39th Drumtochty Highland Games: Tug-o-War

The Scottish Tug-o-War Association is a 6 man 480 kgs competition.  The Scottish section is open to competitors who were born in Scotland or have been a permanent resident for 3 years.

After much too and fro, this is the team who won.

For a while, it looked like these fellows would win, but it wasn't to be.

I never thought of tug-o-war as such a serious game, but believe me, after watching this competition, I know it's dead serious.  All of the teams had coaches who would walk up and down the line giving directions and encouragement.  The teams obviously practice a lot!  They would move in unison, stamping their feet into the ground for traction.  Of course, before the game started, the officials inspected each players boots to be sure there were no spikes to help with traction.

Each pair of teams did two pulls, switching sides between pulls. If they each won, then there was a third pull to decide the winner.  It was played round robin style, so there were 5 teams competing.  The longest game lasted probably 15 minutes, with both sides dug in for the long haul.  They seemed to be waiting for the other to tire before stomping and pulling. It was all quite impressive!