Congress Invite

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Official Invitation & Notification of the TWIF Congress 2014

Orfordville 10^th, November 2013

To:       All Members of TWIF

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Tug of War International Federation, your Tug of War Association/Federation is hereby invited to attend the:

Annual TWIF Congress and Seminar,

Belfast, Northern Ireland

11th &12th of April 2014

The 2014 Annual TWIF Congress will be held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the Ramada Plaza Hotel.

Each member Association is allowed 3 persons to attend the Seminar and 2 persons to attend the Congress. Unless otherwise stated by the congress.

The Seminar will be on Friday the 11^th of April and the Congress on Saturday the 12^th of April.

Mr. Anton Rabe, Treasurer of TWIF, will inform you on the accommodation in the very near future. Participants in the congress should contact the Northern Ireland Tug of War Association for the easiest way to travel to Belfast.

In order to obtain a Visa, participating Member Associations/Federations may require an invitation for the Congress and Seminar direct from the Host Country.  In case you need such a special invitation please contact the Northern Ireland Tug of War Association, address listed below:

Mr. Hugh McFetridge: E-mail: remcfetridge@hotmail.com

Mr. David Wilson: E-mail: wilson13271@btinternet.com

1. Each member is invited to send the Secretary Proposals and Questions to be put on the agenda for the congress.  All proposals and questions must be in the hands of the Secretary on or before January 1, 2014.

2.  Any member intending to tender for a future championship must submit their tender to the Secretary no later than January 1, 2014.   Championship dates open for tendering are listed below:

·        2018 World Indoor

·        2019 European Outdoor

                                               

Presentation of the tenders will be made following the TWIF Seminar on Friday.

3.  The TWIF Seminar: The Seminar will take place on the Friday before congress. Subject matter for the Seminar will be included with the Agenda for Congress.

4. 2013/2014 Reporting Form: Please find attached the 2013/2014 Annual reporting form. Please fill out the form and return it to the secretary no later than January 1, 2014.

5. New members:  Any national tug of war association applying for membership to TWIF please contact the TWIF ExCo to ensure your application can be ready for congress.                                                        

Kindest regards,

Glen Johnson

Secretary General of TWIF

TWIF Medical Report

I have been asked to comment on various practices of Tug of War athletes in the run up to major competitions.  I do so as a general medical practitioner having had some discussion with Sports nutritionists and Sports Medicine physicians.  My comments will be general comments on the pros and cons of these practices. 

The Specific activities addressed are:

1.    Diet restriction to reduce weight

2.    Use of nutritional supplements

3.    Fluid restriction to reduce weight

4.    Use of sauna to reduce weight

DIET RESTRICTION

Eating less can reduce weight however it stresses the body and starvation leads to the increase of the hormone cortisol which can encourage the body to maintain weight.  It also can lead to the loss of muscle mass when the objective should be to lose fat weight. 

In general athletes should take a well-balanced diet primarily carbohydrates (up to 60% of energy) fat and protein.  It is further recommended that carbohydrates should be mainly from a group regarded as complex carbohydrates e.g. bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and vegetables.

USE OF NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

The use of these supplements particularly protein supplements is thought to have the potential to cause kidney damage, osteoporosis and digestive problems especially if used long term.  Realistically 500mls of skimmed milk or milk powder daily are an adequate source of protein supplement.

A further problem with supplements is level of regulation of them, with a potential for an athlete to consume a banned substance.

The National Athletic Trainer’s Association [based in the US] published a Position statement in 2013 – Evaluation of Dietary Supplements for Performance Nutrition.  Several extracts of note:

“Athletes can be vulnerable to the misinformation and risk in terms of safety, legality and efficiency of dietary supplements and should not assume a product is safe simply because it is marketed over the counter.”

“Current regulations do not require supplement manufactures to provide evidence of safety.”

“Consider proper nutrition and changes in habitual diet first.”

“Do not forget to prioritise a healthy diet over dietary supplements to support performance.”

FLUID RESTRICTION

Fluid restriction to lose weight leads to dehydration which has a number of serious side effects.  These risks are intensified if athletes undertake several days of intense fluid restriction.  Dehydration leads to the loss of essential body components (e.g. sodium and potassium).  Consequently dehydration can lead to a rise in blood pressure and heart rate.  The loss of sodium and potassium can affect the functioning of the heart and potentially lead to sudden death.

USE OF SAUNA TO REDUCE WEIGHT

Intensive use of sauna can lead to dehydration.  As mentioned above this can have ill effects on heart functioning.  Ultimately this will have negative effects on performance. A good level of hydration is essential for health and wellbeing.

