Silver medals for Clonmany at B&I Tug of War Championships
The Clonmany B ladies have an average age of 16 and put in an excellent showing
The Clonmany B Ladies tug of war team pulled off a fantastic result by taking home the silver medal at the British and Irish Championships.
Coached by Daniel Doherty and Kevin McGonagle, the Clonmany B ladies have an average age of 16. They came up against some strong teams, from Wales and Northern Ireland, before eventually losing to Scottish club Ayrshire in the final.
Coach Daniel McGonagle said their age didn’t deter them as they faced teams of women in their twenties and thirties.
The competition was a 6-a-side with a 420kg weight limit. The Clonmany B ladies were allowed a seventh member due to their collective weight only being 397kg with the extra puller.
Daniel Doherty said the team were happy to reach the final: “It was more just to get the girls out, because tug of war ended with Covid. They weren’t expected to do what they did. I think a lot of the other teams got a bit of a shock once they got going.
“We just went to compete basically, we thought if we got to the bronze pull off, we’d have been happy but to get to the final we were happier again.”
Rachel Fletcher is the oldest member of the team she they were nervous before the competition: “We had never pulled competitively before but we were very excited at the same time as we couldn't wait to put all are hard training into action. It was a brilliant experience”
The Cockhill and Carndonagh men’s’ teams also participated in the tournament which was held in the Jim Baker Stadium in County Antrim.
The Clonmany B ladies train in the Clonmany Tug of War Shed above Centra and are always looking for new recruits.