North Basque--FFPP 2018 Annual Report--a Hidden Result Archive Treasure Chest

On March 30, 2019, the Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque (FFPB) released its 2018 ASSEMBLEE GENERALE ORDINAIRE EXERCICE (.PDF FORMAT, 145P.) It is the standard "annual report" of the Federation, the oldest Basque Pelota Federation in the world (1921). For more on the Federation's history click here. Among its many responsibilities is the organization of the North Basque Country's many national competitions in various modalities (Main Nue, various forms of Paleta Pelote and Pala, Cesta Punta/Grand Chistera, Joko Garbi, Pasaka, Rebote, Frontenis, and Frontball). These sports are played on Trinquets; 30, 36, and 54 meter Frontons Mur a Gauche  (1) (2); and outside on Frontons Place Libre. The non-crash helmet Paleta sports and Frontenis are played by men and women). Most of the sports are amateur but FFPB also organizes Cesta Punta and Main Nue competitions that are played by professionals. 

Most of these competitions are split into age groups from "Poussins" (the youngest) to National A and B. It is a large responsibility to organize all these things and the AGOE is the annual summary of FFPB's activities.

Within this report is a hidden treasure for fans of the sports who want to keep up with the results. This can be done by consulting the FFPB's competition databases, which track back to 2016-17 and have complete results of the competitions. But it takes a little work and it is easy to retrieve much more information than needed.

On P. 8-24 of the 2018 Exercice is a simple listing of the championship final results in the national competitions the FFPB sponsors. I wish I would have found out about this sooner. It would have saved me hours of research. 

The 2018 Exercice was published in 2019. The FFPB, on a single page (scroll to "Assemblee Generale" for any of the years 2018-2012--covering the years 2017-2011), click on the "Assemblee Generale" links, and presto, you have an archive (all .pdf format) of championship results for the past 7 years. It is a magnificent, easily accessible archive. And one I plan on using, constantly, from now on. 

BASQUE PELOTA BREAKING NEWS--FEBRUARY 24, 2019

BIXINTO BILBAO HAS BEEN SANCTIONED BY THE FIPV (FEDERACION INTERNATONAL DE PELOTA VASCA) FOR WAVING A BASQUE FLAG AT THE FRANCE MAIN NUE GOLD MEDAL CEREMONY IN THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED (OCTOBER 2018) BASQUE PELOTA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BARCELONA. THE FIPV HAS BANNED HIM FROM INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR 1 YEAR (WHICH WILL EXCLUDE HIM FROM PLAYING IN THE 2019 WORLD CUP QUALIFYING FOR 2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS). THE FIPV SAYS IT IS A "SERIOUS OFFENSE." BILBAO SAYS (GOOGLE TRANSLATE:)

I FEEL IT SAD THAT THEY GIVE ME A PENALTY LIKE THAT. I DID NOT KNOW THIS REGULATION. FOR ME THE IKURRINA (BASQUE FLAG) IS NOT A FORBIDDEN FLAG, IT REPRESENTS OUR LANGUAGE AND OUR CULTURE AND THERE IS NO HARM IN SHOWING THE BASQUE FLAG.

BILBAO, ALONG WITH THE FFPB (FEDERATION FRANCAIS DE PELOTE BASQUE) WILL APPEAL THE SUSPENSION.

"THE INCIDENT" (EITB VIDEO)

RELATED ARTICLE (PILOTA TTIKI)

Multiple Modalities--Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque Grand Semaine

FFPB (Federation Francaise de Pelote Basque) recently completed it's Grand Semaine of amateur National Championship Finals. The competitions took place from August 7-14 at various locations in the North Basque. Most of the competitions were contested outdoors at Fronton Place Libres.

Finals were held on many age and competency levels. The highlights were National A and B finals in the following modalities:

Main Nue, Paleta Cuir, Grand Chistera, Rebot, Grosse Pala, Paleta de Gomme Creuse, Joko Garbi, and Paleta de Gomme Pleine. Paleta de Gomme Creuse finals were women's competitions. All others were men's.

Grand Semaine:

Program:

Results:

Match Summaries:

637 photos--each final score is in the photos

Complete competition contexts:

Select "Championnat de France 2015-16"

Click on "voir le resultats"

Five competitions were accompanied by match videos, either full, condensed, or selected.

A. Main Nue:

National A Final (Sources: Esku Pilota and Pays d'Orthe Main Nue Youtube sites):

Esku Pilota (complete match)

Pays d'Orthe Main Nue (selections, different angle, scoreboard visible)

For the context of this match see the Main Nue competition page at pelotelive.free.fr

B. Paleta Cuir

4 match videos (Source: Toutes sur la Pelote Basque Youtube site)

See all "Cuir MAG Nat. A" videos. Matches are full, condensed, or selected points.

For full context of these matches see the Paleta Cuir competition page at pelotelive.free.fr.

Scroll until you see film icons.

These were competition matches. There was no video of the final.

C. Grand Chistera:

National B Match (Source: Toutes sur la Pelote Basque Youtube site).

For full context of this match see the National B Grand Chistera Competition page at pelotelive.free.fr

Scroll to July 10, 2016 "Section Paloise" for this particular match. Video
is of selected points. This was a selected match. Final match was not available. The Pau team in this video won the National B title.

D. Rebot:

National A Final (Source: Pilotarivideo Youtube site).

This is a selected points video

For the context of this match see the Rebot competition page at
pelotelive.free.fr

E. Grosse Pala

1. National A: (Source for both: PilotariP Youtube site)

Second Semi-final (Soustonnaise v Basco-Bearnais)

Final: 

For complete context of both see the Grosse Pala A competition page at pelotelive.free.fr

National B: (Source: Grosse Pala Facebook page)

Semi-Final: (Pey v Agenais)

For complete context see the Grosse Pala B competition page at pelotelive.free.fr

Final was not available.