What started off as a simple game of tug-of-war turned into months of hard work and dedication that will all come down to just two minutes.

Jennifer McCann, a senior kinesiology and sports studies major, said she decided to try Tugs after being initiated into Alpha Sigma Tau.

“I got into Tugs because as a newly initiated member of AST, I didn’t really know many of the older members, and I was always involved in sports in high school so I figured Tugs would be a win-win for me,” she said.

McCann is now a coach for AST, and said they have been training since the beginning of February for the April event.

“Right now we are in the toughest part of our season,” she said. “A few days before, we will cut down on the intensity so we are fresh for our first tug.”

Harsha said her responsibilities as coach are to motivate the girls, set practice times and find male coaches from fraternities, all while balancing schoolwork.

“Tugs is like any other Greek Week activity, and time management is a big issue,” she said.

Alex Harsha, who is in charge of Tugs for Greek Week, said her job is to set up every part of the tug process.

She said she works with a steering committee of nine undergraduates, a graduate assistant, several chairpersons and members of facilities such as the Health Education Resource Center and Health Services.

“I set up three weigh-ins that all tug participants must attend, I put in a work order for the tug lanes, work with the HERC to hold an educational for tuggers, hold a meeting for all tug captains/coaches to reveal the years bracket, and make the rosters and forms that each chapter/tug participant must sign,” Harsha said. “There are other little things, but these are the big steps in preparing for Tugs.”

Ed Hotwagner, a senior mathematics major, said he has been involved with Tugs since his freshman year at Eastern.

“I tugged for my fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, for four years,” he said. “This year I’m not participating, but I’m coaching one of the sororities.”

He said he works along with the other coaches to run practices and instruct the girls who are tugging.

Along with helping coach practices since February, Hotwagner will be in the tugging lane with the girls on the day they tug.

Training in February begins with endurance conditioning such as running and intensifies as Greek Week gets closer, Hotwagner said.

“When I tugged, I loved it,” he said. “In my first year, we won the championship and it was the first year my fraternity had ever won Tugs.”

Hotwagner said he loved it so much he continued to participate each year up until this year, when he had other time commitments and decided to coach instead of be in Tugs.

“It’s like any physical competition,” he said. “It’s basic tug-of-war, but it’s much more than that.”

Tugs will take place at 4 p.m. April 9 at the Campus Pond.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].