Ringette

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Ringette is a Canadian sport game which was first introduced in 1963 in North Bay, Ontario by Sam Jacks, who worked at the Department of Parks and Recreation. The first-ever ringette game was played in Espanola, Ontario in the winter of 1963-1964. Developed originally for girls, ringette is a fast-paced team sport played on an ice rink in which players use a straight stick to pass, carry, and shoot a rubber ring to score goals. Sam Jacks also invented floor hockey.

For ten years, play centered in Ontario and Quebec; however, the sport quickly spread across Canada and is now played in all ten provinces and the Northwest Territories.

Unlike ice hockey the game does not begin with a faceoff. Rather one of the teams starts with the ring in their end of the central face off circle.

As of 2006, there are over 25,000 Canadians playing ringette.

Ringette is played internationally as well, there are many different countries playing ringette other than Canada, including Finland, Sweden, France, Russia, and the U.S.A..

In the 1994-1995 school year, the Minnesota State High School League was the first high school athletic association in the United States to adopt ringette as a team sport. In 1995-1996 it was also the first to drop ringette (which had received only lukewarm support, being seen as a substitute for hockey rather than a sport in its own right), replacing it with girls' ice hockey. Rosemount High School (Rosemount, Minnesota) won Minnesota's only State tournament in ringette, as well as the first girls' ice hockey tournament.

Mirl (Red) McCarthy (1930-1995) was a key person in the development of the sport in its earliest days. He was the man responsible for organizing the very first ringette game ever played. Red wrote the first rules of ringette and was the individual to recommend stick colours to identify positions. Red worked for many years with the local association in his home town of Espanola, Ontario.

Red was a key figure in many sports and youth activities in Northern Ontario and was the Recreation Director for Espanola for 41 years.

Ringette tends to be a much faster game than hockey - due to its lack of stick handling and ease of 'ring-control'.

More than 7,000 certified ringette coaches are registered in the National Coaching Certification Program, and 1,724 registered referees trained under Ringette Canada's National Officiating Program. In addition, there are thousands of volunteers who administer clubs, leagues, and tournaments across Canada.

The growth has continued internationally with the formation of associations in the U.S.A., Finland, Sweden, Russia, and France. In addition, Ringette Canada has been instrumental in demonstrating the game in the Netherlands, Switzerland, West Germany, along with New Zealand, Australia and Japan. There are various skill levels of play across the nation; beginning with Bunnies, (a learn to skate program) and then formal teams in categories of C, B, A, AA, and in some cases even Regional AAA Teams. Many communities offer all four levels, and in keeping with the philosophy of a place for every skill level, some leagues break down the first skill level into three levels of Recreational, C1 and C2 and B level into two, B1 and B2. This makes for place for every player of every age and skill level. Other communities that are smaller without the benefits of neighbouring communities to play in a league with will only have some of these breakdowns. Across the country many tournaments are held throughout the season, with Regional and/or League Championships being the highlight for the B and C teams, while the Provincials are the finale for the A and AA teams. Some Provinces have Provincial Championships even at the B level. Each year Provinces select Teams at the Junior, Belle, Deb, and Intermediate AA divisions to play in the Canadian Championships. (Please note, that as mentioned below in the age Divisions, since 2001 the Deb & Intermediate Divisions have been combined into one Dvision, named "Open", for National Championships.) In addition, Tween AA teams play in the Eastern or Western Canadian Championships. There are World Championships in our sport, with Canada picking a National Team to represent us at those Championships every two years. In addition, Open AA teams play in the National Ringette League (NRL). Across Canada, Ringette is played by all the provinces and the North West Territories.

1 Age Divisions
2 Rules
3 Equipment
4 Canadian National Championships
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Age Divisions

Bunnies 7 years & under
Novice 9 years & under
Petite 11 years & under
Tween 13 years & under
Junior 15 years & under
Belle 18 years & under
Open 19 years & over

Since the 2000/01 season, the Deb & Intermediate Divisions have been combined into one Division named "Open."

Intermediate 21 years & over
Deb 23 years & under
Masters 30 years & over

[edit] Rules

After a stoppage in play, or the beginning of a period, a free pass is taken from the circle closest to where play was stopped. The free pass must be taken within 5 seconds. The free pass is similar to a kick off in soccer, rather than a face-off in ice hockey. In certain cases, where offensive teams cause the stoppage, the ring is given to the goalteder to be passed to her/his team in 5 seconds.

A player may not carry the ring across a blue line, or touch it on both sides of the blue line. The ring cannot be passed across both blue lines, if the ring does go over both blue lines, the team who sent it over the lines may not touch the ring until the opposing team has touched it. This 2 blue-line rule is similar to icing in hockey.

Only the goaltender is allowed inside the goal crease. If a player passes through the crease while she/he has the ring or her/his team has possession of the ring it is a stoppage in play with the ring going to the opposite team.

The "ringette line" or "free play line" is on the top of the free pass circles in each end of the ice. Each team may only have 3 players (not including the goaltender) inside each offensive/defensive zone, usually 2 defense and a centre for the defending team, and 2 forwards and a centre for the offensive team.

[edit] Equipment

The equipment used to play ringette is similar to that used to play hockey, including: hockey skates, hockey gloves, elbow pads, shin pads, hockey pants (or the more popular long pants), helmet with the triangular-spaced cage, or face mask (more protective than a hockey mask to prevent the bladeless ringette stick from penetrating it), shoulder pads, neck guard, jersey, and a ringette stick.

Not just any ringette stick can be used, they have to follow the stick specifications from the 2005-2008 Official Rule book from Ringette Canada. Due to a recent influx of sticks that claim to enhance your game, some sticks have been banned from play, including the Exel stick.^[1] There are only a few makes of sticks that are widely used, most notably the Stinger and Ring Jet brands.

[edit] Canadian National Championships

The Canadian Ringette Championships were first held in 1979 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Along with the Canada Winter Games, the CRC's event is the very best that the sport has to offer nationally and it serves as a dynamic forum of competition for over 600 players from all ten provinces and the Northwest Territories. The tournament is designed to determine the Canadian champions in the Junior (15 & under), Belle (18 & under) and Open (19 & over) categories.

As well as determining champions, the tournament provides the athletes with the opportunity to compete at the elite level, encourages sportsmanship and interprovincial goodwill, and increases the visibility of the sport across the country.

As of the 2006 Canadian National Ringette Championships, held in Longueuil, Quebec, the standings are: In the Junior division (ages 13 to 15), Host Quebec placed first, Alberta took second, and Ontario placed third. In the Belle division (ages 16 to 18), Manitoba took the gold, Alberta took silver, and Host Quebec placed third with bronze. In the Open division (ages 19 to 23), Ontario took home the gold, Alberta placed second with silver, and Host Quebec placed third with the bronze.

The 2007 Canadian National Ringette Championships will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with Team Nova Scotia as Host.