2009 National Tug-of-war Project Promotion & Referees Training Courses, organized by China General Administration of Sports and China Tug-of-war Association, was held in Yongning Community, Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan city of Guandong province on April 5-8.
Deputy Director of the China General Administration of Sports Lin Jie, Director of the provincial General Administration of Sports Wu Xi, Deputy Mayor of the town Dong Zuwen and more than 150 referees from 20 provinces and cities joined the activity.
This activity included: tug of war techniques, tactical teaching; tug of war rules, referee teaching; referee grades assessment; demonstration teaching and so forth.
Lin Jie, Deputy Director of the China General Administration of Sports, said that the purpose of this event is to promote the development of China’s tug-of-war and promote our country from a large country in sports to a strong country in sports.
“After the 2008 Olympic Games, citizens were more interested in sports. We wish the enthusiasm of the Olympic Games could be continued. More importantly, through the training class, we can teach tug-of-war technologies to everyone and then even the grass-root people can enjoy this sport” she added.
Reportedly, tug-of-war competition was an official competition project in four Olympic Games. Our country’s tug-of war game began late and until in 2006 it was included as a formal project in the National Sports Conference.