Worlds Tug-of-war

This weekend was very special. Our entire family traveled to Madison, WI to cheer on my sister Katelyn in the World Tug-of-War Championships. While not a well-known sport, tug-of-war has required a huge amount of dedication for this team. They have performed well at the National level, earning them a place in the closed world competition.

 

The first day the women's team pulled in open class. This was the class where anyone who wanted to compete could do so, even if the National level didn't qualify them to. The women would be competing in closed class, but wanted another chance to medal, so pulled here as well. They represented their club of DJs rather than the USA. While the competition was very tough, they did come away with a bronze medal!

 Next came the closed competition where they pulled for Team USA. I took the lead on doing more video for this part. It was fun following them around capturing moments of warm-ups, team huddles, and other moments on and off the rope.

 There was a fantastic energy in the stands as they were packed much more with spectators for the closed competition. It was interesting watching teammates and fans from all around the world cheer on their country. Someone passed out these horns and cow bells which had the kids involved in cheering them on too.

 I'll admit the video quality will be less than top notch. I was torn between getting good footage and screaming my lungs out to give encouragement to the girls. I'm afraid the latter won over, leaving the video work shaky with a lot of my yelling.

It was amazing watching the girls work so hard. They held the top position for a long time, and even made it to the qualifying round. In the end, they settled for fourth place, losing to some teams that had far more experience. In many other countries tug-of-war is a sport in schools, and people grow up with it for much of their life. Here in the US, it's just a club sport done as a hobby. Considering these ladies are made up of students, moms, hair dressers, and many other "regular" jobs, it is quite impressive!

While in Madison, we checked out other sites too, including the free Henry Vilas  Zoo. It was quite impressive, with a variety of unique animals very easy to see.

For dinner we went to Ella's Diner which was like a carnival EVERYWHERE. There were antique moving toys on every square inch of the ceiling, walls, and even tables. Plus there was a carousel outside! Quite a fun place to visit!

Finally, we visited the Olbrich Gardens. Think MN Landscape Arboretum or Como Zoo Conservatory, but even better! Going with a family involved with landscaping and garden center work, it was a perfect stop.

On top of ALL of that, throw in swimming in the hotel pool, cousin sleepovers in the "limo bed" the kids made, picnics and playing at the park, and lots of quality family time, it was a pretty splendid way to end summer. I'm just so proud of this girl and was so glad we could be there to support her!