The club at Bancran has been in existence since the mid-1960s when a team was formed in the townland of Bancran on the outskirts of Draperstown and in the foothills of the Sperrins.
The first coach of the team was Peter Convery and the first pull that the team took part in was at Magherafelt where they finished in runners up position to the Magherafelt team. Bancran became the first team to represent Northern Ireland in 1968 at 640kgs in Burkalo, where the famous team from Aghadowey finished up in runners-up position in the 720kgs competition.
In 1969 they represented again in the 720 kgs class in Fermoy and in 1974 in Engelberg at 720kgs. In 1975 once again they represented NI at 640kgs in Holland.
The success of the team had many ups and downs but in the late 1990s the team was reformed and a new young team emerged on the scene. Their training got better and with it, their skill at the sport.
The young team prospered and with the help of Mickey Bradley, the once fledgling team has prospered to the stage where they are a team that is hard to handle in the competition arena. 600kg UK Gold beckoned and was achieved in Halkynn in North Wales in 2006 and in 2007 they took a much-deserved silver medal at the European Championships in Minehead being very narrowly defeated. In 2008 they took bronze at 560 in the World Championships in Sweden.
There was plenty for home fans to cheer about at the Tug of War European Championships in Belfast with the team winning the 560kg Gold in 2015.
The 560kg closed was the hardest and tightest competition of the whole championship and it was the title that all teams wanted the most. The countries represented were Northern Ireland, England, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, Basque Country and Belgium.
Bancran Tug of War entered the 560Kg category in the afternoon weighing in at 557.70kgs. They started the day extremely strongly and showed their unstoppable quality by topping the league in the group stages of the competition. They then beat a good English Team (Norton) in the semi-final before progressing into the final to meet the Swiss.
Bancran beat the Swiss in the group stages convincingly, taking both ends, though they were under no illusion that it was going to be easy. The local lads showed pure grit and determination to sweep the Swiss aside and win both ends with times of 4:24 and 1:30. They comfortably took the gold and created history for this small local club.
The Bancran team is now widely regarded as one of four top outdoor teams at its weight in the world.
In 2022 The Club competed in The Northern Ireland Championships 560kg, 640kg, 600kg and 680kg – taking first place in all events.
NITOWA 