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 Leonard Ncube [email protected]

TUG-Of-WAR sport is growing in Hwange district as was shown at the recent Matabeleland North Agricultural Show Society last Saturday. Organisers of the annual event, the Matabeleland North Show Society, introduced tug-of-war as part of the entertainment activities during the official opening of the event on Saturday at the Show Grounds in Madumabisa Number 2 Village, Hwange.

Four teams; Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Power Company (both women), Hwange Colliery Company and ZPC men participated at the tug-of-war contest which excited hundreds of people including captains of industry, businesses, and general public that attended the official opening ceremony. ZPC women’s team beat Victoria Falls 2 nil while Hwange Colliery won 2-1.

The sport has been existent in Hwange where clubs such as ZPC and HCCL have teams, but it was only recently introduced as a community sport in Victoria Falls.

The city hosted the 10th edition of the All African Tug-of-War Championships between 20 and 22 June at Chinotimba Stadium when the seed for the sport was planted. Locals hastily assembled a team that played in the tournament and that became the introduction of the club led by Frederick Mafira. Nine countries were supposed to participate at the tournament but only three- South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe did with Ghana only turning up and leaving without playing. Other countries failed to travel because of lack of sponsorship, the biggest challenge facing the sport. Zimbabwe Tug-of-War Federation acting vice president Lazarus Nkomo said there is need for the corporate world to sponsor the sport so it gets introduced in communities and schools. Since then, Victoria Falls tug-of-war team has been training twice a week as recruitment of players and members continue. On Saturday the team travelled to Hwange to compete against Hwange clubs. The sport has potential to become a tourism drawcard for the resort city and other areas