My research has revealed evidence that the use of sauna for weight loss has potential detrimental effects on health and performance.Consequently should be limited and used in moderation.However no evidence was found supporting the idea of banning such practice.

It should be noted that horse racing facilities have removed sauna facilities from their establishments to try and minimise the risky activity of intense sauna use.  Equally the sport of boxing has moved to discourage boxers from partaking in this activity. 

E.P. BECKETT MB FRCGP

USATOWA National Results 2013

The 2013 National Championships are in the record books!  The competition was held July 20, 2013 in Monroe Wisconsin.  The event was sponsored by Colony Brands, Mt Vernon TOW, Green County Fair and RTG Racing and USATOWA. The event was held in conjunction with the Green County Fair.

The day started with the Men's CTWT division.  The class had 6 entries.  The heaviest team weighing in at 797 kilos (Guether's) and the lightest being 706 kilos (Oregon).  The first match of the day boasted a three end match between the eventual 2013 National  CTWT Champion - DJ's TOWC of Lakeville MN and long time National Champion Mt Vernon TOWC of Mt Vernon Wisconsin.  The class pulled for one hour and 2 minutes.  Medals were presented to DJ's -Gold, Guether's - Silver and Mt Vernon -bronze.

The next weight class contested - the Women's CTWT.  Three teams competed in the class.  DJ's - the eventual winners of the class represent Lakeville MN.  The silver medalist Girls Love Dirt hails from Brooklyn Wisconsin.  The third place team is from Oregon Wisconsin. Times of the pulls varied from 14 seconds to 54 seconds.  Weights varied from 536 kilos to 579 kilos. The class was pulled for 39 minutes.

The Men's 700 kilo weight class had six team entries.  The weight class was pulled in an hour and 9 minutes.  The longest pull of the weight class was between PowerTrain TOWC and DJ's TOWC.  The time was 1:46.  Mt Vernon won the weight class with a perfect score of 15.  The silver medalist - Guither's Tree Service of Princeton Illinois placed second with 12 points and the bronze medalist DJ's won 9 points.

The men's 640 kilo weight class was pulled off in one hour and 13 minutes.  The class had a couple 3 end matches.  PowerTrain Rockstars was involved in both matches.  The longest pull of the weight class was 2 minutes and 26 seconds and again, PowerTrain Rockstars was involved in the match.  Gold medal winners Mt Vernon accumulated 15 points.  Silver Medalist - Guither's Tree Service - 12 points and Bronze medalist DJ's TOWC - 8 points.
Mt Vernon Tug of War Club was awarded the Len Hughes Memorial trophy.  The trophy is given yearly to winners of the 640 kilo class at Nationals.  Congratulations to Mt Vernon. Len would have been proud!

The next weight class contested was the women's 540 kilo.  The longest end was one minute and eleven seconds between PowerTrain and Oregon. Time of the weight class 46 minutes.  The Gold medalist - DJ's TOWC, Silver Medalist - Girls Love Dirt and new comers PowerTrain won the bronze medal. 

Men's Under 23 weight class had two entries.  The eventual winners PowerTrain TOWC of Greeley Iowa weighed in at 600 kilos.  The match was competed in 5 minutes.  Gold medalist - PowerTrain, Silver Medalist - DJ's TOWC.

The men's 580 kilo weight class had 4 teams.  A three end match again included DJ's and PowerTrain.  The class was competed in 36 minutes.  Weights varied from 476 to 578 kilos.  The longest pull of the day (2:15) was between the eventual Gold medal winners Mt Vernon and Silver medalist DJ's Red. The bronze medalist team was DJ's Gray.

The Women's 500 kilo weight class had three entries.  The class was pulled off in 34 minutes.  The longest match of the weight class was between PowerTrain and DJ's with a time of 1:15. Gold medal winners of the class DJ's, Silver medalist - Girls Love Dirt and Bronze medalist - PowerTrain.

The novice (under 2 years pulling experience) 600 kilo open had 3 entries. A three ender ensued again between DJ's TOWC and PowerTrain!  Longest pull of the weight class was won by PowerTrain at 1:31.  Gold Medalist - DJ's, Silver Medalist - PowerTrain and Bronze medalist - Mt Vernon.

The largest class of the day was Co-ed with 7 teams entered. The class was pulled last in the line up of 10 weight classes.  The class was pulled off in one hour and 17 minutes.  The longest end of the weight class was 2 minutes and 3 seconds.  The shortest match (2 ends) was 36 seconds. The perpetual winners (combination of Girls Love Dirt and Mt Vernon) of the Gold medal - Mt Vernon Gold, Silver Medals - DJ's Gray, Bronze medals to DJ's Red. 

