May 12, 2007Archive 2007–2013

Congress of the Tug of War International Federation

On May 12, 2007, the Congress of the Tug of War International Federation was held in Sweden (Stenungsund).

The main topic of the Congress was the admission of 14 new members to the Tug of War International Federation.

The agenda also included the re-election of the president of the Tug of War International Federation.

For 25 years the post of president was successfully held by Co Koren (Netherlands).

The new president is Cathal McKeever of Northern Ireland, who until then had served as first vice-president. Mr. McKeever has extensive experience in sports administration in tug of war. Together with the renewed Executive Committee, he will certainly continue the course set by the former president, Mr. Co Koren, and will achieve the best possible results in popularizing and promoting tug of war on the international sports stage.

Patrick Van der Hevel was elected first vice-president. Patrick is only 26 years old and is a newcomer to international sport. He is chairman of the Belgian Tug of War Association and takes an active part in sporting life. He is the youngest official ever to have served on the Executive Committee of the Tug of War International Federation. But he is determined to develop the sport of tug of war. He proves the motto of the Tug of War International Federation – our sport has an ancient history, but it is young and dynamic.

The posts of Secretary General and Treasurer of the Tug of War International Federation remained with Glen Jones (USA) and Anton Reib (South Africa).