Calgary RATH Played at the Indus Arena

INDUS – October 27th the Calgary RATH, of the National Ringette League, played their season opener game out at the Indus Arena. That’s pretty exciting and added to the excitement was that the game was attended by the majority of the Indus Ringette Association girls, of which many are from Chestermere. Cam Summerfeldt, head coach of the Indus Lightning U10 Black Team says “This caliber of play doesn’t get this close to home very often”. In addition, his team was chosen as the “Friends of the RATH” game sponsor. This means the ringette team were on the ice with the RATH for the warm-up and the national anthem. The girls were also invited to a meet and greet following the game for autographs and pictures. The Calgary RATH, ranked 6th nationally, played the top ranked Lower Mainland Thunder (LMRL Thunder) but unfortunately lost to them.
In case you aren’t familiar with ringette, they say it is the fastest game on ice. Much like hockey with 5 skaters and a goalie on the ice at any time, Summerfedlt explains it as “A combination of ice hockey and basketball (rules)”. Ringette is a Canadian sport that was invented in 1963 in North Bay, Ontario by the late Sam Jacks. Players must pass the ring to another player as the ring goes across the blue lines so this means a player cannot carry the ring from end to end. Once possession is gained by one team they have just 30 seconds to take a shot on the opponents net or the buzzer sounds and the opposing team gains possession. The goalie has just 5 seconds to pass the ring to a teammate. This is one of the reasons it’s such a fast paced game.
Asked why ringette is so popular Summerfeldt says he thinks “It’s probably because it is a sport that is dominated by girls”. He added “It’s a sport the girls can do outside of the school athletics, it promotes good sportsmanship and is less competitive than some of the hockey”. Perhaps that’s true at the U10 level however, seeing it played at a national and international level I would think it’s pretty competitive. There are currently over 29,000 players on more than 2,000 teams across Canada. Internationally, it is played in half a dozen other countries around the world and has been designated a Heritage Sport by Sport Canada. The sport has become one of Canada’s favorite activities for females, with over 50,000 participants, including players, coaches, officials and volunteers, across Canada – a remarkable growth rate for such a young sport.
If you want to see some excellent ringette at a youth level, you’ll have your chance at the U9/U10 Ice Angels tournament being held in Indus, December 7th, 8th and 9th. The tournament will be a friendship tournament with all participants receiving a tournament memento. U9 & U10 teams will play a minimum of 4 games.
Again to the big leagues, this is the ninth official season of the National Ringette League (NRL) with competition taking place in two conferences – an Eastern Conference consisting of 12 teams and a Western Conference consisting of four teams. The NRL is the showcase league for ringette in Canada and strives to be the premiere women’s sports league in the country and is ambitious to move ringette into the mainstream of Canadian sports activity. The Calgary RATH has 4 players on Team Canada – Abbey Van Roekel, Dallas Robbins, Barb Bautista and Bobbi Mattson.
This year, Ringette Canada has added three teams – Team Russia, Team France and Team USA. These countries are currently developing their ringette programs and are not yet able to support teams at the elite level so this is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate their initiatives. Team Russia is comprised of mostly Ontario players, Team France has primarily Quebec players and Team USA athletes are mostly from Western Canada. The 2012 – U19 World Ringette Championship will be hosted in London, Ontario.
For more information, check the Indus Ringette website at www.Indusringette.ca, the Ringette Canada Website at www.ringette.ca or the NRL website at www.nationalringetteleague.ca.