National Tug of War Championships heading to Macclesfield

Main Image: Norton Tug of War Club from Stoke-on-Trent

Saturday 18th June will see the National Outdoor Tug of War championships take place at Macclesfield Rugby Club’s home ground of Priory Park in Macclesfield.

Tug of war teams from all over England will be taking part in the event, which will see teams competing for the gold, silver and bronze medals in mens weight categories, ladies weight categories, and junior weight categories. There will also be a mixed gender weight class up for grabs, with teams consisting of 4 men and 4 ladies each.

The event is being organised by the English Tug of War Association (TOWA) in conjunction with Macclesfield Rugby Club and other local organisers, and each tug of war team will consist of 8 pullers, with many clubs travelling with larger squads to compete in different weight classes. The event is being organised in weight classes, with teams weighing in the night before the event. Each team is not allowed to exceed the designated weight limit for each weight class.

The winning teams from the different weight classes that are held at the national championships will go on to represent England at the World Outdoor Tug of War Championships, which take place in the Malmo, Sweden in September.

Amongst the teams competing will be the Norton Tug of War Club from Staffordshire, and Lincoln Tug of War Club who won 3 gold medals each at the 2015 National Championships. Kilroe Ladies from Manchester will be competing at the event as 2015 Ladies National Champions, and Gloucester ACF will be competing at the event as 2015 Junior National Champions.

Local interest in the event will come from Bosley Tug of War Club, who boast an enviable record in tug of war, having previously won 50 national outdoor championship titles, 11 European titles and 2 World titles. Bosley Tug of War Club, with a young team, also had a successful year in 2015, winning bronze at the 2015 National Championships, and then reaching the European Club Championship quarter finals.

“We are very much looking forward to the national tug of war championships in Macclesfield this year”. Commented TOWA spokesman Alan Knott.

“We will have teams that have won World and European Championship medals taking part at the event, which should make for a very exciting championship. English teams boast a proud record at tug of war, with England having won many gold, silver and bronze medals over the past 50 years. On many occasions, local club Bosley have been the representing team that has won these medals”

“The World outdoor tug of war championships take place in Malmo, Sweden in September, so this event will be used to select the teams that represent England in the World Championships”

“The Tug of War Sport used to be organised by the Amateur Athletic Association in the early 1900’s, but it was not until 1958 when The Tug of War Association was formed to organise the sport independently”.

“The sport was formerly a part of the Olympic programme until 1920, but was phased out along with other sports, such as Cricket and Rugby to reduce the number of competitors at the Olympics at that time. Great Britain are still the reigning Olympic champions at tug of war from those games in 1920”.

“We hope some day that tug of war will once again be part of the Olympic programme. It is a true team sport and the ethics or determination, hard work, sportsmanship, and friendship are unrivalled in any other sport. We hope that people come along to watch the tug of war championship at Macclesfield Rugby Club to give all of our tug of war teams as much support as possible. We are sure that there are many in the area that will come out and support their local team from Bosley”.

Jonathan Marsh, Business Director of Macclesfield Rugby Club is also very excited about holding this national event in Macclesfield:
“It is a great honour for Macclesfield RUFC to host the English Tug of War Championships 2016. Macclesfield RUFC has a long sporting tradition and has been closely associated with Bosley Tug of War Club for many years. The Directors and Members of the club are looking forward to the event with much excitement”

Bosley Tug of War Club coach Andy Street is very optimistic about the event.
“This local area has boasted a number of strong and successful tug of war teams nationally and internationally over many years, and it is great that the National Tug of War Championships are coming to Macclesfield this year. Our club is one of the most well-known teams in tug of war owing to our achievements over very many years from the late 1950’s. We are probably one of the most successful sports teams in Cheshire”.

“At the moment, we have a young team that is gaining experience, so hopefully we will improve on our performances from last year and do well at this year’s national championships. We hope that many local people will come out and support the event, and we hope that we can do them all proud by winning some medals”.

The championships on Saturday 18th June 2016 start at 10.00am and will run throughout the day.
For further information about the sport of tug of war, people are encouraged to visit the Tug of War Association web site at www.tugofwar.co.uk.