Boule Tournament

Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament 

24th August 2024 in Mulhouse, France

The 14th International Boule Tournament was organized for Eurojumelages by the French association of Haut-Rhin, in Mulhouse, France.
 Britt, Irmi and I (Rolf), from the Darmstadt association, arrived there the day in order to have the possibility to get to know Mulhouse a little better.

Due to traffic jams on the motorway, we could not visit the interesting museums - unfortunately, it was already too late for museums such as the Fabric Printing Museum (Musée de l´impression sur étoffes), the vintage car exhibition, the “Cité du Train” with the first steam locomotives or the Museum of the History of Electricity and Electrical Appliances.

 We were compensated by a very interesting tour around the Place de la Réunion in the car-free historic old town with the colorful house facades and the visit to the Gothic-style Église Saint-Etienne, St. Stephen's Church, with the beautiful church windows from the 12th century.

Afterwards we spent the night in the suburb of Morschwiller

The tournament commenced on Saturday, and was held in sports facility in the Rue de Machine in Mulhouse. The facility was kindly made available by the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne Boules Lyonnaises.

At 9:00 am, we were warmly welcomed by the organizer Sylvie Suhard and her team, who wished everyone a good throwing hand.

The number of participants totalled 49 and they came from: Germany the associations of Darmstadt, Friedrichshafen, Konstanz, Ulm, Bonn, Marburg and Stuttgart, from France the associations of Dijon and Haut-Rhin, and from Italian-speaking Switzerland the association of Ticino.

Peter Backes, President of Eurojumelages, underlined the international character of the boules tournaments in his welcome speech.
A special tribute was paid to Paul Pantzer, a Jumeleur from the “first hour”, who unfortunately passed away earlier in the year, during a jumelages meeting.

Peter's welcome speech:

Dear friends of Eurojumelages, 
I welcome you to the 14th International Boules Tournament of Eurojumelages which will take place here in Mulhouse.

As you know, this year has seen the passing of our dear friend, Paul Pantzer, who was also the person who gave rise to the international Boules tournaments. I appreciated Paul’s efforts to promote Boules within Eurojumelage and was also fortunate like many of you, to have had him as a friend. I also have fond memories of our last meeting in May on Fehmarn, where Paul spent his last week in the company of fellow jumeleurs. In remembrance of Paul, I propose that today's tournament will be commemorated as the ‘Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament’, to honour a good friend and a great jumeleur.

I wish you a pleasant and interesting tournament day  and declare open the Boules tournament of Eurojumelages.And now let the silver balls roll!

The courts of the sports centre at the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne boules park, 29 rue de Machines, Mulhouse, had been carefully prepared for us by the members of the club.

This was followed by the draw for the line-up. 

Due to the number of participants, the composition resulted in teams of two and three, so that we played against each other in doublette or triplette formations.

It became clear that playing boule is also a tactical team sport. Together, we thought about how the next ball could be placed as close as possible to the target ball, the so-called piglet, or how we could “shoot” the opponent’s ball as far away from the piglet as possible.

And it got exciting!

The tape measure was often used, so tight results were very much in evidence.

The lunch break was held after two rounds of play.

Under shady park trees, which could hardly alleviate the intense heat, the ‘cooks’ of the guest club first handed out mineral water to cool off. Then they surprised us with grilled specialties, well-tempered wine and/or cold beer and of course French dessert. Cheese, coffee and cake were also included.

There were then three more rounds of sweaty competition before the results were tabulated and the winners determined.

After a short pause, Sylvie was able to announce the final classification and also the prize-giving ceremony:

1st place: Maggy Schwand from Bonn
2nd place: Hubert Braun from Friedrichshafen
3rd place: Thomas Rosowski from Darmstadt

As a souvenir the winners received a goody bag filled with delicacies from the region.

With warm words of remembrance for our jumeleur Paul Pantzer at the end of the tournament and thanks for the hospitality of the Union Bouliste Mulhousienne, Sylvie bid farewell to all the participants, wishing them well and a safe return home.

Peter Backes also took the opportunity to speak once again:

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,
At the end of this year's boules tournament, I would like to take a brief look at the history of the Eurojumelages' boules activities.

The first beginnings of the boules activities of the then European Jumelages PTT e.V. date back to 1989 in Wuppertal/Germany.
In 2010, boules was then elevated to the status of international Eurojumelages events and the first international tournament took place in Constance. The boules tournaments were subsequently held annually, with the exception of 2020, when the tournament - like many other events - could not take place due to the coronavirus pandemic. 
In short, next year we will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Eurojumelages international boules tournament. And I can already reveal that our anniversary tournament will once again take place at Lake Constance.

But now back to this year's tournament:
Dear Sylvie, dear Laurent, 
On behalf of Eurojumelages, I would like to thank you very much for the excellent organisation of the tournament. We will all remember this tournament fondly as the ‘Paul Pantzer Memorial Tournament’.

As I discovered during my research, this is the third boules tournament that you both organized, and I would like to express my appreciation and also that of all participants for your hard work and dedication.

The aim of Eurojumelages, European international understanding, can only be achieved through committed people - like you - who organize events with great enthusiasm and personal commitment.

Many thanks!

Also a big thank you to all participants!

I hope to see you all again at the anniversary tournament at the latest. 
And remember, the prize at the tournament is not the ultimate objective:  “even if you don't reach your destination, the way there is always worthwhile”.

Vive l´Eurojumelages!

The French Boule hosts had prepared an evening barbecue for participants who had not yet started heading home; we didn't say goodbye until it was already dark.

Un grand merci! 

Rolf Wojewodka
association of Darmstadt
Germany