The noble art of tug-of-war is making a comeback in South Canterbury.
On August 26, 24 teams across three divisions will do battle all in the name of charity.
Having previously run charity fight nights, the Aspect Trust is now turning its hand towards an age-old sporting tradition, tug-ofwar.
Aspect Trust chairman Peter Burt said after taking a break due to Covid, they wanted to do something different and something that allowed more participation.
‘‘With boxing you only have one person and their entourage, with the tug-of-war you have five people, their entourage and a reserve. So in terms of participation you have a lot more people involved.’’
The event will take place at the SBS Events Centre on Morgans Rd and Mr Burt said spectators can be assured of nothing but pure entertainment.
‘‘It is the same format as the boxing, we have spent a significant amount to put it on, fundamentally if people are going to spend money they need to know they are getting a significant amount of entertainment.
‘‘The platform will be raised off the floor, all the sights, sounds and music will be the same as the boxing. The stadium will be all done up very professionally to represent us as Aspect and how we go about doing things and I think there would be few that can match it.’’
Mr Burt added it was not your typical tug-of-war, where people stand on each end of a rope and try to pull each other over. It’s a special machine you sit in and pull on the rope. There is then a machine that uses hydraulics to move an arm and show which team is winning.
There will be men’s, mixed and sports teams, all of which will be named, costumed and come out to a theme song. The event will be R18 as alcohol will be served. The event will also be smoke-free and have waste minimisation processes in place.
Money raised from the event will go towards supporting local athletes competing at the highest levels regionally and nationally.
