Ringette

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Ringette

Girls playing ringette
Highest governing body	International Ringette Federation
First played	1963 in Espanola, Ontario, Canada
Characteristics
Contact	No
Team members	• 2 Forwards • 2 Defencemen 1 Center • 1 Goalie
Type	Female Team sport Winter sport
Equipment	Ringette ring Ringette stick Ice hockey skates protective gear
Venue	Ice rink
Presence
Olympic	No
Paralympic	No

Ringette is a Canadian non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey skates created for and played predominantly by women and girls. Created in Northern Ontario, Canada by Samuel Perry Jacks in 1963, ringette is now one of the fastest team sports on ice, belonging to a small group of ice skating team sports which now includes bandy, ice hockey, and rinkball. The off-ice variant is known as gym ringette which is not to be confused with floor hockey. Ringette is most popularly played in Canada and Finland with both countries forming the top international teams, coaches, officials, and female athletes on a regular basis. In Canada ringette has been designated a by Sport Canada. There are opportunities for female university students to play ringette at the university level.

Ringette players use ice hockey skates and a straight stick to pass and shoot a blue, hollow, rubber ring. The stick is a long rectangular shaft made of either wood or a composite material with a tapered end and a drag-tip. Drag-tips are made of steel, aluminum, or plastic. The sport uses an ice rink for its playing surface and is played on either an indoor or outdoor ice surface, usually an ice hockey rink with line markings for ringette added.

The game objective is to outscore the opposing team by shooting the ring past the opposing team's goaltender and into the goalnet during stop-time periods of play. The goalnets are identical to those used in ice hockey. Two teams face off simultaneously with the play involving six players on each team with five skaters and one goaltender for each side.

One of the sport's recognizable features is its absence of intentional body contact as a strategic component. Body checking has never been a tactic in the sport and is penalized. In 2000, a 30-second shot clock was introduced to improve the flow of the game and increase the speed of play.

Ringette has spread to the United States, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and unofficially to the United Arab Emirates. Elite level ringette leagues are present in Canada and in Scandinavia: Canadian National Ringette League (NRL), the Finnish and Swedish .

The World Ringette Championship is the elite international amateur competition for the sport, the first of which took place in Canada in 1990. According to the International Ringette Federation (IRF) the next World Ringette Championships (WRC) will be held in 2022 in Espoo, Finland from October 31 - November 6.^[1][2][3]

In Canada, ringette is also included in the Canada Winter Games. The next Canada Winter Games will take place in Prince Edward Island in 2023.^[4] At the adult level, Canada's elite ringette players compete in the National Ringette League (NRL). The final competition is held annually at the Canadian Ringette Championships. The next Canadian Ringette Championships, the 2022 Canadian Ringette Championships, will be hosted in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, April 3-9, 2022.^[5]

In Finland, ringette takes place at the local amateur level to the professional level. The elite Finnish ringette league is called Finnish: Ringeten SM-Sarja, or the 'Ringette Championship Series'.^[6][7] In Sweden, the nation's elite ringette players compete in the Swedish .

While there have been, on rare occasions, more recent attempts to organize and pilot entirely male ringette teams and leagues among youth^[8] the sport since its inception has been developed and administered as a sport strictly for females rather than males. As a result, all elite ringette players in the sport are female athletes rather than male, both nationally and internationally. This approach towards the sport's development has the added benefit of avoiding male-female comparisons and allows it to give female athletes the spotlight by preventing male athletes from dominating the sport due to their biological advantages.

Game Format[]

Players[]

Only six players on each team are permitted on the ice at one time, one centre, two forwards, two defenders, and a goaltender.^[9]

Periods of Play[]

The recreational format of the game is 2 halves with 16 to 24 minutes in each period. However, in the National Ringette League which showcases the top senior elite level of the sport in Canada, the format of the game is 4 quarters, 13 minutes each with a 10 to 12 minute break between the second and third quarters.

The Shot Clock[]

The shot clock is only applied in competitive levels, starting at the petite level (U12).

The team in possession of the ring has 30 seconds to shoot, though this rule does not apply to the younger teams (Bunny/U8, and Novice/U10).

The shot clock is reset when possession of the ring changes teams, when the ring stops in the goaltender's crease, or when the ring bounces off of the goalie or the front of the goal posts.

Ringette rink[]

Playing area, size, lines and markings for the standard Canadian ringette rink are similar to the average ice hockey rink. Ringette in Canada utilizes most of the standard ice hockey markings used by Hockey Canada but with additional free-pass dots in each of the attacking zones and centre zone areas as well as a larger goal crease area. Two additional free-play lines (1 in each attacking zone) are also required.

Lines[]

Centre line[]

This is a single red line dividing the ends of the ice occupied by each team.

Blue lines[]

Players are not permitted to carry the ring over the two blue lines; they must advance the ring over the line only by passing it to another player. The ring must be touched by any other player first, but does not need to be under control before the passer take possession again.

Ringette line (a.k.a. Free Play Line)[]

The red line at the top of the defensive circles is called the Ringette Line. It marks the restricted area of each team's attacking/defending zones. Only three players from each team, plus the defending goaltender, are permitted into the restricted areas.

Ringette goal crease[]

Rink markings include the goal crease. The goal crease is a zone in front of the goal mouth where only goalies are permitted. Only the goaltender is permitted in the goal crease, and only the goaltender can play a ring that is in, or touching, the goal crease. The goal crease in ringette is larger than the goal crease in ice hockey.

Equipment[]

The sport of ringette uses a specially designed blue rubber pneumatic ring made for play on ice.

Required equipment for ringette is similar to ice hockey and includes the following:

• ^[10]
• Ringette ring
• Jersey
• Ice hockey skates
• Ringette pants (replaces ice hockey pants and socks)
• Ringette/ice hockey gloves
• Elbow protectors
• Shoulder pads with chest protection
• Knee and shinguards
• Protective girdle
• Neck protector
• Approved helmet
• Approved facemask (either wire cage, visor, or wire cage/visor combo)
• Mouthguard (some areas)
• Team jersey

Ice skates[]

The ice skate model in official use today is the same design used in the team sport of ice hockey as opposed to the ice skate model used in figure skating, speed skating or the team sport of bandy.

Ringette sticks[]

In regards to sticks, with the exception of goaltenders who use a stick designed for their specific position, all players use a straight stick ending in a rectangular shaped drag-tip that includes ridges around its circumference. The drag-tip is usually made of a steel, aluminum or plastic.

