Tug of War championship marred by lack of sponsorship

THREE countries including Zimbabwe participated at the 10th edition of the All Africa Tug of War Championship over the weekend in Victoria Falls, as lack of sponsorship saw a potential dozen countries failing to travel.

Authorities in the sport have said lack of corporate support was hampering what could be a flourishing tug of war sport which if well funded can be introduced in schools and communities.

South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe participated at Chinotimba Stadium over the weekend while Ghana made a cameo appearance and departed before the games could finish.

Zimbabwe went into the championship as the defending champions having won in Kimberly, South Africa last year but the southern neighbours turned the tables to win the 10th edition after a tightly contested final.

It was a close contest both on the male and female categories as Zimbabwe teams won preliminary final stages but fell in the end to a determined, skilful and agile South Africa.

South Africa male and female teams were winners while Zimbabwe settled for silver in male and female categories while Zambia finished third.

Victoria Falls residents came out in numbers to fill the ground as they witnessed a new sport in their city.

The three countries concurred on the need for corporate support to grow the sport.

“As Zambia, we are happy that we were part of this competition although we had challenges with sponsorship and left a formidable team which we were supposed to bring. We are happy that we came out third and we promise that next year we will do better than this year as we encourage our players to continue from where they left.

“The sport is big although we are lacking sponsorship, some think its for fun. We are improving and that is why we are learning from other countries like Zimbabwe who have promised to come and help us on the technical side in the near future,” said Amos Musonda, president of the Zambian Tug of War Federation.

Coach of the South Africa men’s team Werner Kleynhans said with funding, tug of war can be the sport of choice.

“Unfortunately, sponsorship is very difficult for this sport. It is a fantastic sport which is not expensive, the most expensive part is transport and accommodation. This is such a lovely sport and if any sponsors can come in from juniors, women’s and men’s. It is better than soccer and rugby in terms of engagement with public,” said Kleynhans.

He praised his charges for stealing the show from Zimbabwe.

He said they would immediately start preparing for the 11th edition, which South Africa will host.

“It’s been a fantastic journey for us and we loved it here. This was one of the toughest competitions that we as South Africa have been in, especially the last two finals were unbelievable, the standards of Zimbabwe tug of war is at a higher level, every year they are getting better. We had prepared extremely hard for this one and hard work paid off,” he said.

Acting Zimbabwe Tug of War Federation president, Lazarus Nkomo said the tournament was wonderful despite lack of sponsorship.

“We have had our African Champions tournament 10th edition where several countries were supposed to come but some lacked sponsorship in their respective countries. We only managed to get South Africa and Zambia.

“We are marketing the country through sports tourism and we are hoping to bring in more corporates, right now, we did this on our own and didn’t get any sponsors. I know the economy is tough but sometimes, maybe it’s because people don’t understand the sport,” he said.

Nkomo said efforts are being made through the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) to introduce the sport in schools.

“This is a family game where you can play even in school and tertiary level and we are making strides to introduce the sport in schools. Once we are given the green-light, we want to train teachers so they teach youngsters,” he said.—@ncubeleon