USATOWA
Lifetime Member- Dick Doyle
Many of you know Dick
Doyle as a USATOWA judge and past officer of USATOWA. Very few of us know him as an author!
Dick shared the following
information with USATOWA concerning his book series.
My book series, “Doyle’s
War, Save the Males” has for years carried the message that good fathers are
necessary in a civilized society, that men should be considered socially and
legally equal to women, and decries the denigration of men and manhood.
Because this entire concept is too incorrect politically, it didn’t gain much
traction in this country. Fortunately, scholars half a world away
recognized the importance of the book’s message on family and gender
issues. The Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) somehow got wind
of the book ― through no initiative of mine ― and have been invited me to Qatar’s
capitol city in order to moderate in a panel of international specialists
dedicated to the enhancement and preservation of families ― expenses
paid. Congratulations Dick!
Pull for
Kid Tug of War
The Richardson’s had the
opportunity to escape the cold weather of Wisconsin and attend the “Pull for a
Kid Tug of War” in Brunswick GA, January 18th. Brett “River
Wolf” Nichols (who was featured in the last USATOWA newsletter) put
together an excellent event! The event
is a benefit to send kids to a summer camp.
The tug of war event boasted 21 teams
from around the Brunswick area. The
teams consisted of local High School students, Roller Derby teams, Fitness Club
members, Rugby teams and members of the community. The oldest person competing was a gentleman
of 73 years! He thought after the
competition, that he may have over done the day! The Roller Derby girls’ teams enjoyed pulling
and although not dressed to compete, provided entertainment to those in
attendance. The winning Women’s team
came from the local fitness center. This
win has spurred the other local women’s teams to train and come back next year
and beat those women! The men’s class
winner was Golden Isles Rugby team, which included Brett pulling lead. The event was well attended and included the
Mayor of Brunswick, Cornell Harvey. The
winners of each class were presented with USATOWA t-shirts. Local businesses sponsor teams ($100 entry
fee), donate money and help promote the event. The cost for a child to attend
the camp is $750. A total of 17 kids
will attend camp this summer due to this fund raiser featuring our sport. We were very pleased to attend and wish Brett
and the city of Brunswick continued success.
Ace the
Game
USATOWA has been involved
with Tupelo Entertainment for the past several months concerning a television
series for the Travel Channel. The show is about teaching people different
strategies involving various things, ranging from how to play the lottery to
Tug of War. Many conversations and ideas
were exchanged between USATOWA and the show’s producers. Time, budgets and other factors of Tupelo
Entertainment allowed for one Tug of War person/expert to be featured in the
show. Mark Gallagher of DJ’s TOW Club traveled to
Santa Cruz CA for the filming on January 17, 2014.
The show was filmed on the
beach in Santa Cruz. The producers staged Mark, as an expert watching “extras”
pull as 4x4 teams on the beach. The teams only had to pull eight feet to win
the end. The teams pulled one end before Mark was told to step in. The
producers gave Mark about a half hour to instruct the losing team to challenge
the other team and win the next end. Mark started with how they were to lineup
on the rope. Next, he taught them how to grip the rope. One of the things that Mark
noticed about most of the people pulling is that they were balancing on one
foot and using just one foot to pull. He went over the importance of balance and
even pressure on both legs. He also noted the extras were pulling more with
their arms than their legs. A big
selling point to the producers was that Mark stressed the importance of using
your core and your legs to generate the pressure needed to beat a team, and
pulling with your arms will just tire you. Mark told the extras to work as a
team, push with both legs, and try to use power and leverage to their
advantage, and if they are losing, to lock their legs out and dig in deep into
the sand. The teams met again for a second end.
The other team’s weight could not be overcome, but the team Mark
instructed, pulled a much better end.
At this time, the date of the Tug of War
segment is uncertain, as they are editing each segment yet. The series is set to begin the end of April.
The producer of the series, Randi Cohen, informed USATOWA that they are excited
about the Tug of War segment and that Mark did an amazing job and is very well
spoken and represented our sport well.
Stayed tuned!
