223 346 – this is the number of competition licenses issued by the Polish Rope Pulling Association in 2021. A cosmic number, hard to believe. Especially since it is a two-hundred-fold increase compared to the previous year! Twenty-hundred-fold. Recent months have made PZPL the largest sports association in the country.
PZPL boasted about its results on Tuesday. It shows that in terms of the issued competition licenses, the PZPL even surpassed the PZPN. According to the announcement, 173 895 people currently have a tug of war license. In 2020, the Central Statistical Office estimated that about 121,000 people have a football license.
“It is one of the oldest disciplines in the world, it was practiced in ancient times. Interestingly, tug of war was also held at modern games: in 1900–1920, five more tournaments were competed. They inaugurated in 1900 in Paris. Today this competition was held in Paris. the discipline is officially called “Tug of War”, and in Poland its popularity has flourished right now, during the pandemic “- we read in the announcement of the president of PZPL, Dariusz Bajkowski.
The government’s decisions opened the way to bizarre movements
The boom in popularity of this discipline in Poland during a pandemic is not accidental. It is not that during the lockdown, Poles left their homes and began tug of war. The case has a second bottom, which is related to the fitness industry.
Clubs, gyms, swimming pools and water parks were closed on October 17 last year due to the pandemic. This state of affairs continued until May 29.
However, there were provisions in the government ordinances that left a loophole that clubs cleverly used. Although in theory we could not go to the gym, as professionals we could prepare for “sports events” and take part in organized activities. This gave rise to bizarre decisions, such as the one taken by the Polish Swimming Association. When it was decided that from December 28 to January 17, only the representatives of the country could use the pools, the PZP appointed all those who had its license to the team. Thanks to this, access to the swimming pool – and an honorary appointment – gained several thousand people. Obviously, most of them were neither professionals, nor even less material for a team.
It was the same with the fitness and tug of war industry. In order to legally go to the gym during the lockdown, you had to have any competitor’s license from a sports association in Poland. And it just so happened that obtaining a PZPL license is both cheap and simple. The cost is only PLN 50, you can get it almost immediately, after completing the online application on the association’s website. You just need to complete the test, which is to write down your own achievements in various physical exercises.
– We did not publish this test or its results anywhere. We wanted reliability. Everyone who trains knows how many repetitions of a given exercise will be performed and will give an appropriate answer. The cosmic results were out of the question – says Sport.pl Dariusz Bajkowski.
“The PZPL license was not just a ticket to the gym”
How does the president of PZPL relate to the massive increase in interest in the discipline? – As a sports association, we are not detached from the economic or political reality, but we were also not established to comment on such things. The whole situation surprised us a lot, but we are also very happy. We showed ourselves to the Poles, we boasted about the history of the discipline that dates back to ancient times – he explains.
And he adds: – However, there are many indications that the crisis and lockdown helped us. We have not commissioned any research on this subject and it seems to me that no one in the country has conducted such research. Sociologically, it would be interesting and I really regret that we do not have access to such data. Everyone who applied for a license had to declare an active participation in the life of the discipline. It was true that it was different, but believe me, we have noticed a much greater interest in the competition across the country. Much more has started to happen in our sport. While there is certainly a lot of truth to our licenses allowing people to get into the gym, on the other hand, the discipline has really gained a lot.
The president of the Polish Fitness Federation, Tomasz Napiórkowski, is more direct. – I would like to greet the president of PZPL – he laughs when we ask if he has heard about the huge increase in interest in tugging.
And he adds: – The matter is a bit funny, but I am glad that our industry played a part in it. On the one hand, we can laugh at what happened, but on the other hand, we should also be glad that the next sport was presented to a wide group of Poles. Of course, the previous legislative situation forced us to make certain combinations, but it is not that the PZPL license was just a ticket to the gym. There has been a lot of interesting material on tug of war in recent months, which has certainly helped to popularize the discipline. As a representative of the fitness industry, I am very happy that so many people want to take it for themselves.
Did employees of the fitness industry persuade people to obtain a PZPL license? – There was no such need. Our users are often licensed by various sports associations. Those who massively went to get the licenses were people who practiced some sport anyway and they just needed a gym. If someone wanted to find a way to use the gym, it was easy to find it. If a man wants something very much, he will always succeed. Mobilization on our part was really unnecessary – argues Napiórkowski.
“This year has fallen from heaven to us”
The success of tug of war in Poland can be taken with a pinch of salt, but the fact is that the last year has helped this discipline. If someone thinks that tug of war is only present at picnics or fairs, then they are wrong. The world federation wants to fight for a return to the Olympics, the world championship in tug of war is held regularly, and the Polish team is in the top ten in Europe.
The last months were not only a great promotional success for PZPL, but also – and perhaps most of all – financial. As it is easy to count, the union earned over PLN 11 million from the sale of the license.
– As tug of war does not occur at the Olympic Games, but only in the second rank event, i.e. World Games, the POC classifies us as a non-Olympic sport. This, in turn, results in very modest subsidies. We almost always lacked money, even for the most necessary things, such as the service of the office responsible for the national team. That is why this year has fallen from heaven to us. For the money we earned, we replaced hardware and old, crumbling computers on which we couldn’t even install new software. We also modernized the office, bought modern training equipment and outfits for the national team. We are delighted to finally get back on our feet, says Bajkowski
And he adds: – The earned money also allowed us to travel and take part in foreign tournaments. Thanks to this, we got to know more people and we were able to get involved in building the European structures of our discipline. Today we can boast that we are one of the few founding members of the European tug of war federation. We will insist that our discipline returns to the Olympics.
– Our biggest advantage is that we are a sport that is easy to implement. All you need is a rope and a piece of free space. You do not need to buy specialized equipment here, there are also no pitches, halls or jumps. In two hours we are able to properly train players so that they are ready to compete safely. Pulling the rope is simple, very close to human nature. There is no room for discussion with judges here, it is very easy to judge who was better. And this is what sport is all about – Bajkowski concludes.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