Ringette sticks are generally lightweight composites or hollow wood, with ridged or grooved drag-tips. Heavily splintered sticks and modified hockey sticks are not permitted. These sticks have tapered ends, with plastic drag-tips specially designed with grooves to increase the lift and velocity of the wrist shot. A ringette stick is also reinforced to withstand the body weight of a player; a ring carrier leans heavily on his/her stick to prevent opposing players from removing the ring. Sticks are flexible and lightweight to bend without breaking.

Upper Body[]

Ringette requires all players including goalies to wear an approved helmet with an approved ringette face-mask. Ringette facemasks are similar to those used in ice hockey but its bars are spaced so that the end of a ringette stick cannot enter the mask. Bars are often noticeably shaped in a triangular fashion, not squares.

Face-masks must be designed specifically for the sport of ringette, either a wire cage design or a wire-cage combo which includes a half visor made of a clear plastic shielding the eyes. Some clear plastic models are designed entirely for the face and include holes near the bottom for breathing. Masks must be affixed to an approved helmet model; masks designs with square bars commonly found in ice hockey are disallowed because the stick tip can fit through the spaces; designs with tightly horizontally spaced bars near the bottom half of a visor combo may be approved.

A mouthguard in required in some leagues and provinces in Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.

An approved neck guard is required for both players and goalies.

Shoulder pads with chest protection are required in some Canadian ringette associations and provinces. Shoulder pads are optional after U12. In Ontario, Canada, shoulder pads are necessary until 18+, while other Canadian provinces may vary.

Elbow pads are required.

Ringette or ice hockey gloves are required for players (see Goaltenders for goalie glove information). Sometimes broomball gloves are also used by very young ringette goaltenders but are illegal to use at higher age levels.

Lower Body[]

A protective girdle with a built in "jill" is required. "Jill" is the colloquial term for the genital protection designed specifically for female athletes. Alternatively, ringette players using ice hockey pants must also have genital protection, either a "cup" or a "jill".

Ringette pants are sports pants which extend all the way to the ankles to cover equipment. Their appearance is similar to the sports pants worn in broomball and in-line hockey.

Standard ice hockey pants which extend to above the knee are also permitted so long as the player wears a "cup" or a "jill" to protect the players genitals.

Shin and knee guards are worn under the player's ringette pants.

Ice hockey skates are required. Ringette players officially use the ice hockey skates. Ringette goalies may use the goalie skates designed for ice hockey goalies.

Goaltenders[]

Required equipment for ringette goaltenders is similar to ice hockey with a few differences.

The Goalie stick is identical to those used in ice hockey.

Goalie gloves for both hands are required. Apart from using an ice hockey goalie blocker on their stick side, ringette goalies have a choice in the use of one of four options for their catching/throwing side: the broomball glove (sometimes called a "ringette" glove), another ice hockey goalie blocker, an ice hockey trapper, or the sport's only design specifically for ringette goalies colloquially known as a "Nami glove", or "Keely glove". Broomball gloves are usually only used by very young ringette goaltenders but are illegal to use at higher age levels.

The "Nami glove", or "Keely glove" is the name of the company responsible for developing the first goalie glove design for the sport of ringette, while "Keely" is the nickname the glove acquired after it became public that former Team Canada ringette goaltender, Keely Brown, was involved in the design project.

Ice skates are also required for ringette goalies. Ringette goalies may use the goalie skates designed for ice hockey goalies.

Basic rules of play[]

Pulling the goalie[]

A team may pull the goalie off the ice and one more player may go in the offensive or defensive end. If the goalie is pulled and the play returns to that team's defensive end, one skater may become an acting goaltender. Once they enter the crease, they are bound by the same rules as a regular goaltender. If a team pulls the goalie without adding an additional player to the ice, the goalie may return to the defensive end.

Center Ice Free Pass[]

The game begins with the visiting team receiving control of the ring on the defending half of the center circle. This is formally called a 'Center Ice Free Pass' and more commonly known as a 'Center Free Ring'. One player from the visiting team must pass the ring to another player within five seconds, without leaving the half circle or crossing the centre line, or else possession is lost and granted to the home team. A Center Free Ring will also happen after half time to start the second period, as well as when the play is interrupted.

Blue lines[]

Players are not permitted to carry the ring over the two blue lines; they must advance the ring over the line only by passing it to another player. The ring must be touched by any other player first, but does not need to be under control before the passer take possession again (e.g., the passer bounces the ring off a player's skate and then picks it up). If a player touches the ring consecutively on both sides of the blue line their team loses possession and the opposing team is given a free pass. If the ring goes over both blue lines, the team that passed it may not touch it until the opposing team touches the ring.

If a goaltender throws the ring across the blue line, a delayed violation is signalled. The goaltender may use their stick to pass the ring over the blue line.

Exceptions include:

• The defending team must have one player out of the free play area. If a team has two penalized players, only two players in addition to the goaltender may be in the zone.
• If a team has pulled their goaltender, an additional player is allowed into the attacking or defending zone. The goaltender must be completely off the ice before the additional player is permitted to enter. Once the goalie is pulled, any of the players from that team may enter the goaltender's crease and play as goalie – but cannot carry the ring out of the crease.

If the violation is non-intentional, the team in violation will lose possession of the ring and have it granted to the non-offending team. If the violation is deemed intentional, a delay of game penalty is assessed (rare). If an intentional violation occurs in the last two minutes of the game, a penalty shot is awarded instead. The Extended Zone Line is also known as the "ringette line".

Goal crease[]

The goal crease is the area in front of the net defined by a red semi circle on the ice. Goaltenders are the only players permitted in the crease. If a member of the team with ring possession violates the crease with a stick, skate, etc., the play is stopped and the goalie receives the ring. If any member of the non-possession team violates the crease, their team cannot touch the ring for five seconds (counted by the referee), or possession of the ring is given to the other team.

When the ring enters the crease, the goaltender then has five seconds to throw, pass with stick, deflect, or push the ring out to another player. If the goalie does not pass it within five seconds, the ring is awarded to the other team for a free pass from one of the defensive free play circles. The goalie may use the stick to touch the ring outside the crease, and can also pass through the crease, but may not pull it into the crease unless they pull it all the way through and out with one motion. Otherwise, this results in a loss of possession, and a penalty if they have already been given a warning. The goalie may not pick up or cover the ring with their glove outside the crease. The goalie can push the ring with a hand when outside the crease, as can any other player.

