2003 Season Summary         " Bon Voyage 2003"   The year 2003 is coming to a closure and as customary I would like to take a look back and reflect on the happenings at our Bluewater Tug-of-War Club while capturing some of the highlights. During the early winter months of the year we approached many local high school principals for permission to do a presentation on Tug-of-War in their schools. Armed with our recently made documentary on our club and the sport and with many speakers from Bluewater we set out to these schools. The enthusiasm of the school staff and the students was fabulous. Everyone now has a better perception of what  Tug-of-War is about and the role that the Bluewater club plays in the Community, Province, in Canada and on the international scene. We are hopeful that these presentations will help to expand the sport and our organization would be glad to do it again. Thank you to all who took part. Club training resumed on the first week of February. With our own International Tournament taking place in June we set out to diligently prepare for this event by initially working two nights a week and later on three nights a week. The 2003 the Bluewater International Tournament took place at the Centralia International Training and Conference Center in Huron Park on the 21st and 22nd of June. This competition was also the qualifiers for the 2004 World Championships.  Many weeks of preparation went into this event. The NewPL television station advertised it for one month prior. On the day we had many dignitaries from Local, Provincial and Federal Governments and above all, we had beautiful weather. Team participation was restricted with the Sars outbreak, but with teams from Great Britain, U.S.A. and Canada this made for a lager competition than 2001. I would like to especially thank Peter and his Triple F team from the Tug-of-War Federation of Great Britain for staying the course despite the Sars situation and coming to Canada. Also thank you to Brian Huntley and his wife for coming in from Nova Scotia. Brian pulled in the competition and did not look one bit out of place. Of course we can never overlook the contributions of our friends in the U.S.A. to our events. From the teams to the judges and Rudy the announcer we are extremely grateful. Bluewater would not be able to hold this competition with out the support and help of many people. The officials of both the Ontario and Canadian Associations as well as many local volunteers. The competition itself gave us excellent pulling and was enjoyed by the public as well as the teams. Bluewater men's and co-ed teams were on the podium at the end of every event. In the 2004 World Championship Qualifiers our men's teams finished on top to represent Canada at all weights. Our ladies 520kg team performed well but had to settle for 2nd place to the Peel Police Ladies. All in all this was a wonderful time and for a week after we enjoyed the company of our now good friends from Triple F.      In the rest of the year's competitions we had many successes. Our men's team won the 720kg league and finished second in the Catchweight class. We made our usual visit to Irish Fest in Milwaukee winning the 640kg both days. Our co-ed teams enjoyed many other wins at different venues. The highlight of the year for our club was our participation at the European Championships in Assen, Netherlands. Our 640kg team prepared for this event like no other team before. We were rewarded by finishing top of our group and being in the top sixteen out of fifty seven teams over all. This is another step in our progression and desire to reach our ultimate goal.  I am very proud and appreciative  of our guys, while also recognizing the contribution of Bob and Caroline from the Mt. Vernon Club in Wisconsin. At the end of each year and the beginning of a new one, we at the Bluewater Club, look at how we can improve in some way. It may be getting schools and youths involved, improving our team and training facilities, creating a greater awareness of the sport in our Community Province and Country. This time around we are going to upgrade our training facility by adding a club house where we can hold meetings, watch videos of our competitions and display the pieces of tug-of-war memorabilia gathered over the years. This work is already under way and will be ready for the new season . We are very thankful to Matt Metzger for providing more space to accommodate this.  I would like to thank everyone in our club for their support in 2003. The club would like to thank all our local politicians at all levels of Government for their support. A special mention for Darlene O'Rourke a long time member of our ladies team who suffered some health problems this year and had her place of residence damaged by fire recently. Darlene will rise above all this and hopefully 2004 will be kind to her once again. I look forward to 2004 when we will write another chapter in the history of the Bluewater Tug-of-War Club. The year's events will kick off for us when Julia Burton ladies team captain and her husband Mike will become parents. Wishing all Tug-of-War people every where a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.   Jim Connolly, Coach                                               Back to Newsletter Index