History of Le Mistral Club de Pétanque

Le Mistral Club de Pétanque was founded in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1958, making it one of the oldest pétanque clubs in the U.S.  The original founding members are French expatriates who emigrated from the Armenian community in Marseilles, France, to start new lives in the United States of America.  The members took the club name, Le Mistral, from the ill wind that frequently comes howling down the Rhone river valley and hits their native Marseille with such force that it rips windows off hinges, sends roman roof tiles flying, and is alleged to drive animals and people mad.   In the 40+ years since the founding of Le Mistral Club, its members have served their new country in the armed forces, operated businesses, had successful careers, raised families, seen the birth of grandchildren, and have generally assimilated into the culture of their adopted homeland.  And yet throughout the years, they have continued to meet regularly to play their beloved boules de pétanque. 
 
Always there has been la pétanque.   A drive to the countryside, a day at the beach, a family picnic, a niece or nephew's birthday party ... on any occasion where a quorum of pétanqueurs were present, out of the car trunks came the boules and a game commenced on whatever suitable terrain could be found.  The photos at left and right show Le Mistral Club matches from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Though their numbers have thinned through the years, a core group of les Marseillais continue.  Albert, Levon, Georges, Raymond, Jean, Carlo, Jeannot, Pierre, Jacques, Marcel and others.  For these grand masters of the game, first names suffice, like the national soccer team of Brazil!  You can find them each Saturday and Sunday on the club terrain intensely competing, as they have done now for so many years.  Challenging each other, measuring distances, and debating strategies in their Sud-accented French as they have done since they were teenagers in Marseilles.  

Over the long history of its existence, Le Mistral Club de Pétanque has sent teams to the World Championships of Pétanque a total of 7 times! The picture at right shows Le Mistral Club members competing in the 17th World Championships of Pétanque held in Gent, Belgium in 1981.  From left are: Albert Kallanian, Raymond Kopoyan, Jean Onanian.  

The picture at left shows  Le Mistral members marching during the opening ceremonies of the 18th World Championships of Pétanque held in Geneva, Switzerland in 1982.  Le Mistral Club President Albert Kallanian is 3rd from the right.

Most recently, Le Mistral Club sent a team to the 37th World Championships of Pétanque held in Monaco in 2001.  Le Mistral Club, representing the USA after winning the National Qualification tournament in 2000, reached the 16th final against some tough international competition.  Once before a team from Le Mistral Club also qualified for the 16th final - the 23rd World Championship in Algeria in 1987 - which was, in fact, the first time that any USA team had ever gotten that far!  In the photo at right are Le Mistral Club members (from left to right):  Albert Kallanian, Jacques Azadian, and Levon Bogosian, shown here with visiting family from France who stopped by to provide some support.

The légion d'honneur of Le Mistral Club appearances at the World Championships includes the following:

The history of Le Mistral Club continues through the present with weekly matches at our purpose-built terrain in Greenhill Park,  Worcester, MA.   We invite you to join us to play this fun game while learning from our many experienced players who still maintain a deep passion for boules de pétanque.    

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