A player from Oakham Rugby Football Club (ORFC) has been selected to represent England in the upcoming International Tug-of-War competition in Germany.

Tug of War is one of the most ancient games known to man and there is evidence that it was played across the ancient world including ancient Greece, Egypt and China.

Also known as rope pulling, tugging war and war of tug, it remains today a popular sport that pits the strengths of two teams against each other and is practiced in some form in almost every country in the world.

In August, Greta Quinn and her teammates will be joining competitors from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium in Mannheim for the 24th iteration of the annual competition.

The German Tug-of-War Association (DRTV) tournament was founded in 1998 by Germany, England, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium (GENSB).

The spirit behind the tournament is to bring young athletes, between 12 and 19, from different countries together to compete at an international level, founding international friendships and introducing the sport to young people across Europe.

Every year, another country gets the opportunity to organise the GENSB tournament on the last Saterday of August. A variety of countries from all over the world comes to this tournament to pull against other passionate boys and girls. Therefore, official tug of war rules are used:

• Each team in a Tug of War competition consists of eight people.
• There are various weight classifications in Tug of War, and the mass of the eight people combined must not weigh more than that determined by the category that they are placed in.
• The rope used should be of a circumference of approximately 11 cm and should be marked in the middle with a centre line as well as two marks that should be placed 4m from the centre line.
• At the start of the pull, the centre line of the rope should be immediately above line marked on the ground.
• Both teams pull the rope, the winner being the team who manage to pull the mark on the rope closest to their opponents over the centre line.
• The rope must be pulled underarm and nobody's elbow must go below the knee, otherwise a foul will be called.
• Matches are often a best of three pull, the winner winning two out of the three pulls.

Greta Quinn, who plays for ORFC's U18 Girls Team, participates with the Young Farmers' Club Tug-of-War Team, and is delighted to have been selected to compete for Team England in the upcoming Internationals.

The competition will take place on 18 August, and requires the team members to fund their travel and fee independently. As such, Greta is hoping to raise funds through sponsorship opportunities in the team brochure and on social media on the run up to the competition.

For just £50, sponsors can have half a page advertising your business in the team brochure and on social media. For £100, sponsors will get a full page, and for £200 a double page spread.

Please send all adverts to Sarah Harvey at [email protected], quoting Greta Q ToW.

Please make payments to:

J B Capper

Sort code: 20-66-97

Account No: 53464997

Congratulations and best of luck to Greta and the team!