The team in possession of the ring has 30 seconds to shoot, though this rule does not apply to the younger teams (Bunny/U8, and Novice/U10). The shot clock is reset when possession of the ring changes teams, when the ring stops in the goaltender's crease, or when the ring bounces off of the goalie or the front of the goal posts. The shot clock is only applied in competitive levels, starting at the petite level (U12).

Violations[]

A violation is a minor penalty called for violations of game play rules, usually due to improper movement or handling of the ring. Common violations include entering the crease, touching the ring on either side of the blue line, four players in the zone and 2 (blue) line passes.

If a violation is committed by the team in possession of the ring, play is stopped immediately. The ring is awarded to the opposing team in the zone the violation occurred. If a violation is committed by the team not in possession of the ring, a 'delayed violation' is signalled by the official (arm raised with a 90 degree bend at the elbow) and a 5-second count begins. If the team in violation touches the ring within that time period, play is stopped and the violation is assessed. If the count expires, the violation is dropped and play continues.

If a violation occurs that would award the defending team a free pass in their own zone, the ring is given to the goaltender as a "goalie ring". Play resumes immediately when the goaltender receives the ring. Time is not provided for teams to perform line changes as can be done on a free pass, although on-the-fly changes are permitted as in normal play.

Penalties[]

Penalties in ringette have the same concept as in hockey, with the notable exception that less body contact is allowed, and fighting has a zero-tolerance policy. Penalties are of the following classes:

• Minor penalties, such as boarding, charging, cross checking, elbowing, holding, illegal substitution, hooking, high-sticking, tripping, body contact, slashing, unsportsmanlike conduct and interference. The offending player must sit in the penalty box for two or four minutes depending on the severity of the penalty (other exceptions apply) and her team plays short-handed. The penalty ends when the team with the penalty is scored on, or the penalty time runs out. (If the defence is serving two penalties, the oldest penalty ends.)
• A major penalty is assessed for serious offences, generally involving intent to injure or an intentional penalty action to prevent a shot during the attacking team's breakaway. Major penalties are four minutes in length and do not end upon the scoring of a goal.

-- body contact, slashing, tripping, boarding, charging and any other physical contact penalty, and unsportsmanlike can become a four-minute major penalty depending on the severity and roughness. Players may also receive multiple penalties at the same time for a combination of four or more minutes.

• Misconduct and Match penalties may also be called. They result in a player's ejection from the game. Misconduct and Major penalties also incur a two- or four-minute fully served penalty to be served by a teammate, unless the penalty is assessed to a non-playing bench member.

When a penalty is assessed against the goalie, a teammate on the ice at the time of the offence must serve it.

If the team not in control of the ring commits a penalty, play is not stopped until the penalized team gains control. This is called a delayed penalty. A minor penalty is nullified if a goal is scored during the delay, unless penalties of equal class were called on both teams. While the penalty is delayed, the attacking team can add a sixth skater to the ice by pulling their goalie. This player can enter the play zone as the fourth attacker.

A team can work off at most two penalties at a time. If a team commits a third penalty, the penalized player sits in the penalty box, but her interval does not start until the first of the other penalties expires (and so forth if there are more penalties). A team plays with a minimum of three skaters on the ice, regardless of the number of penalties. If freeing a player from the penalty box would give the team more players on the ice than it is entitled to (such as when the team is down to three attackers, but there are two other players in the penalty box), she will not be freed until a whistle stops play. During the stoppage, the team must remove one player from the ice to return to its proper strength.

A team with two penalties can have only two players (instead of the usual three) in its defensive zone. But if a third person is active in the defensive zone while two man down a third penalty will be called. If there is a third penalty that penalty time does not start till the first penalty is over. All three players may enter the offensive zone.

Off-ice variants[]

The off-ice variation of the ice sport of ringette is called .^[11][12] and was developed in the 1990s, largely by the national governing body for the sport of ringette in the country. The game is designed to be played in gymnasiums and is currently mostly administered for play among youth though adult leagues are known to have been created.

Common misconceptions[]

Origin story myth[]

A popular myth surrounding the origin story of ringette in several countries, including Canada, proposes the idea that girls were not permitted to play ice hockey and that ringette was created as an alternative.^{[13][14][15][16]} However, by the 1960s, girls and women had been playing ice hockey in Canada since the late 1800s and the earliest experimental rules for ringette involved the help of various high school girls ice hockey teams in Espanola, Ontario. Additionally, the established format of ringette, unlike female ice hockey, excluded body checking which was a tactic that would not be removed from the female category of ice hockey in Canada until the mid 1980s and remained in place at the international level of female ice hockey until the mid 1990s.

Lack of opportunities[]

A common myth persists in regards to a claim that there was a lack of existing opportunities for females to play winter team sports when the sport of ringette was created.^[17] When ringette was invented,^[18] girls and women's recreational broomball^[19] and girls and women's community ice hockey programs existed throughout Canada and the United States, including in the city and areas where ringette first began. By the time ringette was invented in 1963, opportunities for female participation in winter team sports had been in existence for over a half-century with the earliest record of women's ice hockey dating back to 1889 in Ottawa, Canada.^[20] In addition, women's ice hockey had long been introduced at the post-secondary education level, starting with McGill University's women's ice hockey team debuting in 1894.

Despite the available opportunities, both female broomball and female ice hockey varied in participation rates regionally and nationally, partly due to differences in climate as both sports require winter conditions in order to be played. While girls and women could play a female variant of a winter sport that was more popular with males, what didn't exist were opportunities for them to play a winter team sport which was recognized as being distinctly their own.

At the time, regardless of sex, broomball and ice hockey were the only two winter team sports available to play anywhere in North America which involved facing off against an opponent, a reality of winter team sports participation often completely ignored by contemporary historical accounts and historical revisionists.^[21] However, except in some rare cases in regards to broomball, only ice hockey involved the use of ice skates.^[22][23] The only other team sport which involved the use of ice skates anywhere in the world at the time was the sport of bandy which had failed to materialize and organize in North America, largely due to it morphing into the new sport of ice hockey along with elements from other existing sports. Bandy as a game was introduced to British North America by British soldiers but disappeared from North America entirely by the beginning of the 20th century while it continued to grow and flourish in Russia and a variety of Scandinavian countries.