Indoor Tug
of War Events
An informal Indoor Tug of
War event was held on Saturday, January 11, 2014 in Oregon Wisconsin. A fun night of pulling included six teams in
the 600k Open class, three Women’s teams and five Co-ed teams.
Two more events are scheduled
for March 1 and April 5th.
The events will be held in the Brooklyn Elementary school gym, Brooklyn, Wisconsin. The weigh-ins will begin at noon, pulling at
1:00 pm. All teams are invited to attend
and enjoy a fun afternoon of competing!
USATOWA Annual
Membership Meeting
The Annual Membership
Meeting will be held on March 29, 2014 at the Sheraton Inn in Madison Wisconsin
beginning at 10 am.
Agenda attached to email.
Membership
Application
Secretary Shannon Davis
and Lisa McGrath have created an electronic application for USATOWA members to
submit their memberships.
A form will be included as
an attachment to this email. Please
share with new members.
ALL members,
including active Lifetime members will use this application to submit their
membership this year. It is the hopes
that this will aid with keeping track of membership.
Teams can submit the
application(s) as a group or members may submit it individually. The application is to be emailed to the
following email address: usatowamembers@gmail.com. This must be completed by March 1, 2014 to
enable members to vote at the Annual Membership meeting March 29, 2014. Membership dues are to be paid to the
Treasurer. This can be done by USPS or
at the annual meeting. Steve Moorman’s
address is included on the form.
To ease the burden of
membership application being accepted at the competitions, it is being asked
that managers/coaches of each team submit new members’ applications via email, two
days prior to the meets. This will
enable an accurate list of members at the events. Again, money may be paid at the event or
mailed to Steve Moorman. If anyone needs
assistance with this new procedure, please contact Secretary Shannon Davis.
Vice
President Vacancy
Neal Johnson has resigned
his position on the Executive Board. The
Executive Board would like to thank Neal for his time served on the board and much
success in his future endeavors.
Anyone interested in
serving in this capacity please contact President Shelby Richardson.
Nominations for this
position will be accepted at the Annual Membership meeting.
National
Board Meeting Minutes 1/11/14
President’s Welcome
Meeting called to order by
President Shelby Richardson at 2:05 PM. An update was given on the most recent
happenings. Vice President Neal Johnson resigned this week from his position on
the Board. Bylaws state that we can elect a VP at the next membership meeting.
The Travel Channel is
doing a shoot Jan 20th on Tug of War. Mark Gallagher is going to
represent USATOWA in Santa Cruz. Two co-ed teams will pull in the sand (4
people on each side). Mark will give “how-tos” during the taping. The Travel
Channel wants permission to use our USATOWA logo.
Shelby and Dick Richardson
will be traveling to Florida and will attend the “Pull for a Kid” pull in
Georgia. The pull helps raise funds for kids to attend camp. T-shirts and
promotional brochures will be brought with them.
Seven countries have
booked reservations for the 2014 World Championships (WC) in Madison. At least
8 other countries that we know about have not booked. The Sheraton is booked.
If you have rooms reserved that are not going to be used, please release them.
Secretary Minutes
Secretary Shannon Davis
read the Minutes from the December 2013 Executive Board meeting. One correction
was made. Harold Heindel made a motion to accept the minutes with the
correction. Joel Larson - Seconded.
Motion passed.
Treasurer Report
Proposed
Budget 2014
Treasurer Steve Moorman
provided the National Board with a detailed spreadsheet of the USATOWA checking
account balances as well as a proposed budget for 2014. 2013 showed a loss of
$6,806.37 due to the expenditures for the upcoming WC. Income and expenditures
for the World Championships (WC) were approximated. 2013 National payouts and
Irish Fest payouts are due to teams. Steve Moorman has these checks ready and
available to teams. Down payments already paid for the WC as well as future
payments were discussed. Larry Heindel
made a motion to accept the budget. Joel Larson seconded. Motion passed.
Vice President Report
Contracts and Major TOW
events:
*These dates are tentative
until contacts have been made and contracts signed.* President Richardson
volunteered to take-over the VP duties until the position is filled.
