Sherborne YFC Tug of War Team competed at the Dorset YFC County Rally pulling the best of three pulls against Puddletown, Gillingham and Shaftesbury, plus Marshwoodvale and Beaminster. The ‘strong arm or the Sher’ won each match in two straight pulls without conceding a pull and took home the title (which probably weighed very little to them!).

The junior teams are all under the age of 18 and as in line with the rules, each member weighing 560kg or under, the teams are made up of 7-10 pullers, 8 being the standard number. Each team is weighted in at the allotted time and the national official judge then stamps each member’s leg to ensure it’s all done on an equal weight.

Sherborne’s team trains every week pulling a tractor tyre up a pulley mechanism and holding it at different heights off the ground. And after all their successful training, they march on.

The next round is at Hartpury Agricultural College in Gloucester when they’ll face teams from Gloucester, Somerset, Devon, Wiltshire and Cornwall. This isn’t new ground to the team who won the regional title last year to go on to the Nationals finals where they came 3rd.

If they win at Hartpury, the National finals are on the 6th August at the Tenby Show for anyone wishing to cheer them on. The team would like to thank their sponsors, CJ Coxes who the team organisers say really have been pulling for them (in spirit!).