Almost every municipality has its own tournament. In Brittany, we do not laugh with the Breton ball. Often compared to Lyon ball, “the game of big balls” has had its followers since the Middle Ages in the region. If the number of players declines, the Breton ball remains very popular, especially in rural areas. In Ille-et-Vilaine and in the east of Côtes-d’Armor, the Breton puck steals the show, however, with younger players who like to tease the board with their cast iron pucks. Between these two very popular games, it’s not easy to find your place. Far from its southern lands, petanque still manages to invite itself into the game since there are no less than 10,000 licensees in Brittany, including 3,000 in Ille-et-Vilaine alone.
It is at the Glaz Arena in Cesson-Sévigné, in the suburbs of Rennes, that the 22nd edition of the Coupe de France final will be held this Friday and Saturday, which will pit eight teams against each other. The opportunity for the public to see the bosses of the discipline up close like the triple world champion Michel Loy, engaged with the club of Décines, or the superstar of pétanque Dylan Rocher, defending champion with his club of Fréjus. But for Anthony Pascual, president of the Ille-et-Vilaine committee, the event also aims “to highlight Brittany, which is a land of petanque, in order to shade the Southerners a little”.
There is a lack of a large bowling alley in the region
For the sporting aspect, it will wait a bit because no Breton team will be in the game this weekend. “But the Quimperlé club was qualified for the 8th finals and that of Relecq-Kerhuon for the 16th”, specifies Anthony Pascual. The Bretons are therefore not pipes in pétanque. “We even have renowned players like Julien Lamour or David Le Dantec, specifies Patrick Jude, president of the Saint-Malo club. But they are forced to go into exile in other regions, mainly in the South, to be able to come up against the competition”.
To keep its talents in the country, and perhaps dream one day of a national title in pétanque, Brittany will therefore have to push the plug a little further. This involves the construction of a large bowling alley capable of hosting major competitions. “It’s a real lack in the region,” said Jean-Noël Venon, president of the Ligue de Bretagne de pétanque, who has been fighting for several years to install a bowling alley with 48 covered pitches in the region of Vannes (Morbihan). “I do not despair but it is true that we often go after lots of sports for subsidies”, he regrets.