National News
Click on the tabs below for news and results from competitions taking place throughout the season, as well as other news items from the TOWA!
The TOWA is in the process of putting together the fixture list for 2019 which will be discussed at the General Committee meeting to be held in November.
If you are a club or event organiser and are looking to organise a tug of war competition during 2019 (including any training leagues, YFC competitions, shows, etc), then you need to apply for your permits by Mid November (17 November 2018). The cost of a permit is £20.
To apply to hold an event, please complete the permit application form and return it to the TOWA secretary Mick Copper along with the permit fee using the details provided on the form.
If your date is flexible, then please provide any potential alternative dates with your application in the event that there is a clash with another nearby event.
If you wish to host the AAA championships (any event prior to the national championships in June), Inter County Championships (any event after the June national championships) or League Finals (first week of September or slightly earlier date during late August depending upon the date of the European Championships in September) at your event, then please provide a covering letter applying to hold such an event. Where more than one venue applies to hold such an event, then a decision will be made by the committee by way of majority vote based upon the information provided about the suitability of the venue.
Organisers are also reminded that when organising a tug of war event, it is your own responsibility to invite officials and such invitations should be sent at the earliest opportunity and not at the last minute.
In advance of receiving expected questions on the national championships venue, the venue for the championships will be voted on in November. Otherwise, the national championships takes place on the third Saturday of June. We are always looking for venues to host future national championships in the coming years, so if you wish to put a venue forward (ideally at a show or other public venue/event with weigh in facilities nearby), then please contact the Championships Secretary Mick Grimston (mickgrimston@gmail.com) to discuss further what is required.
Otherwise, if you have any other general queries about competition fixtures / hosting an event, then please contact the TOWA Secretary Mick Copper - mick.copper@tiscali.co.uk. The permit application form to apply to host an event is available to download below. If you intend to hold an event in 2019, then please download, complete and return the form to the TOWA Secretary as soon as possible.
Sun 11th November 2018 - AAA's Indoor Championships
Harry Mitchell Leisure Centre, Broomfield, Smethwick, West Midlands, B67 7DH
Weights
Closed Men - 640 and Catchweight Ladies and Youth - 520
Open - Men 580, 600, 640 680, 6 a side weight class, Ladies and youth 520 and 560
Registration cards required for closed weights. No registration cards required for open weights
Weigh In - 9am - First Pull - 10am
Please call all teams intending to attend, please notify the Hon General Secretary Mick Copper by Wednesday 7th November
Click here to read more about the first weekend of indoor tug of war competition!
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published the 2019 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, and The Tug of War Association wants to ensure you know all the key details before it comes into effect on 1 January.
Whether you’re a puller, coach, parent, physio, doctor or S&C coach, it’s vital you are aware of the changes, so you don’t get caught out and end up with a ban from sport.
The List outlines substances and methods which are banned both in and out-of-competition, but it is not exhaustive as most categories only include common examples. It’s updated every October, giving you time to get to grips with any changes before the New Year, but please also be aware that changes can also be made to the Prohibited List throughout the year.
Several of the changes relate to supplements, or ingredients commonly found within them, while there is also more information around gene doping and examples of certain substances being known by a different name.
More details can be found on the UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) website, so please take the time to have a read through to ensure you don’t get caught out.
The Kessingland Autumn Tug of War Weekend celebrated its 40th Anniversary this year and the organisers are very grateful that pullers are still turning out for the weekend, enabling them to keep the competition going. This included two new teams to the event.
The results were as follows:
Saturday
600kg winners, Raunds and runners up Halstead
640kg winners, Halstead and runners up Raunds
680kg winners, Raunds and runners up Halstead
600kg 4x4 winners Thames Valley B and runners up Thames Valley A
Sunday
620kg winners Raunds and runners up Hadleigh
660kg winners Raunds and runners up Hadleigh
720kg winners Raunds and runners up Halstead
660kg 4x4 winners Hadleigh and runners up Thames Valley
Next year the Kessingland event is being held over the weekend of 12th and 13th October 2019 and the organisers look forward to seeing everybody once again!
Starting on Sunday 28 October, there will be 5 weekly competitions, taking place on Sundays, followed by the TOWA national indoor championships on Saturday 1st December
The indoor season is run as a league. Annual team trophies (donated by Len Hall) are awarded for each weight class at the final indoor competition before the national championships for the teams that have accumulated the most points over the course of the season in each weight class.