Today winter team skating sports of this form are still exceptionally rare with only a total of four presently in existence worldwide, excluding their variants: bandy, ice hockey, rinkball and ringette itself.

Ringette as a variant of ice hockey[]

Despite popular belief the sport of ringette does not qualify as a variant of ice hockey, but female ice hockey does as it is a variant of the more popular men's game. The female variant was a necessary development in order to create a female category for the sport of ice hockey. Meanwhile, ringette in its very early conceptual stage was influenced by a variety of pre-existing floor and court games until it was modified and experimented with further on ice rinks with female hockey players soon after.

While ringette shares certain characteristics with ice hockey, overall there are three ice skating team sports worldwide which do, which includes bandy, rinkball and ringette, putting all four sports in a distinct group of established sports.

Bandy, initially known simply as, "hockey on the ice" and the predecessor to ice hockey, eventually emerged in its organized format in the 1800s and was modelled off of various ball and field games. It was the first winter team ice skating sport in the world which involved two teams facing off on opposite sizes of the playing area used. Beginning as an informal recreational and leisure activity during the 1800s in Britain, bandy was introduced in its informal style by British soldiers to British North America and spread to Europe and Scandinavia before ice hockey was established as an organized sport in what is now Canada in the late 1800s. Bandy itself disappeared from North America in the late 1800s after it failed to become an organized sport and instead became absorbed into the new sport of ice hockey. Bandy would not return to North America in an organized format until the 1970s in the American city of Minnesota. In Canada, bandy would not be reintroduced until the 1980s in Winnipeg. Today bandy is one of the most popular team sports played in Sweden, where it is only second to soccer in terms of rate of participation, and more popular than ice hockey.

Ringette and rinkball both emerged in the 1960s albeit on different continents with ringette developing in Canada and rinkball in Sweden and Finland. However, both sports developed entirely separately and developed without any influence from the other. Ringette was not introduced to Scandinavia until the late 1970s; rinkball to this day has never become established or organized in any manner in North America. Rinkball was influenced primarily by the existence of rink bandy and ice hockey in Sweden and Finland.

Today, bandy, ice hockey, ringette and rinkball (and their winter based variants) all involve four major but fundamental characteristics not shared by any other organized sports which put them in a unique group of sport: they are all winter team sports using ice as their playing surface, they require the use of ice skates (or ice sledge in the case of para sport variants such as para ice hockey), they require the use of a designated goalkeeper, and both teams compete at the same time on opposite sides of the area of play. The organized version of broomball can also be placed in this category of sport to a certain degree, however, it does not use ice skates of any kind and today more commonly uses a special type of shoe designed to allow players to acquire traction on the ice. In addition, broomball is also the only one of these winter team sports that can also be and is played on snow rather than ice due to the fact that it does not use ice skates of any kind. Today when broomball is played on snow it is more commonly done so in an informal manner and often takes place as a part of a winter festival.

While the basic characteristics shared between these sports results in similar designs in terms of protective equipment, in all cases their distinctive differences become more apparent at a closer glance. Important differences involve whether the format played is in the male or female category of the sport (only the female format exists in ringette), the dimensions, markings and areas of restriction which design and organize the playing area, level of allowable contact, sport specific equipment such as the design of the sticks used and design of the footwear, the design of the object of play, the number of players and positions, size and dimension of the goalnets used, and game rules and strategy.

Accusations of a sexist origin[]

Another popular yet unsubstantiated claim involves the belief that Canadian parents entered their daughters in ringette rather than female ice hockey due to sexism and male chauvinism prior to the inclusion of women's ice hockey in the winter Olympic program in 1998. However, unlike ringette, body checking was allowed in female ice hockey.

Body checking in some of the women's hockey leagues in Canada were completely removed in 1986, as is stated in, "On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History", over twenty years after it had already been eliminated from the design of ringette. Bandy, another team ice skating sport had excluded body checking in both its male and female categories of the sport for even longer, but did not exist in North America.

At the international level of female ice hockey in the women's age group, right up until the first women's world ice hockey championships in 1990, the women's national ice hockey teams from Canada, Team USA and teams from European countries used body checking as a tactic against countries with less experience.^[24] This resulted in a number of injured players and made the women's game less attractive to other competing nations. As a consequence, body checking was removed from the women's ice hockey game, the change being adopted internationally.^[24] Female ice hockey has not reintroduced body checking. In addition, once the female version of ice hockey eliminated body checking, registrations actually saw an increase.

Conversely, the sport of ringette had never included body checking, helping the sport attract female players, almost thirty years before body checking was eliminated from girls' and women's ice hockey.

Popularity and success of the sport[]

There exists a belief that until women's ice hockey was popularized in the 1990s that women and girls had not made any headway or experienced any true success on the ice rink in team sports either in North America or anywhere else in the world. The measure of female success was considered dependent upon widespread male acceptance and recognition of the female category of a sport already popularized by the male population.

However, by 1983, twenty years after ringette was created, there were over 14 500 ringette players in Canada. That same year the number of players registered in the female category of ice hockey in Canada, which was almost a century old, was a mere 5 379, less than 40% of ringette's numbers. As a result, the popularity of ringette superseded that of female ice hockey in Canada, and as a consequence of its popularity served to increase female participation rate in winter team skating sports in Canada overall. Until 1963 when ringette was invented, only one ice skating team sport existed in all of North America for either of the two sexes to play, which was ice hockey.

History[]

The early development of the sport is believed to have initially been influenced by a variety of floor hockey games which were adopted, organized and practiced by many existing Canadian youth clubs and organizations. Floor hockey had also been adopted by public schools for youth gym classes.^[25][26]

Samuel Perry Jacks is the Canadian credited for the idea which inspired the development of the ice skating sport of ringette, which is believed to have been in part due to both his experience and exposure to the youth game of floor hockey, a game whose rules he codified in 1936.

According to the first complete set of ringette rules drafted in 1965–1966 in a meeting with the Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO)^[18] it was recognized that while both girls broomball and girls ice hockey programs were already available, they were nevertheless unsuccessful in drawing in and maintaining female participation during the winter season. It also observed criticism that their sports programs tended to be too "male-oriented". Ringette was created in the hopes of correcting these problems in the administration of sport for females in the regional areas under the existing authority of the (SDMRO) and the (NORDA).

