Aiming for a SEA Games lift-off

SINGAPORE — The sport of petanque slipped under the radar after a lack of finances prevented Singapore athletes from going to the Myanmar SEA Games in 2013, while its national association Sports Boules Singapore considered folding.

But the sport’s inclusion as one of the 36 to be contested at the 28th SEA Games here in June has breathed new life into the small but dedicated community here who are hoping a medal or two give this niche sport a booster. Six months out from the Games, some 20 players are training daily at their courts outside the Toa Payoh Sports Hall and hoping to make the final squad.

Popular in nations that were former French colonies, the sport has been part of the SEA Games roster for many editions, with Singapore making its petanque debut in 2001. This year, it will offer 10 gold medals, and the local players are aiming to be in the mix.

For certain, Sports Boules Singapore president Anthony Ho is no longer content for petanque to continue languishing in the shadows.

Speaking to TODAY, Ho revealed that funding has increased for the current fiscal year. Last November, the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) announced additional funding of between S$10,000 and S$30,000 for each of the 14 smaller NSAs to better prepare their athletes for the SEA Games

Said Ho, who has led Sports Boules Singapore for nearly a decade: “The additional funding we received is double of our baseline funding, so that’s why we can do a thorough preparation in the run-up to the SEA Games.

“The plan is to send our athletes for overseas competitions, trainings and try to give them as much exposure as possible. However, we are not fully sustainable yet and I hope that we get some good results for the SEA Games so we can have a better case to ask for more financial support and justify why we require more funding.”

Ho, who doubles up as the national head coach, emphasised that Sports Boules Singapore cannot live hand-to-mouth, with the association requiring at least S$100,000 a year to sustain a competitive squad and hire a full-time coach to oversee their training sessions.

“The plan is to try and secure a long-term sponsor. Hopefully a company can adopt us as a sport or try and help us,” he said. “Because we don’t have enough money, many of us have to wear many hats. For myself, I double up as a coach because we can’t afford a full-time coach.”

For now, Sports Boules Singapore has only one full-time staff that works out of their storeroom at Toa Payoh Sports Hall. Last November, it was announced that sports apparel maker FBT will sponsor the association for four years, starting 2015, although Ho revealed the sponsorship is mainly in kind.

With the Games returning to Singapore after 22 years, Ho views this as a great opportunity to put the sport in the shop window to raise more interest and attract more sponsors.

“We are playing on home soil so it puts a lot of responsibility on the players but I hope that we can win at least three medals, with one of them being gold,” he said.

Fast fact:

Originating from France, petanque is akin to lawn bowls although players throw – and not roll – hollow metal balls as close as possible to a wooden jack called a cochonnet. Players score points when their ball is closer to the jack than their opponents’.

Sports debuting or coming back to the SEA Games in 2015:

Squash, Floorball*, Fencing, Netball, Bowling, Rugby Sevens*, Waterskiing, Softball

* debut