Since forming the Ayrshire ladies have held an unbeaten record at the Scottish Championships which has then enabled  them to go on and represent Scotland in International competitions. In 2015 at the European championships, Ayrshire ladies took Scotland’s first ever outdoor International medal in the form of bronze! 2016 saw a team head to the World Championships in Sweden and win bronze in the 560kg clubs.

The girls then set their sights on Gold, and managed it at the 2017 European Championships in Southport, scooping Gold for Ayrshire and Silver for Scotland. Last year, the World Championships in South Africa were a wild dream, but after extensive fundraising and attempts at media coverage, the girls made it to Cape Town! Not being happy just to turn up the girls won Gold for Ayrshire in the 500kg!

Now the focus is on this year’s European Championship at Castlebar, where they have the additional pressure of being defending champions. Intense training has to be fitted around everyone’s busy work schedules. Training as a team twice weekly, the girls also must fit in their own cardio work and strength training around full time jobs. Luckily they have a great team of coaches and helpers who support and guide the girls and the club are forever grateful to the sponsors who have supported them throughout this journey.

You can follow ‘Ayrshire Tug of War Club’ on Facebook and Twitter to find how how they get on at the European Championships and also how you can get involved and start #PullingForTheTeam.

It was a well attended event with many men’s teams competing but unfortunately there are very few women in the UK & Ireland involved in indoor tug of war with only 1 girl from England, 1 girl from Northern Ireland and 1 girl from Ireland making the trip to Scotland. Luckily Scotland had a strong squad of 12 girls attending the championship, to ensure all the girls got pulling there were 2 girls teams of 7-aside made up. It was a competitive battle between Cornhill and Ayrshire with Cornhill taking the win 2-1 in the final.

The Scottish girls were out in action again during the 580 kg mixed competition. There were 3 Scottish mixed teams competing in this event Cornhill, Ayrshire and Tinto. After close league matches it was Cornhill and Ayrshire that made it to the final with Cornhill taking gold with a 2-1 win. These 3 mixed teams did battle again in the 560 kg mixed competition this time the final featured Tinto and Ayrshire. Tinto took home the gold with a 2-0 win in the final.

It was a great championship and, despite the few girls attending the competition, there were still many competitive battles in the ladies and mixed weights.

If you fancy giving Indoor or Outdoor tug of war a go then check out the Scottish Tug of War Association website to find your nearest club.

Courtesy of Scotland Tug of War

It is a brilliant team sport that combines strength, power and fitness. For indoor tug of war you are on rubber mats with specially designed flat rubber soled shoes. Team members are called ‘pullers’.

The Scottish Men’s Indoor Tug of War Team have enjoyed brilliant success at many Championships with 20 World titles to their name but we are now hoping it’s the turn of the GIRLS!

At the 2018 British & Irish Championships the Scotland girls picked up 2 gold medals in the ladies closed weights and when teaming up the boys for the mixed took home the gold. Some of the Scottish girls then competed in China at the 2018 World Indoor Championships in March where they won a silver medal in the 600kg mixed open competition.

The Scottish girls are hard at training ahead of the 2019 British & Irish Championships which is being held in Dundee on 2-3 February. At this 2 day event pullers will compete for both club and country over a variety of different weight class in men, ladies and mixed teams. The first day of the Championship is a closed competition where pullers compete for their country after winning at national level. The second day is where pullers compete for their clubs, but the invitation to compete on this day is opened up to teams from all around the World, so there is sure to be a great display of talent across this two day event. Check out the Scottish Tug of War website for more information on the event and how to get involved.

Courtesy of Scottish Tug of War