Over the years attempts have been made to discover or create a new winter court or rink game for girls. Broomball was such a game, and for some time girls' Ice Hockey had a certain success. Neither of these games seemed to have the acceptance of the female population as indicated by lack of growth. Ringette is a new attempt to provide a winter team sport, on skates, for girls.^[18]

— "Ringette Rules (A Game on Skates for Girls)", Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (1965-1966)

At the time, Samuel Perry Jacks (more commonly known as Sam Jacks), from West Ferris, Ontario, was the Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of North Bay, Ontario. In 1963 he had been elected President of the Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO) and was the only director in the organization's history who was nominated President for two consecutive terms and was a major contributor. He was also responsible for designing the Society's coat of arms and also served on a number of vital standing committees.^[27] It was during this period that Jacks, who was responsible for the sport as an initial idea, promoted the game and its future potential extensively.

As time went by Sam had many teams in West Ferris and surrounding areas playing on outdoor rinks and using boys skates. He never doubted for a moment his game would flourish. He drove his friends crazy promoting it. Eventually his game was tried out in an arena further north, and by 1965 Sam's basic rules were refined. As you all know, various changes have taken place over the years.^[28]

— Mrs. Agnes Jacks, wife of Sam Jacks and Ringette Ambassador

Early organization[]

The two organizations responsible for the early development of the sport were the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA), and the Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO).

NORDA was a regional organization composed of members from a large area that included the Ontario communities of North Bay, Espanola, Deep River, Elliot Lake, Huntsville, Sturgeon Falls, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Onaping and Phelps, as well as Témiscaming, Québec.

Naming the Sport[]

The first time the name "ringette" is mentioned was at the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) meetings held on January 20 and 21, 1963 in Sudbury, Ontario. Sam Jacks advised the group that "he had been working on a new girls' court game". Jacks had first considered an inside floor game for females, presumably based on his previous success with floor hockey.^[29]

At their September 15 and 16, 1963 meeting at North Bay's RCAF base, Sam Jacks informed the group that he would "like to have NORDA receive credit as a body for the birth of this game." Each one of the sports directors left this meeting agreeing to develop the game in their own community and report their findings at the next NORDA meeting in early 1964.

Ringette as an established sport[]

The sport was officially invented in 1963 by the two founders of ringette, Samuel Perry Jacks, from West Ferris, Ontario, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of North Bay, Ontario and Mirl "Red" McCarthy, recreation director for the town of Espanola, Ontario. The game was initially experimented with among various high school girls ice hockey teams in the area. The title of "birthplace of ringette" is shared by both North Bay, Ontario, and Espanola, Ontario. The first ringette game was played in the fall of 1963 in Espanola under the direction of McCarthy. However, Sam Jacks is credited as the sport's visionary and was inducted into the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame as a "Builder" in 2007 posthumously.^[30]

Samuel Perry Jacks^[27] and Mirl (Red) Arthur McCarthy^[31] were both inducted into the Hall of Fame as "Founder"'s of the sport in 1988.^[31] However, due to Sam Jacks having passed away in 1975, his induction was post-humous.

After the creation of ringette, Sam Jacks stated that he wanted the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) to receive credit for the birth of the sport.

1960's[]

1963 - 1964 Experimental rules[]

In 1963, the Espanola, Ontario, recreation director, Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy, was asked to experiment with the basic set of Ringette rules given to him by the (SDMRO).^[32] In the fall of 1963, under his guidance, the first game of ringette was held between a group of Espanola high school female ice hockey players at the Espanola Arena. He wrote up a set of rules and created a ring for this occasion, still on display inside the Espanola arena.

In 1963–1964, McCarthy's original ringette rules became experimental in the following Northern Ontario and Quebec communities:

Early 1964[]

On January 19 and 20, 1964, McCarthy presented a written list of rules which he had developed, combined with comments and observations to the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) at their meeting at Moose Lake Lodge in Onaping, Ontario (now part of Greater Sudbury).

1964 Introduction to Quebec[]

In 1964 the original rules of ringette were introduced to the Canadian province of Québec in Mount Royal by Herb Linder, a personal friend of Sam Jacks.^[33]

Bob Reid, director of recreation for Témiscaming, secretary, and chairman of the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) was also involved at some point.

1964–1965 First Ringette League[]

In 1964–1965, Sudbury, Ontario formed the first ever ringette league, comprising four teams. Diana Heit, assistant program director of Sudbury Parks and Recreation department, helped the teams with schedules, rules, and coaching.

1965 Introduction to North Bay, Ontario[]

On January 21, 1965, ringette was introduced in North Bay, Ontario at Kiwanis Playground with teams from Kiwanis and Police zones participating. The game ended in a 5–5 overtime tie. Attempts were being made to form a four-team league.^[34] Growth in ringette came slowly to North Bay as ice time was seldom available. It was not until 1971-72 that West Ferris, Ontario, today part of North Bay, had a four-team league operating.

1965 First Complete Rule Set[]

On May 31, 1965, at "the Chalet", in Trout Creek, Ontario, the first complete set of rules for the sport of ringette were drawn up by the Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO).^[18]

Ontario recreationists attending the meeting at that time were recorded to include:

• George Kormos of Sudbury (now Greater Sudbury)
• Bob Bateman of Sudbury
• Diana Mulcahey of Sudbury
• Jim Maxwell of Sault Ste. Marie
• Bob Arnot of Sault Ste. Marie
• Charles Cherrier of Huntsville
• Archie Dillon of Timmins
• Fred Salvidor of Timmins
• Sam Jacks of North Bay
• Murray Shave of North Bay
• Dean McCubbin, Community Programmes Branch
• Bob Reid of Temiskaming (director of recreation for Témiscaming, secretary, and chairman of NORDA, the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association)
• Dave Bass of Onaping (municipality now dissolved and amalgamated into the city of Greater Sudbury)
• Dusty Baker of McIntyre in Northwestern Ontario
• Jac Cropley of Deep River
• Robert Wiggins of Sturgeon Falls^[35] (now West Nipissing)

1965-1966 NORDA and the SDMRO[]

By 1965–66, the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) decided that they had carried the game about as far as it could go. The Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO) was chosen to develop and organize it further on a larger scale.

