During Northport Elementary School’s Ultimate Tug of War Championship February 27, Grade 1 students hold on tight as they try to pull their classmates past the midpoint.

Hub Staff

With the sun shining down on a field of grass, it looked more spring like than winter but that didn't stop Northport Elementary School in Port Elgin from having some fun on February 27, the day that was originally to be their Winter Carnival.

“We thought we'd have a little trouble doing a Winter Carnival with no snow,” said Northport Principal Bill Colley. So rather than their usual 10 events with 20 different school teams participating, it was decided that they would choose one event and create an Ultimate Tug of War Championship for Grades 1 through 8.

Typically the school coordinates their Winter Carnival with the Rotary Winterama, which took place on Saturday, February 25 “so if kids couldn’t go to the Rotary Winterama on Saturday they could have some fun at school,” explained Colley.

See: $20,000 expected for youth programs from 15th annual Rotary Winterama... for the Kids!

Each grade was divided into four house colours: red, blue, green and yellow. “It's round-robin. Every grade has four teams and all tug of war against each other,” said Colley, explaining that each team was assigned a Grade 7 or 8 student as a team captain. “We always do student leadership so they all get a little bit of responsibility. Usually I don't have to do anything because all the events are run by the kids.”

After the first rounds of testing their strength and team strategies, the children broke for a spaghetti lunch, in which the Kindergarteners also took part, before heading back onto the playing field for the playoffs. Each team in their respective grades receiving four points for coming 1st, three points for 2nd, two points for 3rd and one point for 4th.

Although the scores were tight, at the end of the day, the Red House were the overall victors, winning Grades 1, 3, 6, 7 and 8. Colley said that the competition was just for fun so there were no prizes, but “they get to do their happy dance in front of the other teams.”

The Grade 1 winning team, the Red House, celebrates with a hat toss.

Grade 8 students pull with all their might.

Grit and determination as Grade 6 students compete in the Tug of War Championship.

Grade 7 students were having fun as they competed February 27.

This Grade 8 team were using strategy in their game as they lean back, making it harder for their opposition to gain ground.

Grade 1 students (left) and Grade 3 students (right) alike were taking the challenge seriously as they dug in and pulled against their classmates.

On the left, it was all about teamwork for this Grade 2 team. On the right, with the help of his Grade 7 and 8 students, Northport Principal Bill Colley oversaw the school’s Tug of War Championship.

Although a little too young for the Tug of War competition, Mrs Berndt's Kindergarten students were more than happy to participate in the day's spaghetti lunch.

Split into four houses, Northport students cheered for their respective Grade 6 teams.