Tug of War Association Rule Changes as Agreed by the TOWA Membership at the 2020 AGM
At the recent AGM a number of resolutions and proposed rule changes were put forward, in addition, executive officers were elected to serve a two year term as follows:
Chairman - Pete Dyer (Area 3)
Vice Chairman (and chair of discipline) - Dave Kitchener (Area 5)
Treasurer - Adele Hamer (Area 1 but not an area representative)
Hon. General Secretary - Mick Copper (Area 2 but not an area representative)
International Representative - Dave Kitchener (Area 5)
Officials and Records Secretary - Gavin Corden (Area 2)
Resolutions / Proposed Rule Changes
The following resolutions were accepted by the membership and will be enacted for 12 months. These rules will then be subject to ratification at the 2021 AGM:
AAA Championships
1. A team may borrow a maximum of two pullers (gender specific) which must be declared at the scales. The borrowed pullers must be registered with their own club.
2. Teams entering the mens weight classes may weigh in with up to two female pullers as long as those pullers are registered with the relevant club in the usual way.
Inter County Championships
1. A team may borrow a maximum of two pullers which must be declared at the scales. The borrowed pullers must be registered with their own club.
2. Teams entering the mens weight classes may weigh in with up to two female pullers as long as those pullers are registered with the relevant club in the usual way.
The above are in addition to the current rules which allow you to borrow pullers from other clubs within the same county.
Judges Refresher Course
Rule 4.1 (d) Grade 1 judges must take a refresher course and exam every four years; be amended to include ALL Judges and failure to attend without good reason may lead to sanctions by the Referees Panel.
Outdoor National Championships
1. To amend the weigh in time on the Friday evening to starting in the afternoon at 15.30 pm to 19.30 pm.
Stamping at the ground 7.30 am to 8.30 am.
First Pull National day 9.30 am
2. In order to allow teams that have only 6 or 7 registered pullers to compete at the Nationals, they may use up to two pullers that will not be competing at that Nationals that are registered with another team/s. This made up team will not be eligible to represent.
3. Current ruling 2.3m) In every weight, both semi-finals will be pulled at the same time, and the final shall be the only event taking place in the arena.
Proposed ruling 2.3m) In every weight, both semi-finals will be pulled at the same time.
The removal of the wording “and the final shall be the only event taking place in the arena” is intended to give the chief judge the discretion and flexibility to run finals and bronze medal pulls at the same time if he or she wishes to speed the day along, and likewise still allows the chief judge to run the final as the only event in the area as a gesture of respect.
Anti-doping Tests
That at every outdoor and indoor National Championship, there is anti-doping tests undertaken on at least one Male and one Female puller (as appropriate).
TOWA Competition permits
On the day of the Outdoor National Championships and one day either side, no other competition permit will be issued.
National League
1. The points awarded to teams at the conclusion of the group stages of each weight class at each weekly competition should be as follows: 1st = 4 points, 2nd = 3 points, 3rd = 2 points with all other teams competing getting 1 point.
2. A mixed 580kg competition will now be included as part of the national league
National league entry fees - the entry fees for the national league are to be varied such that there will be a £3 entry fee per weight class at each of the 8 national league events, which will be added to the entry fee for the relevant national league weight class at the relevant designated national league events (men 600, 640, 680, mixed 580kg and ladies/youth league weights).
This will be instead of charging £25 per team per weight class at the national league final at the end of the season. E.g. if the entry fee per weight class at a designated national league event is £8 per weight, the total weight entry fee for national league weight classes will be £11 per team per weight class. If you entered all 8 national league events, then the fee per weight would amount to £24 per team per weight which is still comparable to the entry fee that you would have otherwise paid if just paying the £25 per weight entry fee at the national league final.
Please note that the entry fees set by the TOWA are not rules as such so this change to the entry fee was not a rule change arising from the AGM, but was agreed by the General Committee in November 2019.
Please ensure that all members of your clubs are informed about the above rule changes.
If you have any questions on any of the above rule changes, then please contact a member of the TOWA Committee.