1966 First Invitational Ringette Tournament[]

On March 5, 1966, the first invitational tournament, the Northern Ontario and Quebec championships, was held in Temiscaming, Quebec. The tournament took place with five teams participating: North Bay Police Playground, Sudbury Rose Marie Playground, Sudbury East End Playground, Temiscaming Reds, and Temiscaming Whites. The tournament was won by the Temiscaming Reds team. This historic tournament created many firsts for the game of ringette:

1. The first ringette tournament.
2. The first interprovincial tournament.
3. The first tournament in Quebec.
4. The first tournament for the Canadian and World Championship.
5. The first indoor tournament.
6. The first tournament on artificial ice.
7. The first crests ever created and awarded for the sport.^[36]

1969 First Manitoba ringette team[]

Manitoba creates their first ringette team, the "Wildwood",^[37] two years after the sport was first introduced in 1967 to the province in Fort Garry, Winnipeg.^[38]

The first provincial governing body for ringette is formed in Ontario, called the "Ontario Ringette Association".^[39]

International status[]

Internationally, half-a-dozen countries currently participate and organize in the sport of Ringette, particularly those situated in the Northern Hemisphere. Ringette is currently organized and played in the countries of Canada, Finland, Sweden, United States, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia, with the largest community in Canada with over 30,000 participants registering annually.^[40]

Elite level ringette leagues are present in Scandinavia and in Canada.

International Ringette Federation (IRF)[]

The International Ringette Federation (IRF) is the highest governing body for the sport of ringette.^[41]

In 1986, the first successful attempt to organize a group dedicated to the promotion and development of the sport of ringette globally resulted in the creation of the World Ringette Council. The sporting body was also determined to establish an elite level of international competition for ringette.

The World Ringette Championships (WRC) was held for the first time in 1990. The following year in 1991 the World Ringette Council changed its name to the International Ringette Federation (IRF) possibly to avoid confusion due to the fact that it had the same acronym as the world event.^[42]

Today, Canada, Finland and Sweden are members of the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Historically, Canada and Finland have been the most active ambassadors in the International Federation. Canada and Finland regularly travel across various countries to demonstrate how ringette is played. Canadian teams have demonstrated in countries including Japan, Australia, Iceland, and New Zealand.

In 2012, the International Ringette Federation announced new promotional activities in Norway, Slovakia, as well as in South Korea.

Olympic status[]

Ringette as a sport is currently not recognized by the International Olympic Committee and therefore does not have a spot in the Olympics. The sport of ringette has what is known as a relatively narrow profile because the sport is played predominately (in an organized form) by girls and women in only four nations: Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States. In addition, due to aggressive lobbying by western and European gender feminists in the 1980s–1990s, the Olympics now have a firm rule, a consequence of affirmative action policy making, that no new sport seeking Olympic admission will be allowed into the Olympics unless it is played by both females and males at the International level, and also requires each sport to have an international organizing body which organizes international championships for both boys and girls and men and women. As a result, sports played predominantly by women such as netball which have a broad profile, and sports like ringette which formed a female category of elite players first rather than male, are automatically excluded from the acceptance of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Because organized team sports worldwide are almost unilaterally most popular with males, their female variants and categories develop secondarily. As a result, these new rules exclude team sports which are most popular with female athletes, a group which is already at an immediate disadvantage due to the fact that popular interest in sports by males is prevalent worldwide. Additionally sports like ringette and netball can no longer claim sex based exclusion by the IOC on the same grounds as females in sports with male and female categories, which can now be done even if the competitive depth of the female category of said sport and participation rate is dismal.

It is because ringette has not obtained Olympic status that in Canada the sport does not receive federal financing.^[43]

Outreach efforts by officials in both Canada and Finland to have the sport recognized by the International Olympic Committee for inclusion have not been successful, since the sport is active in few countries.^[44] Marketing methods have included using social media as well as word of mouth.

Ringette in Canada[]

The national sporting body governing the sport of ringette in Canada is .^[45] The Ottawa-based national body is also responsible promoting the sport. The national organizing body has a hall of fame for ringette participants in Canada called the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame which was established in 1988.^[46][47]

Participation in Canada[]

In the 2017–2018 Canadian ringette season 31,168 players were registered to play ringette in Canada, the highest known participation rate for a season.^[44][48][49] Players participated on nearly 2,000 teams in eight age categories across the country. The largest increases were observed in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Today the sport is played in all ten Canadian provinces and the Northwest Territories and involves an average of 50,000 participants a year.

By 1983, twenty years after ringette was created, there were over 14 500 ringette players in Canada. That same year the number of players registered in the female category of ice hockey in Canada, which was almost a century old, was a mere 5 379, less than 40% of ringette's numbers. However, while it wasn't until the 1990s that body checking was removed from the elite women's level of ice hockey, body checking in some of the women's hockey leagues in Canada were completely removed in 1986, as is stated in, "On the Edge: Women Making Hockey History".

A decrease in the number of ringette athletes during the 1990s has been attributed at least partially to women's ice hockey being recognized officially as an Olympic sport in 1998^[44][50][51] but largely due to the decision by major governing body's for the women's hockey game to exclude body checking.^[43] Body checking was removed from the women's ice hockey program by the International Ice Hockey Federation in the 1990's.

Unlike ringette which is a non-contact sport, female ice hockey until the 1990s included body checking, a tactic that had proven unpopular among female players. The tactic wouldn't be removed from the women's ice hockey game until after the first women's world ice hockey championships in 1990. After the removal of body checking from the women's game, registrations in female ice hockey experienced a noticeable and sizeable increase. In addition, the women's ice hockey game was included in the Winter Olympic program for the first time in 1998 and televised internationally in its new format with body checking removed from the women's game.

Male players[]

Although the sport of ringette is played predominantly by a female demographic, boys are permitted to play but are restricted to competing at the "B" level or lower in many ringette organizations. Efforts have been made to include male players at the AA level in limited areas where the sport is played. Boys have participated in U9 or U6 divisions in some Canadian provinces.

Competitive structure in Canada[]

Levels of competition in Canada are based on age group and skill, and range from recreational to competitive. Elite level competition includes university ringette, both Canadian national ringette teams (junior and senior) who compete at the World Ringette Championships, and the National Ringette League.

Levels of competition in Canadian ringette include: Rec, C, B, BB, A, and AA and AAA, with AA being the highest level at which league competition occurs.

AAA ringette is typically specific to particular regions who feel another category is necessary to clarify their league or tournament play. For example: AAA teams out of Quebec have played AA teams out of Alberta at various tournaments, including the National Championships.

