We are less than two years away from the World Games 2021 taking place in and around Birmingham. Many are likely unfamiliar with the sports in the World Games, so Alabama NewsCenter is explaining what you can expect to see. Today, we look at Boules Sports.

Boules sports covers two sports known as boules lyonnaise and pétanque. The games themselves are ancient, having begun as early as the sixth century BCE. Games are divided into how the metal ball is thrown, with rolled balls being one type and thrown balls being another.

The biggest differential between lyonnaise and pétanque is that lyonnaise has a run up to the throw whereas pétanque does not. Each team has two to three members and three balls. The objective is to throw your teams boules closest to a designated point while also trying to knock your opponent’s boules away from the designated point, represented by a smaller, target ball called a jack. At the end of the round, after both teams have thrown their boules, the team with the closest boule wins the round. The winning team earns a point for each of their boules that are closer to the jack than the opponents. The game ends when one team reaches 13.

Boules Sports are part of the World Games. (Wojciech Grzedzinski)

To learn more visit: https://www.theworldgames.org/sports/Boules-Sports-24