Tug of War at Long
Itchington Show
Bank Holiday
Monday 27th August
Five, six-a-side
teams representing Gloucestershire, Oxford, Worcestershire and
Warwickshire have a great day at the village Inter-counties.
All pictured here
after the presentation by Mr John Morton of the Warwickshire St Johns
Ambulance who the events was held in aid of.
Winners on the day
Priors representing Warwickshire.
Most of the pullers competing
here today were new to tug of war, very few have ever been out to a
Federation or Association event. these little shows that I arrange are
to give them a taste of what real tug of war is about and to encourage
them to take the sport up.
Win or lose, we all
enjoy ourselves immensely.
Next Saturday we
hope to bring tug of war back to another once great venue, the flower
show at Alfrick in Worcestershire.
Tug of War At The Peeping Tom
Burton
Green.
The
Peeping Tom Ladies win the trophy after some great pulling.
Priors
Take the men's trophy.
Tug
of War In
Aid of Macmillan Nurses
Leek
sweep the board at the
World
four by four Championships
On
a beautifully laid out arena Leek turned on a superb performance to take
all three weights.
Friday
the 3rd of August
As
ever this competition has been months in the planning, and there are
always unforeseen problems, flooding, changes to the venue, trying
to cut the grass throughout damaging the new ground, and ordering the
food for an unknown number of people. But by Friday morning everything
started to happen.
First the marquee
for the food, The flags, and the presentation dais. The ropes were still
damp and a bit muddy from that terrible day at Ashborne. We laid them out to
dry.
The disco pavilion
and the control centre next. Cars and caravans were beginning to
arrive behind the pavilion.
With the sun
setting a very tired Jo and Alison could look at their days work and be very
satisfied.
Yours truly got
himself settled very comfortable before going off to join Dave Ling for
one of his famous bar-b-Qs.
Saturday the big
day
Saturday started
off quite cool and windy, though by 6am we had the generators running
and the water boilers on. By 8-30 there were going to be a lot of hungry
and thirsty pullers coming off the scales.
But the ladies
from Triple F Sam and Heather were equal to the task, and as you see here they were
soundly applauded and rewarded by everyone at the end of the day.
At the other end
of the field the Judges were busy with the weigh-in, It all went without a
hitch. By the advertised time for the welcome and opening ceremony
everything was spot on time.
Part of the
welcome given by the Chairman of Triple F was as follows :
This,
the four by four, the latest and most exciting form of our sport,
designed to demonstrate to the world, the equality between men and women
in the sport.
Let
today's competition send out a clear message that the future of our
sport, and the equality of all competitors are inseparable.
I
invite you to compete here today, in the traditional spirit that has set
tug of war up amounts the greatest of all sports.
I
declare these Championships open. May the fittest, the most skillful and
the most determined win.
I
salute you all.
The
pulling and judging that followed was of a very high and enjoyable
standard. Leek were outstanding, and although pushed hard they went on
to win every weight. Holland took silver in both the 600 & 660, and
bronze in the 560. Triple F picked up silver in the 560 and bronze in
the other two weights
Leek
were powerful and determined
Holland fought
for every inch
Triple F well justified
their silver medal position in the 560 K
TTV Veersieck from
Belgium gave everyone a good pull.
The Sussex rebel
team pulling in familiar shirts
Priors a near
novice team with a few old heads came and saw what it was all about They
enjoyed themselves and were harder to beat than expected.
I'm
not a believer in stars in teams, though we all know of some that must
come very close. Wendy Johnson must still be one of the best female pullers ever. One that
reached the top with that world famous ladies side of the 1990 s She's
an inspiration to any young person coming into the sport.
Another great
puller that's returned to his roots is Mark Beaver. I first met him twenty
years ago with a little Federation team called Wigston, like a lot
of people he moved
into the association to have his day on the world stage with St Pats. He
represented England winning gold medals on many occasions. Now retired
from active pulling. it's nice to see him back. He's now coaching Tripe
F and loving it.
Two officials from
the Indian Tug of War organisation "Safri Sports Club" in the Punjab
were introduced to the competition by Steve Gardner one of the world 4+4
organisers. I understand the 4+4 style of competition has taken off in a
big way. Pictured here with The Priors tug of war team on their first
day out.
The Presentation
of the medals followed.
Results:
600
Kilos 4+4
Gold -
Leek
Silver -
Holland Bronze -Triple F
660
Kilos 4+4
Gold -
Leek
Silver -
Holland Bronze - Triple F
560
Kilos 4+4
Gold -
Leek
Silver -
Triple F Bronze - Holland
Three open weights
followed in the afternoon, but first the teams were invited to have
lunch by the host team Triple F.
A magnificent hot
roast pig was served up free to everyone.
Three weights
followed in the afternoon where Holland Tug of War Club
turned on a great performance to take each weight.
The day ended in a
great party & disco.
Tired but happy,
some of the Triple F team workers that made for such a good day with Maurice
Simmons President of the Federation.
On
the left Jan & Ann Lenaerts the Judges from Belgium
The disc brought
the night to a close.
Back in 1991 I
threw a little 4+4 pebble on the water, Though others are now working
very hard to organise and promote it, it is very pleasing to me to see
the ripples are still spreading out across the world. Imagine
then how delighted and surprised I was to be presented with a beautiful crystal
glass by the host team.