In Canada, the province of Alberta considers AA the highest level of skill required, although they are deemed equal to the AAA teams from other Canadian provinces such as Quebec.

In comparison to ice hockey, playing AA ringette is the skill equivalent of playing AAA hockey.

Age Groups[]

There are several levels of play in Ringette, categorized by age. All divisions were renamed as U* divisions under the newly created Long Term Development Plan (LTDP) rolled out nationally by for the 2009-10 ringette season:

• U6-8: under 6 or 8 years- this age division has been recently created by only a few associations. It is designed to introduce younger children to the sport and begin to develop skills at an early age. Typically, these young players play modified games (shorter time, no penalties, on half of the ice etc.)
• U8: under 8 (previously called 'Bunny' division)
• U9: Under 9 (this is a minor Novice Division)
• U10: primarily 8 & 9 years (previously called the 'Novice' division)
• U12: 10- & 11-year-old players (previously referred to as 'Petite' division)
• U14: 12- & 13-year-old players (previously referred to as 'Tween' division)
• U16: 14- & 15-year-old players (previously referred to as 'Junior' division)
• U19: 16- to 18-year-old players (previously referred to as 'Jr Belle' or 'Belle' division)
• 18+: 18 years and older players (previously referred to as 'Open' or adult division, usually included lifelong players under 30)
• Masters: 18 years and older, either lifelong players desiring a slower pace, or new players who begin as adults (this division is part of the league associations but excluded from Provincial tournaments)

University Ringette in Canada[]

In Canada, ringette players have the opportunity to play their sport at the university and occasionally the college level in several provinces. The organizing body for the post-secondary level is known as (abbreviated CUR).^[52] The first tournament took place at the University of Winnipeg in 1999.

National Ringette League[]

The National Ringette League (also indicated by the initials NRL) is the premier showcase league for the sport of ringette in Canada and was introduced during the 2004–2005 ringette season. It is Canada's national league for elite ringette players aged 18+. The league operates by grouping together the very best players over the age of 19 in Canada and includes open-aged players at AA/AAA level. In 2010 the league put back in place previous age groups, which had been changed.

The NRL consists of fifteen teams separated into two conferences. The Western Conference has 5 teams and the Eastern Conference has 10 teams. The NRL is administered directly from Ringette Canada, the guiding organization for ringette in Canada.

As of 2021, fifteen teams compete in the National Ringette League. Ten teams compete in the Eastern Conference in either the Red or White division, while the other five teams compete in the Western Conference.

Teams competing in the Eastern Conference include:

Eastern Conference Red (5 teams):

• Gatineau Fusion, Ottawa Ice, Cambridge Turbos, Richmond Hill Lightning, and Waterloo Wildfire.

Eastern Conference White (5 teams):

• Atlantic Attack, Riv Sud Revolution, Bourassa Royal, Lac Saint-Louis Adrenaline, and Montreal Mission.

Western Conference (5 Teams):

• Edmonton WAM!, Manitoba Intact, Edmonton Gold Rush, and BC Thunder

The final competition for the National Ringette League is held annually at the Canadian Ringette Championships. The winning team in the NRL division is awarded the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup^[53] named after the late Governor General of Canada, Jeanne Sauvé. Initially coined the Jeanne Sauvé Cup and initiated in December 1984, it was first presented at the 1985 Canadian Ringette Championships in Dollard des Ormeaux, Québec. It is now entitled the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup, in memory of the late Governor General of Canada and is awarded to the best team in the National Ringette League.

Canada's Rick Mercer visited the National Ringette League's Cambridge Turbos in 2009 to shoot an episode about ringette in Canada.^[54]

Cross-sport participation[]

Bandy[]

Some of Canada's national level ringette players have also played bandy for the Canadian women's national bandy team.^{[55][56][57][58][59]} The national bandy team is based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Some players have played in the National Ringette League and on Canada's National Ringette Team. The bandy team has included top level ringette players like Ainsley Ferguson, Carrie Nash, Shelley Hruska, Amy Clarkson, and Lindsay Burns. Their best results are 4th at the 2007 Women's Bandy World Championship and 2010.

Canada's first goal scored in the nations history of organized women's bandy was by Lindsay Burns.^[60] Burns has also played for Canada's National Ringette Team.^[61]

The women's national bandy team was part of a 2010 documentary by Ora Walker called "True North Strong",^[62] however the documentary did not mention the players with backgrounds in ringette, the Canadian national ringette team or the National Ringette League.

Ringette in Finland[]

In Finland, the national organization for the sport of ringette is Ringette Finland.^[63] The National Association of Ringuette of Finland (Ringette Finland) was created in 1983.

In 1979, Juhani Wahlsten, also known as "Juuso" Wahlsten, introduced ringette in Finland and is considered the "Father of Ringette" in the country.^[64]

Wahlsten created some teams in Turku. Finland's first ringette club was Ringetteläisiä Turun Siniset and the country's first ringette tournament took place in December, 1980.

In 1979 Juhani Wahlsten invited two coaches, Wendy King and Evelyn Watson, from Dollard des Ormeaux (a suburb of Montreal Quebec, Canada) to teach girls of various ages how to play ringette.

The Ringette Association of Turku was established in 1981 with several Canadian coaches going there to help teach, establish and design the training, and administration for its formation. The ski national week then organized an annual tournament to bring together all the ringette teams.

The 1985 tournament included several hundred girls making it impossible to combine into a single event all the age groups and all the categories of players.

A number of different Canadian ringette teams visited in the winter of 1986 and helped increased the popularity of the sport in Finland. Today an estimated 10,000 young Finnish girls participate in 31 ringette clubs. Several cities have important clubs: Naantali, Turku, Uusikaupunki.

Levels of play in Finland[]

Finnish ringette takes place at the local amateur level to the professional level. The elite league is Finnish: Ringeten SM-Sarja, or the 'Ringette Championship Series'.^[6][7]

Finland also selects two teams, both junior and senior divisions, for the World Ringette Championships.

Participation in Finland[]

The most recent figures have recorded over 10,000 ringette players registered to play ringette in Finland.^[65] There are currently 31 ringette clubs in Finland.

Finland National Ringette Teams[]

Finland selects two national ringette teams for international competition: one national junior team and one national senior team. Both teams compete in the international elite World Ringette Championship tournament. The Finland National Ringette Team has competed in every World Ringette Championship.

