He has represented East Anglia and England in a sport most people have never heard of but may well have played.
Simon Doble, from Toftwood in Dereham, started playing pétanque - a type of boules - when he was eight and is still rolling balls 44 years later.
Mr Doble said: “I loved my time playing the sport, from the team I play with now, and the memories of playing with my dad as a kid and as an adult.
"Playing in France, Holland, Spain and Belgium, all incredible moments."
Mr Doble said he was introduced to the game by a French family from Vélizy-Villacoublay, who came to stay in that town's twin town, Harlow, which is where he was living as a child.
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This began a lifelong love affair with the sport, thanks to his dad playing games with him and taking him to his local club.
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Mr Doble and teammates Phil Boarder and Marion Halsey have qualified to represent East Anglia at an inter-regional competition at Pakefield Holiday Village in September.
He will also play for England in a home nations tournament in Whitnash, Warwickshire, on August 12 and 13.
He also plays for Drayton in the Norfolk County League.
He said: “I love it, to be honest, I’m pretty much a veteran at my age of 52.
“To represent the region is great. Playing all weekend for 12 hours a day - I couldn’t think of anything better.
"But to play for your country is something not everyone gets to do. It's why we do it, such a great honour.”
What is pétanque?
Pétanque joins other sports in the category of boules, extremely popular in France, but played in the UK for over 50 years.
Mainly played in the summer, its approach for people is the ‘easy to play, hard to master’ side, which encourages people to give it a go.
The sport is now played in every area of the UK. Scotland, Wales, Jersey and England play a Home Nations every year. There are over 320 clubs in the UK with an estimated 20,000 regular players.
Teams aim to play their boules towards a target ball or Jack. In Pétanque the objective is to score points by having boules closer to the target than the opponent after all boules have been thrown.
There is a throwing ring on the ground, and a coin is flipped to decide who throws first.
The jack is then thrown from the circle. The first team throws a boule toward the jack, then the second team, each aiming to land their boules closest to it.
The team that doesn’t have a boule closest to the jack throws again until they do, or are out of boules. The team with a boule closest to the jack wins the round.
The winning team gets one point for each of their boules that is closer to the jack than the losing team’s closest boule. The losing team doesn't score any points.
If one team has three boules closer to the jack than the other's closest boule, that team scores three points. There are no draws in Petanque thus the game reaches an exciting and inevitable climax. With the first team to 13 points being the winner.
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