I thank you all
very much, It is very humbling to have taken part in something that is
giving so much pleasure to so many people.
Droitwich Rotory
club
Charity Tug of War
15th July
It had rained hard all
morning, and although it stopped for the tug of war, the damage was done
as far as the ground went, though a good crowd watched the tug of war.
In very very soft
conditions four teams contested this new event.
Worcester All Sorts.
Priors, Physique fitness
& Ebrington Arms.
Worcester All sorts
pictured here were the only team that really mastered the condition, and
ran out worthy winners
Well connected and setting about the
job in hand, this picture tells it all.
Priors pictured above did well to gain
second place, and may have done better on dry ground.
This is the first time I have seen this
new team Physique fitness and for
a novice team I was very impressed with them. They had the best battle
of the day and came out 2-1 winners over Ebrington. There's a lot more
to come here.
Ebrington struggled in the wet
conditions and against the weight of the other teams, but never gave up
trying. and were part of that battle with Physique fitness I think they
will come into their own in a lighter weight division.
I have to thank all the teams for
turning on such an exciting day for the spectators and raising £40 for
the Rotory Charity.
Pebworth
Fete'
Pebworth Fete' was a delightful affair,
opened by John Nettles the actor from the Mid Summer Murders series.
It had everything from bare foot children dancing
beautifully, to a dog show, Stalls and stands of every kind surrounded the
central arena. The local High school orchestra played all afternoon. while the
the fire brigade turned on a demonstration of their skills. And most
importantly the weather stayed bright and dry. A perfect English summer
fete'
Despite some teams not turning up the tug
of war went ahead at 3.30pm. I was asked to judge
it, and was only to pleased to help. The winners Priors Marston proved to
good for the local teams, though they all turned on great entertainment
for the spectators as tug of war always does.
The Pebworth team putting everything into
it.
Watched by a large crowd Priors just had more
experience and it counted.
Federation News
Well, goodbye to the
wettest June in living memory. The tug of war should have been at Triple
F in Buckinghamshire this Sunday, but with flooded fields it looked like
being cancelled. I tried several places, but no one was keen to
take it on due to the water logged state of their own grounds.
Thankfully Holland Tug of War Club came to the rescue and offered to
host it. We should thank them and the fixture secretary for stepping in
to save the day.
Luckily the horrendous
weather forecast for the weekend did not quite materialise, and a warm
southerly wind keep the rain off for most of the afternoon. Five teams
in most weights though there were pullers on the field from at least
three others who all joining up to make a day of it.
Hay-on-Wye
600K
In good strength and a
welcome team to the federation were Hay-on Wye. They set off in fine
form winning both the 600K and the 680K. and later added the 640K.
Hay-on-Wye
680K
Totham
Bull who may be struggling in training to get a full team, turned out
with a little help from other team pullers who found themselves light in
numbers. and once they got themselves together made everybody fight for
it.
Totham
Bull going well in the 600K
Unfortunately
I was unable to stay to the end though I see
Holland
won the 660K 4+4 and Catch weight. With Triple F Winning the 600K 4+4.
For
a full report click on to www.tugofwarfederation.co.uk
Report on World Police and Fire service Games 2007
This
years event was held in Adelaide Australia between 16th-23
March.
The
opening ceremony was spectacular with 8,800 competitors parading around
the boundary of the Adelaide Oval Cricket ground. This all took place in
front of a capacity crowd in the old ground, followed by live bands and
entertainment into the night
Sgt
Chris Pollard, competed in this years Games for the GB Police all forces
Tug of war team, this had been pre-selected from the PAA Tug of war
competition last July at Newport.
The
team consisted of 15 officers from various forces, which produced two
6-man teams in all three of the weight divisions. There were no GB
police women this games for the Tug of War for the first time.
The
weight divisions are for the combined weight of all the 6 competitors
not to exceed 490kg or 680gk and no maximum weight in the Catchweight.
GB
Police won the 490kg division in Barcelona in 2003 and Quebec in 2005,
and hoped to improve this year with a stronger 15-man team attending.
The
venue was a grass amphitheatre in the seaside town of Glenelg, just out
of the city.
About
2000 baying Australians were there to cheer on there Police and Fire
Teams.
The
first event was the 680kg and our weaker team as we were no up to the
maximum weight allowed. The ten teams in the event were split into two
divisions with the top two going through to the semi-finals.
Both
GB teams had been drawn in on division along with Venezuela, Malaysia,
and South Africa.
The
Malaysians were well prepared and took the second of three ends from us,
but GB won the third end and beat the other GB team (Met) to top the
group.
The
final was against South Africa who GB beat by two straight ends out of
three.
In
the 490kg division GB (all forces) did not lose a single end, to any
team and took the Gold after another hard fought final with South
Africa.
In
the Catchweight event, GB (Met) took Gold with GB (all forces) taking
Bronze.
Results
were
490
kg
Gold
GB Police all forces
Silver
South Africa Police
Bronze
Malaysia Police
680kg
Gold
GB Police all forces
Silver
South Africa Police
Bronze
GB Police Metropolitan
Catchweight
Gold
GB Police Metropolitan
Silver
Adelaide
Fire and Rescue
Bronze
GB Police all forces
Anyone
interested in Tug of War please contact Sgt Chris Pollard on x3402.
The
Beds Police fun day is coming up with a Tug of War event on the 24th
June and the PAA Tug of War event in Blackpool on the 19th
July.