A special thanks to the teams of USATOWA for helping make the tournament run smoothly.  The event had 87 matches of rope pulled and we accomplished the feat in just 6 hours!  Great job everyone!

The judges of the event : Chief Judge - Harold (Tiny) Heindel, Larry Heindel, Herb Warren, Brenda Frary and Ken Douglas.  Of course nothing would go smoothly if we did not have the secretaries working hard behind the scenes.  Thanks to Tournament Secretary: Lisa Heindel, USATOWA Secretary - Shannon Davis, and timekeeper Diane Heindel.

Last, but not least and definitely not forgotten, our ever popular announcer Rudy Kopp.

Tim Scott of the Guither's Tree Service designed this years t-shirts and Jennifer Kramer of the Oregon TOWC sold all but one size small t-shirt.  Thanks Tim and Jen!!

Our sponsors this year were Colony Brands of Monroe Wisconsin, RTG Racing, Mt Vernon Tug of War Club and Green County fair.  A big THANKS to Joe Hunter of Colony Brands.  USATOWA and it's members appreciates all you do for our sport.

Photos will be available soon on facebook and in the next USATOWA newsletter.

That's a wrap for the 2013 USATOWA National Championship.

The PowerTrain Tug of War Club of Greeley IA hosted the second USATOWA outdoor Tug of War on June 8, 2013.



USATOWA women competed in 2 weight divisions.  The Open 500k and the W540K.  DJ's of Lakeville MN won both divisions, with Oregon placing second and GLD placing 3rd.
The longest pull in the womens division was between GLD and DJ's with a time of 1:30.

GLD

DJ's

 Oregon Tuggers

Both the Open 580k and 600K boasted 7 teams per class.
Winners of the 580k - Mt Vernon with a perfect slate of 18 pts.
2nd place to DJ's Red of Lakeville MN.  3rd- PowerTrain of Greeley IA
4th -DJ's Grey, 5th place -ManBear Team, 6th place to Oregon Tuggers
and 7th place to GLD.

Mt Vernon

DJ's

Oregon

Winners of the Open 600k was Mt Vernon Black with losing one end to DJ's Red.  In this class there were a couple 3 enders.  DJ's Red was involved in two of those ends against Mt Vernon Black and Mt Vernon Gold.  DJ's and Gold were the two clubs involved in the longest pull of the day also with a time of 2:55.
The weather was threatening rain all day, but we made it without a drop!  Total ends pulled for the day was an even 100 ends!

Thanks to PowerTrain Tug of War club for hosting this event! 


Controllers for the day
Tiny, Rudy and Lisa



              Kids Pull

The Pete Kahout 2nd Annual memorial pull was held May 18th in Elko MN hosted by the DJ's Tug of War Club of Lakeville MN.  This event was the first of the sanctioned pulls of USATOWA.
The first weight class of the day contested was the Women's 500 open.  DJ's women of Lakeville MN and Oregon Tuggers of Oregon WI were the only two entered with DJ's taking two ends in the one match class.

600 Open proved to be the class of the day!  8 teams were entered to compete for points for the Pete Kahout Memorial travelling trophy.   The rain earlier in the day provided for some slippery conditions, but as the class wore on, the grounds improved.  Teams varied in numbers from 6 to 9 people pulling, but all weighed under the designated weight. 

DJ's - John of Lakeville MN won the class with 21 points. DJ's John won the class never losing an end.

Taking second place honors - MtVernon -Black with 17 points and Mt Vernon - Gold wrapping up the top 3 places with 16 points.

 A tussle between Oregon Men of Oregon WI and PowerTrain Tug of War club of Greeley IA was the first 3 end pull with PowerTrain winning the final point.

An 8 team weight class was a great way to start the year.
Six teams competed in the 580k open class.  Winners of the class was Jay's DJ's,

Mt Vernon Gold and Mt Vernon Black taking a respective second and third place. 

 

Mt Vernon -Gold won the only other two 3 end pulls against their own teammates MtVernon -Black. They have bragging rights at their practice until the next time the two teams meet! 

World Championship 2014 Reservation Information

You may make your room reservations at - http://mmx2reservations.com/madison/pc/TWIF

If you have difficulty, please contact me.  Please read thru completely!

February News

USATOWA members be sure to notify USATOWA Secretary if your current information has changed.
The February USATOWA Newsletter has been sent out to the membership.  If you have not received, please check in with the Secretary that your email is correct.


 

 

 USATOWA Members,

Happy New Year! 

Please check your email for the USATOWA Newsletter. 

Upcoming important dates to remember:

January 26th - National Board Meeting
4 pm World Championship 2014 Committee Meeting

March 1, 2013
Memberships due

March 23rd
Annual Membership Meeting - Madison Wisconsin