December 20, 2017Tver Region

Regional tug of war federation established in Tver

The order granting state accreditation to this public organization was signed on December 18 by Andrei Reshetov, chairman of the regional sports committee.

The chairman and one of the three founders of the Tver regional branch of the Russian Tug of War Federation is Alexander Suvorov, deputy director of the Regional Children and Youth Sports School and head of the Upper Volga kettlebell sport federation.

"You could say that a whole range of circumstances led to the creation of the regional tug of war federation," Alexander Suvorov told the Tverisport portal. "First, during the summer holidays, staff of the Regional Children and Youth Sports School hold sports festivals at out-of-town children's health camps, and tug of war is one of the most popular contests among children and teenagers. Second, in the spring I met Vyacheslav Alekseyev, who moved permanently to Tver from Kazakhstan. As he told me, tug of war is very well developed and popular there: it is practiced at sports schools, and teams compete at national and international competitions. Given that the Tver Region government and the regional committee for physical culture and sport have recently paid special attention to developing national and traditional sports in the Upper Volga region, we decided to create a regional tug of war federation."

Why a federation right away?

"Tug of war has been included in the official register of sports of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation since 2007. The Russian Tug of War Federation, which is the official representative of TWIF (the Tug of War International Federation) in our country, is also accredited by the Ministry of Sport. Incidentally, unlike sambo, for example, tug of war is recognized by the International Olympic Committee. What's more, for 20 years, from 1900 to 1920, tug of war was part of the Olympic Games program. Creating a regional federation will allow us to hold official competitions, award sports ranks to medalists, and take part in the Russian Championship and, in the future, in international competitions. Today, St. Petersburg is the recognized leader of the rope sport in Russia. There are three other regional federations. And that's it. Our organization became the fifth regional federation to receive state accreditation. As you can see, this niche is still fairly open. That is why the prospects are quite serious."

Have you already planned any official tug of war competitions?

"Yes, we submitted an application to the regional sports committee and received support. From next year, tug of war will be included in the regional Spartakiad for students of secondary vocational schools. Our stage will take place on May 5. And on Tver City Day in mid-July we will hold the first regional tug of war championship, which we plan to present as a showcase for our federation. We are already preparing a team for the Russian Championship, which will take place on February 17–18 in St. Petersburg. We train at the shooting range of the Planeta sports club at the Tver Carriage Works."

Who is on the team?

"Representatives of various strength sports, mainly mas-wrestling and arm wrestling. For example, Roman Kalinin, a winner of Arm Wrestling World Cup stages, trains with us. And of course Vyacheslav Andreyev trains too. We plan to compete in St. Petersburg in the up to 720 kg weight category, which means the total weight of the team's eight members must not exceed that figure."

Do you plan to open a tug of war department at one of the sports schools in the future?

"It's possible. I looked into this question, and it turned out that in the whole country only 56 children and teenagers currently do tug of war at sports schools. For now, the main problem is staff. To open a department, you need a coach with a higher education in physical education. We don't have such a specialist right now. But it is quite possible that one will appear in the future. In my view, tug of war has great prospects. It is a very dynamic, spectacular and democratic sport that does not require serious expense for training or holding competitions. At the same time, it is very popular in Europe and Asia. European and World Championships are held regularly. Tug of war is also part of the World Games program. Tver has every chance to become one of the country's leaders in this sport and to try its strength at the international level."

Author: Andrei Krylov