This season will include new 6 a side weight classes at 480kg and 510kg for men. Ladies/junior 6 a side weights will be confirmed shortly.
As per the ruling voted in at the 2018 AGM, This year, there will be a 6 a side weight class held at each indoor event (open competitions only). Teams may weigh into these weight classes with 6 pullers or 5 pullers, as with normal 8 a side competitions where teams can weigh in with 7 pullers.
This weight class is a great opportunity for teams who have never done indoor tug of war before, or for teams with small squads to come along and take part. It is also ideal for outdoor teams looking to keep fit over the winter to come along and have a go. All you need is your normal tug of war kit and flat soft sole trainers instead of boots. Multiple teams can be entered into the 6 a side weight classes if your clubs have sufficient numbers in attendance, and teams can also borrow pullers to make extra teams.
Please note that in order to encourage new teams to take part on the indoor circuit that for the 6 a side weight classes, the TOWA committee has resolved to only permit unmodified, shop bought shoes for the 6 a side weight categories.
Please note also that the 6 a side weight classes will not count towards the criteria for qualifying to represent England for those teams looking to qualify to represent England at the British and Irish Championships. If teams attend an indoor event with 5 pullers to compete in the 6 a side weight class, and wish for the event to count towards the qualification criteria for representing England, then they may borrow two pullers to compete in an 8 a side weight class with 7 pullers as a maximum of two pullers may be borrowed to be eligible to meet the criteria, with our rules allowing for teams to compete with 7 pullers in open competitions.
Entry to the hall each week is £2 per person (which includes raffle tickets) to help cover the costs of hall hire.
In advance of the first competitions, teams are asked to contact the TOWA secretary to confirm attendance and approximate number of weight classes that you think your team is likely to enter so that appropriate planning can take place in advance of the event to ensure that the hall is booked for the appropriate length of time.
The list of open competition fixtures prior to the national indoor championships are available on the fixtures page. Please note that the weigh in time for each competition is 9am, with competitions starting at 10am.
We are looking forward to another good indoor tug of war season!
4 members of the Royal Corps of Signals recently traveled to South Africa as part of the England Tug of War Squad to take part in the World Tug of War Championships.
Warrant Officer Class One Brian Mclean is a member of 11th (Royal School of Signals ) Signal Regiment and has been involved with military Tug of War for almost 23 years. He is key to the development of the sport within the Army as he introduces young junior soldiers to the sport whilst they are in training. He traveled to South Africa in an assistant coach capacity and gained valuable experience of youth Tug of War at International level which will aid with the development of the young soldiers he has under his command.
In addition to Brian, 3 other members of the Royal Corps of Signals recently traveled to South Africa as part of the England Tug of War Squad to take part in the World Tug of War Championships. Warrant Officer Class Two Jon Perks traveled over as part of his civilian club Felton Eccles who he competed for in the open competition before competing in the closed competition for England, winning a bronze medal in the 680kg weight category. Signaller Nial Lewis and Signaller Elise Kalaher are Phase 2 trainee soldiers who are currently completing their trade training after joining the Army in the past year. While pulling for 11th (Royal School of Signals) Signal Regiment this season on the Army circuit they both caught the eye of the England Junior team manager and were selected to represent England Juniors in South Africa and also competed in the open competition for Team ACF.
Congratulations to the above. A number of military teams and personnel have competed on the TOWA circuit over a great number of years and continue to do so. Many civilian clubs also take on military pullers after they have left the service, so if you are an ex-member of a forces tug of war team and want to remain involved in the sport, then please contact us to find a tug of war club near to you!
We have begun the process of revamping our web site to make it compatible with mobile and tablet devices.
We are still in the process of migrating data and information from our old web site to the new web site, so please bear with us whilst this transition takes place.
Please keep checking back for updates!
It is with regret that the Midland Area TOWA have had to cancel the above event, due to teams not informing the organisers whether or not they were going to attend the event.
Going forward, the Tug of War Association would like to remind teams that you should contact event organisers in advance of an event to confirm whether or not you are going to attend. A lot of organisation, time and expenditure is required to put on events, so co-operation with event organisers by all teams from this point forward would be appreciated. Thank you.
Visit the International News Page for a round up of a great weekend of tug of war.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make this a success - from those who organised the event from the outset, all of the volunteers, Wyboston Lakes, all of the teams, all of the officials and all of the supporters. We had a great time! Here's to the next 60 years and beyond!