May
17, 2014 Elko
June
14, 2014 Greeley
June
28, 2014 Oregon
July
5, 2014 Walnut
July
12, 2014 Monticello
July
19, 2014 Nationals
Aug
9, 2014 Tug Fest
Aug
16-17, 2014 Irish Fest
Aug
23, 2014 Princeton (?)
Aug
28-31, 2014 World Championships, Madison
Annual
membership meeting is March 29, 2014 at 10 AM.
International Rep
Report
TWIF Congress is April
11-12, 2014 in Ireland.
A representative from the
Navy contacted Larry Heindel about their upcoming “Fleet Week”. David Shimp,
who used to be a TWIF international judge and a former Navy commander, has
accepted the opportunity to help out with this.
A man in OK is looking for
a tug of war representative to help get tug of war started down there.
Representatives from the
World Police and Fire Games (2015 New Jersey) contacted Larry Heindel. They
want assistance from USATOWA for their games.
Chief Judge
Chief Judge Harold Heindel
is waiting for the weather to cooperate before setting a date for the judge’s
course. There may be two courses this year. Course takes approximately 2-3
hours. There will be a refresher course in Madison during the WC. Harold
Heindel will make contacts with possible judges and set a date(s) for the
course. There will be a judge’s meeting the first weekend in March.
Committees
Equipment
Everything in the trailer
was in working order as of last. Computer and printer are in working order.
Would be helpful for teams to help load and unload the trailer at tournaments.
Major Tournaments and
Nationals 2014
No new information.
By-laws, Rulebook and
Judges
No new information.
New Business /Old
Business
Membership form may be
done electronically this year. Every member this year should fill a form out
this year, and get everyone updated and in the new database. It will be up to
the teams to make sure all their team members send in forms electronically. A
big thank you to Lisa McGrath who is creating this electronic membership form
and database.
President, Secretary and
Chief Judge are all up for re-election this year. Discussion was made
concerning the fact that President and Secretary are up for re-election during
the same year. There was talk that these two positions should be up for
re-election on opposite years. Due to the fact that the VP position will need
to be filled this year, discussion ensued about making a policy change to forgo
re-election for presidency this year. That would make VP, Secretary, and Chief
Judge up for re-election this year. Next year would be President, Treasurer,
and International Representative.
Bill Gallagher made a
motion to change the election of Executive Board members to be:
Vice President, Secretary,
and Chief Judge will be elected for 2 year terms on even years. President,
Treasurer, and
Due to the policy change,
the President position will be up for re-election this year (2014) for a one
year term.
Adjournment
Joel Larson moved to
adjourn the meeting at 3:56 PM. Bill Gallagher seconded. Meeting adjourned.
World Championship
Updates
Sponsorship portfolio will
be available for Reps. An electronic package is available for members to send
out to possible donors.
Waiting for school bus
bids to come in for bus needs during the WC.
211 rooms have been sold
(approx. 300-400 people).
Women’s U23 and Open MCTWT
will be pulled at the WC, pending TWIF approval and 4 teams enter each weight
class.
A schedule for the WC
should be available in April.
Condolences
to Kim and Herb Warren
USATOWA would like to
express their condolences to Kim and Herb in the loss of Kim’s father
recently. Kim is a past Secretary and
continues to be a scorekeeper for USATOWA.
Girls Love
Dirt Blanket Day Scheduled
The Girls Love Dirt Tug of War Team is hosting their 4th
annual
MAKE A BLANKET DAY
Benefiting the Madison Chapter of Project Linus.
Project Linus is a non-profit
organization,
dedicated to "Providing
Security Through Blankets," for ill or traumatized children and teens.
Please Join Us
Saturday, February 22
12:00 – 4:00 PM
Brooklyn Elementary School Cafeteria
204 Division St. Brooklyn, WI
No-sew, single layer
fleece blankets will be made during this event.
We are asking for
participants to bring 2 pieces of 1.5 yards (each) of printed fleece fabric (enough
to make 2 blankets per person).
