For that matter, which high school football team is the strongest? That will be determined June 21, when local teams will test their strength in the Pamby Motors Strongest Man Competition at Ridgefield High School.

And this is not your ordinary weightlifting competition, says Ridgefield strength and conditioning coach Pete McLean, who has organized the event. The events in the competition will not mimic what high school football players do on the field. But if players and teams are keeping up with their offseason strength and conditioning, the events will be natural.

Translation: Competitors who have not hit the weights during the offseason will be exposed, McLean says. That’s because the events can be done with ease if an athlete is well conditioned and has a good teaching platform in the basic core lifts (squat, dead lift, clean, jerk press, and various horizontal pulling skills).

“As an aside, we have been using these types of training tools in our strength program for years and most innovative strength coaches have employed various power and speed strength exercises into their programs,” McLean said.

The competition was originally slated for May, but Ridgefield head football coach Kevin Callahan said there were too many conflicts with spring season playoffs. So the competition was moved to after spring football.

Here’s how the competition works:

There will be six events, scored on a 12-10-8-6-4-2 basis:

1. Monster tire flip
   Flip a tractor tire end over end 30 yds for time. Fastest time wins
2. Dead Lift and hold
   Dead lift a 315 LB barbell to lockout position and hold for time. Longest hold will win
3. Viking Press
   Athlete will press a 185 LB bar overhead for as may reps as possible (1 minute time limit). Maximum reps win
4. Scottish Stones
   Athlete will carry two Scottish stones (approx. 90 lbs. .each) 40 yds and back. Fastest time wins
5. Truck Pull
   Athlete will pull a truck attached to a rope hand over hand 20 yds (athlete will be seated in a stable position)
6. Sand Bag
   ShuttleAthlete will carry one sand bag (approx. 70 lbs) 25 yds, drop the bag, sprint back to the start and repeat for 5 bags. Fastest time will win.

And there is a bonus team event: Using a tournament format, each team will compete in team tug of war (five athletes per team). The winner will receive 10 team points.

Each athlete will compete in every event, which will occur concurrently. At the conclusion of each event the athletes will rotate to the next event. The pace in which we complete each event will depend on the number of athletes competing, but we will allow enough time for each athlete to perform and recover between events.

At the conclusion, both an individual winner and a team champion will be crowned. The winning team will receive a $1,000 prize courtesy of Pamby Motors of Ridgefield, which will be donated to the winning school’s athletic department.