Bosley Tug of War Club’s young lions shine

Above: England u23 Ladies on the Podium

Junior and under 23 members of Bosley Tug of War Club have been competing in Switzerland at the TWIF World Outdoor Tug of War Championships in the town of Sursee. 

The four day event saw teams from across the globe competing in various weight classes for mens, ladies, under 23, junior and mixed (teams of 4 men and 4 ladies) with two days dedicated to open club competition, and two days dedicated to international competition. 

Club members Zoe and Kate Brocklehurst, Ellie Platt, Vic Astle and Harry Large were involved in the ladies and mens under 23 squads, and George Large and Joe Hulme were part of the England junior squads. 

In the open competition, Zoe and Kate Brocklehurst and Harry Large were part of the ETOWA under 23 mixed team which pulled superbly to reach the world open final where they met the team from Chinese Taipei.

It was a 2 ends to 0 defeat for their team resulting in an otherwise well deserved silver medal. 

Zoe and Kate Brocklehurst, Ellie Platt, and Vic Astle also competed in the Under 23 ladies open competition where the team secured 4^th place, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal to Gaztedi from the Basque Country.  

In the junior open competition, George Large and Joe Hulme were part of the junior mixed team that secured fifth place overall.  

The next two days of competition saw these young pullers proudly wear their England shirts in their respective weight divisions.  

In the international competitions, the England under 23 ladies performed strongly in the group stages, progressing to the semi-finals where they met host nation Switzerland.

Unfortunately it was a 2 ends to 0 defeat, so they went into the bronze medal match against the Basque Country, featuring many of the pullers who they faced in the open competition.

This time around though, England were the dominant team, securing a great 2 ends to 0 win to take the bronze medal.  

The under 23 mens team didn’t reach the semi finals, but finished up with a world ranking of 6^th place, which was an improvement of the 9^th position achieved at the previous world championships. 

It was a similar story for the England junior mens and junior mixed teams who missed out on the semi finals in both of these competition, finishing in 7^th and 5^th place respectively in what was otherwise a closely fought competition.  

A final medal came in the mixed under 23 competition, with the England team progressing to the semi finals from a very competitive group where they met Chinese Taipei.

They missed out on a second final of the week by 2 ends to 0 so went into the bronze medal match against Germany who had won the mens under 23 competition the day before. It was England’s day this time, who took a fine 2 ends to 0 win to take a great bronze medal.   

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“We are very proud of what our young members achieved at the World Championships this year” commented club spokesman Alan Knott. 

“We are a largely self-funded sport, so it takes a lot of commitment, self-sacrifice and fund raising to get to these events, so it is amazing to see our youngsters succeed at this level” 

“They have all worked extremely hard in training and we hope that they enjoyed their experience and we hope to see more young pullers come through the ranks now and in the future” 

England under 23 team manager and Bosley Coach Dave Knott added: 

“I was immensely proud to lead out the England under 23 teams this year, and to come away with lots of medals from this event is an outstanding achievement – I couldn’t have asked any more from all of my team members and the pullers involved have created memories and built friendships that will last a lifetime” 

“Taking teams of juniors and under 23s forward is hard work, especially when the teams change every year as members come of age and move up to the next age category, so medals at this level are always very special”. 

The world championships marks the end of the outdoor tug of war season and the team will soon be turning its attention to the indoor tug of war season. The club trains on the rope on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and is always open to new members (male and female) aged 14 plus. England are hosting the “GENSB” international junior tug of war tournament in August 2024 at Keele University and Bosley would love to have junior teams competing there. If anyone wishes to find out more or join the team, then you can message the club via their Facebook or Instagram page (@bosleytugofwar) or you can call, text or WhatsApp Alan Knott on 07976 591222.