2002 Season Summary
It is time for our club to take a break having traveled
in excess of 38,000 kilometers ( as the crow flies) during this 2002 season.
These travels took us to Monticello and Milwaukee in the U.S.A., Nova
Scotia in Eastern Canada and Pretoria South Africa as well as
many local competitions. We once again had lots of fun and many
high lights taking part in the sport we love.
When the 2001 competitive season came to an end our teams
continued to train through the winter months in preparation for 2002,
both our ladies and men's teams were rebuilt with new pullers coming
in and having to jump in at the deep end straight away. The addition
of Cheryl, Kelly, Shelly, Hillary, Daryl, Paul, Mike and Graham to
our teams is a great success story and will help us even more in the
years ahead.
Even though we had many outstanding occasions during the year, two
stand out above the rest. The visit our men's team made to Nova
Scotia to promote TWIF style competition in Eastern Canada and the
performance of our ladies 520kg team in winning the bronze medal at
the World Championships in Pretoria South Africa.
This achievement by these girls was one of the proudest moments in
the history of Bluewater and indeed in the history of Tug-of-War in
Canada as it is our first ever medal at the World
Championships. When one reflects on the fact that six of this panel
had never competed at this level before and were only 485kg, up
against teams with vast experience it puts their success into
true prospective. It was one of the greatest days in my live
when our ladies stepped onto that podium to be presented with their
medals and we will cherish that memory forever.
It also shows what we can achieve in Canada in this sport and my wish
is that this is just the beginning and many other clubs and teams
will follow this up with other successes. Our men's team can also
look back on South Africa with pride having performed well in the
680kg and 640kg competitions despite the fact we did not have our
full team there. Our performance at 640kg was quiet encouraging only
losing one match and splitting all the rest. The whole South African
visit was a wonderful event for us. The opening ceremonies, the
competition, the stadium and the organization was the best ever.
Once the championships were over we had some time to see this
beautiful country and its sites.
Five days before we left for South Africa we flew to Nova Scotia.
Earlier we had been given an invitation from Ken Ledson and his
Falmouth team to take part in the Hants County Exhibition. The timing
was not the best for us but we were pleased that we went. The
hospitality that we were given was tremendous. The Tug-of-War was
also excellent. We practiced TWIF style during the day with Falmouth
and also they showed us Nova Scotia style. Later that evening
we took part in the competition pulling both styles. It was a
wonderful time and one could only be impressed with these teams in
Nova Scotia and hopefully they will take part in Bluewater's
International Tournament next June.
Promoting the sport of Tug-of-War has always been high on the
agenda for Bluewater. I would like to thank our members once again
for organizing the school teams, also for taking time off from work
to go to the many T.V. promotions we were asked to do, even
though training and pulling is what we prefer to do but getting
our sport the recognition it deserves needs our help.
Personally I would like to thank everyone in our club for your
dedication and commitment to our organization but above all else for
your friendship.
The Bluewater Club can look to 2003 and beyond with great
anticipation. We are an open club who will always welcome new members
as pullers or any roll they wish to play with us. Thank you
again for a great 2002.
Jim Connolly, Coach.
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