Sunshine Petanca League M emorial T ournament
SINCE the beg inning of the Sunshine L eag ue we hav e now seen the v ery sad deaths of three of the founding members. Bob Hornsey and J ames W alk er started the Sunshine League in 2014 after meeting for a cup of coffee. T heir think ing was that there was plenty of room on the coast here for another petanca leag ue. O ne that was smaller than and not as serious as the popular L as S alinas L eag ue. It was to be by inv itation only and there was plenty of enthusiasm from the teams that were ask ed, as many players long ed to play twice a week .
T he first match was on W ednesday, October 8 , 2014 . The very sad news was that Bob died in M arch 2 0 1 5 and therefore did not see how successful his baby was to become. Bob was, and still is, greatly missed.
James carried on and was the current chairman of the Sunshine League committee until his untimely death in A pril of this year. RIP James your guidance and friendship will be hard to replace.
Colin Crewe, again in at the start, passed away earlier this year and was secretary of the S unshine committee for many years as was a well-respected man who loved the game. His sense of fun will be missed.
Each year since B ob died there has been held a memorial tournament in April to remember him, and now sadly it is for three people.
This year the tournament was held on S aturday, April 23 , at Domino B ar in L as B arcas urbanisation, Torrevieja. It was by inv itation only and a total of 11 team stook part.
A minute’s silence was held before play started followed by clapping .
The rain held off and the sun shone, althoug h the wind was v ery blustery.
T he format was eig ht timed triple g ames, played by six players from each team. W inning positions were determined by total points scored by the six team members. I t made the contest close and interesting .
T he winners were presented with a cup and the second and third-placed teams receiv ed wine.
The finishing positions were: McCoys - 1 0 2 , P hoenix - 9 3 , Dolphins - 8 7 , K nig hts and P eacock s R ed - 7 9 , Buccaneers and P eacock s Marineros - 7 8 , F alcons and P umas - 7 1 , P hoenix K nig hts - 6 3 , Feathers - 5 2 .
It was a v ery fitting day for three valued men. R I P .