Twenty-five years after a handful of players first set up courts at the north end of Westmoreland Park, Portland's pétanque scene has grown into a gathering place for players of the French lawn game. The Portland Pétanque Club now counts nearly 100 members, hosts a sold-out annual tournament, and in the past year staged a qualifier that helped determine who would represent the United States on the world stage.
A Club Built From Twenty Years of Steady Growth
The club was founded in 2001 and has grown to nearly 100 players, according to petanquecentral.com. Club founder Joe Martin put it simply in comments to EastPDXNews: “we started the club 20 years ago, and we've grown the membership to about 100 players.” The game itself is straightforward to learn even if it takes years to master — the outlet describes the basic idea as getting your steel ball next to a little wooden ball, officially known as the cochonnet or jack.
Players gather at the courts on the north end of Westmoreland Park, at 7535 SE 23rd Avenue, the same report notes. The club meets Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays starting at 11 a.m., and because it is an outdoor sport, members play essentially year-round, pausing only for the heaviest rain. Joining in doesn't cost anything upfront: playing is free, and the club offers free lessons and guest boules for newcomers, per petanquecentral.com. Those who want to join formally can do so for $95 as an adult, $150 for a family, $25 for youth or $50 as an associate member.
From Local Courts to a World Championship Pipeline
The club's profile has risen enough that it hosted a World Championship Women's Triples Qualifier in 2026, a two-day competition designed to determine who would represent the United States at the World Championships, according to the event listing on pdxpetanque.org. Teams paid a $195 registration fee, with the deadline falling on July 11, 2026. Entry rules required that all qualifier participants be U.S. citizens and that teams wear matching uniforms.
Results from that broader national qualifying circuit, posted by the Federation of Pétanque U.S.A., show Juanita Celix and Kasia Sliz finishing first in the World Championship Women's Doubles Qualifier, with Alexandra Tisseur and Elissa Szymanczyk taking second. In a separate triples result, Elissa Szymanczyk, Rebecca Runze and Crissy Shaffer were listed in first place. FPUSA serves as the sport's official governing body in the United States and belongs to the international federation, FIPJP, organizing events that range from local tournaments to national championships across seven U.S. regions.
The federation says it planned to send Team USA to the Pétanque World Championships in Khon Kaen, Thailand, from Nov. 20 through Nov. 24, 2026. The delegation listed on FPUSA's site includes captain Ziggy Kessouagni, along with Hassan Lakhdar and Damien Monnet, with Christian Cazenave serving as coach.
Portland's Tournament Draws a Sellout Crowd
The club's marquee home event, the Rose City Open, has become popular enough to sell out. The 2026 edition was planned as a Select Doubles tournament with room for 44 teams, according to the listing on pdxpetanque.org, and the club's own tournament page notes that the previous year's edition filled up by August. The event offered a minimum $2,000 prize to the first-place team.
That kind of turnout fits a broader national trend. FPUSA's club page describes a global network of roughly 1 million licensed pétanque players spread across 100 national federations, while petanque-america.com estimates about 30,000 people play somewhat regularly in the United States, with around 56 clubs under FPUSA as of 2022. The sport has been steadily growing in popularity across the country over the past several years, according to Houma Times, which reported that a November 2025 FPUSA regional tournament drew 16 teams from across the United States and France ahead of a national event in Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Medals and Recognition for Portland Players
Portland's club has also produced medal winners on the national stage. Valerie Hodson-Pujol took gold and Michel Pujol took bronze in National Women's and Men's Triples competition, respectively. In a separate national triples result, Harris and Hodson-Pujol placed fourth with Catherine Diebold.
Pétanque has found a home in Portland. For a city better known for soccer rivalries and rose gardens, the quiet click of steel boules at Westmoreland Park has become its own kind of competitive tradition — one that now stretches from Southeast Portland all the way to Thailand.
