Sunday the 21st of June - The Donald Hosie Triples Challenge - Sponsored By Petanque Boules Australia!
Boules Artistes Petanque Club www.boulesartistes.org.au
For those of you who don't know, Donald was my older brother who died in a car crash in April 2000. He was only 11 months older than me and so we were very close and played in the same soccer teams and bands together. Even when we were kids we were into 'obscure' sports and ran a Subbuteo Table Soccer League that at it's peak boasted around 60 participants with multiple divisions, relegation and promotion as well as home and away matches all over the North Shore! There were other competitions too, as well as interstate clashes against Victoria and Queensland. This was a major operation for school kids. In fact at it's peak we had almost as many members as the NSWPL - just much younger!
Donald was our number 1 player until I finally usurped him and went on to be the Australian Champion for 7 years and repesented the country at the World Championship in Rome, 1990. Donald came along as a supporter/manager/bodyguard (a funny story!) and we had a great time and were feted in Rome meeting a number of real football heroes including Trevor Francis, Craig Johnston and most noteably Bobby Moore, the captain of England's World Cup winning team from 1966 at a 7 course dinner in an ancient Roman villa! And you thought petanque was bizarre! Table soccer is something else! But I digress.
Donald was a fantastic soccer player with offers to play professionally in his youth, but at 40 he was winding down and starting to get interested in petanque and showing his customary natural talent. He would have been a great asset to the sport.
The DHTC is a tribute to his love for life but also his high level of sportsmanship and sense of honour. We hope that this event is played in that spirit and is truly a tribute!
Petanque Boules Australia has very generously donated 3 sets of competition boules to be presented to the winning team in the Open competition. Each set is valued at around $170.00 so this plus the usual cash and wine is a competition something well worth winning!!
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