Women's Forum
OF 2,045 FPUSA MEMBERS, 1,321 ARE MALES (seniors and juniors); by way of contrast, there are only 724 females (seniors and juniors). Females represent only 35% of our membership, while males represent 65%. When it comes to elite competition, that number is even more significantly unbalanced. Interestingly in the junior ranks the ratio is rather different: 85 female juniors vs. 82 male juniors. Pétanque developed as a game in an Old World, patriarchal society, yet one of its greatest strengths is the fact that in execution, unlike many popular sports, it presents a level-playing field in terms of gender. Women can, and do, defeat men all the time; however, the relatively low numbers of women in the game do present unique problems. Many of these problems, though not all, relate to tournament play.
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At this time there are four women on the FPUSA Board of Directors: Shannon Bowman (Valley of the Moon Pétanque Club), Northern California Region, Julie Jo Fehrle (Maine Boules Club), Northeastern Region, Jo Ella Manalan (South Florida Pétanque Club), Southeastern Region, and Vice President Christine Cragg (La Pétanque Marinière). All of these women take an active interest in the particular issues women face in playing the game. Some of these issues are taken up on the Facebook page, Petanquewomen. Petanquewomen is a discussion forum to promote greater participation from women pétanque players in the competitive sphere. If you're interested in joining, contact one of our women Counselors, or Vice President Cragg. Photo courtesy of Coast Multimedia.
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