Ringeten SM-sarja[]

Finnish: Ringeten SM-sarja, or the Finnish 'Ringette Championship Series'^[66][67] is the highest level of ringette in Finland and has been played since the 1987-1988 winter season. SM is a common abbreviation for Suomen mestaruus, "Finnish championship".

The Ringette Championship Series is administered by the Finnish Rinkball and Ringette Association.

Finnish Ringette Clubs[]

Raision Nuorisokiekko ry (RNK) Raisio Youth Hockey Association[]

Finnish: (abbreviated as RNK) or Raisio Youth Hockey Association in English, is a Raisio, Finland ice sports club whose sports include hockey, ringette and figure skating. The club's teams play their home matches in Raisio's Kerttula ice rinks. The ringette team is sometimes known as the RNK Flyers. ⁣ The representative ringette team plays in the Ringeten SM-sarja (Ringette Championship Series). RNK placed second in the 2011 Ringette World Club Championship. One of the club's best known players is Susanna Tapani.

Nokian Urheilijat (NoU) or Nokia Athletes[]

Finnish: (abbreviated as NoU) or Nokia Athletes in English, is a Nokia Sports Club founded in 1926. Nokian Athletes is focused on skiing, athletics, women's gymnastics, and ringette. Heikki Viherlaakso is the chairman of Nokian Urheilujoki. The club has just over 1,000 members. Nokia Athletes have been represented by, among others, sprinter and long jumper and javelin thrower Sanni Utriainen.

Espoon Kiekkoseura⁣ (EKS) Espoo Hockey Club[]

Finnish: (abbreviated as EKS) or The Espoo Hockey Club in English, is an Espoo ice hockey and ringette club founded in 1988. In ringette, the club's representative team plays in the , where it has won one a championship silver and three championship bronze. The Espoo Hockey Club is known for its excellent educational work. The EKS-Espoo Ringette Club finished fourth at the 2008 Ringette World Club Championship.

Hyvinkää Ringette[]

Finnish: is a Ringette club from Hyvinkää, whose representative team plays in the Ringeten SM-sarja. During its history, Hyvinkää Ringette has won two Finnish championships (1995 and 1997) and three silver medals (1992, 1993 and 1996). The above results were achieved under the name of Jää-Ahmat Ringette (Ice-Glutton Ringette).⁣

Ringette landed in Hyvinkää in the spring of 1984, when at that time the employees of the Hyvinkää Ice Ahme C-69 junior team Lasse Ahokas, Asko Eloranta and Jorma Peurala organized the first drills at Puolimatka field. The trio had become acquainted with the sport when the hockey junior team they coached had been on a tournament trip in Tuusula and a ringette was played on the other field.⁣

The ringette business officially started as Jää-Ahmat Ringette, when on September 9, 1985, Hyvinkää Jää-Ahmat approved ringette as a member of the hockey club at its meeting.⁣

The rise of the sport in Hyvinkää was rapid and by the 1992–1993 season the club already had five teams: a women's representative team, as well as B, C, D and E juniors. Jää-Ahmat Ringete's heyday coincided in the mid-90s, when the representative team won the Finnish Championship gold twice and silver three times for placing second.⁣

Eventually ringette separated from the hockey club forming Hyvinkää Ringette. During the 1998–1999 season, Jää-Ahmat Ringete's employees began to work on splitting from the hockey club into their own association. The split finally took place in January 1999, when the Hyvinkää Ringette Association was founded. However, operations continued along the line familiar from Jää-Ahmo, and by 2009 the Hyvinkää Ringette had become the second largest ringette club in Finland in terms of membership.⁣

Every year, Hyvinkää Ringette organizes a ringette school for beginners.⁣

Lapinlahden Luistin -89 (LL-89) Gulf of Lapland Skate Club[]

Finnish: (abbreviation LL-89) or Gulf of Lapland Skate Club in English, is a club specializing in ice sports from the municipality of Lapinlahti in Pohjois-Savo, whose sports include ice hockey, rinkball, ringette, and figure skating. The home hall of the club is the Lapinlahti ice rink.⁣

In the Ringette Championship Series, LL-89 has won the Ringete Finnish Championship nine times, in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2021.⁣

LL-89 also won gold at the 2011 Ringette World Club Championship which was a six-team tournament held in Turku.

In 2014–2016, the ringette team played two seasons of ice hockey in the women's Mestis, then made a return to the ringette.⁣

The team from the 2016–2017 season played in Ringet's No. 1 series and at the end of the season moved up to the Finnish Championships.⁣

In the middle of the championship 2021, the club announced that it would relinquish its series place in the ringette championship series as many experienced players had ended their careers. The club will start building a new rise with a young team from the lower league level.

The club also has several junior teams in hockey and ringette.

Luvian Kiekko -82⁣ or LuKi-82[]

Finnish: (abbreviated LuKi-82) is an ice hockey and ringette club founded in 1982 by Luvia, a municipality in Eurajoki, whose representative ringette team plays in the Ringeten-SM-sarja (the Ringete Finnish Championship).⁣ ⁣ LuKi-82 is a three-time Finnish Ringette champion. In 2008 at the first Ringette World Club Championship held in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, team placed second and took home the silver medal.⁣ ⁣ LuKi also took part in the 2011 Ringette World Club Championship in December 2011 in Kupittaa, Turku.

Clubs 2011–2012 season[]

The league consisted of eight clubs during the 2011–2012 season:

• VG-62
• Tuusula Ringette
• Lapinlahden Luistin
• Luvian Kiekko
• Hyvinkää Ringette
• Lahti Ringette
• Helsinki Ringette
• Raision Nuorisokiekko

Clubs 2019–2020 season[]

In the 2019–2020, the 33rd season, the Ringeten SM-sarja championship was taken by Nokian Urheilijat⁣ (Nokia Athletes). Eight teams played in the championship series.

Finnish Ringette Championship league series teams in season 2019–2020⁣: ⁣

• Espoon Kiekkoseura⁣ (Espoo Hockey Club⁣)
• Helsinki Ringette⁣
• Hyvinkää Ringette
• Lahti Ringette⁣
• Luistin -89⁣ (Lapinlahti Skate -89⁣)
• Luvian Kiekko -82 (Luvian Puck -82⁣)
• Nokian Urheilijat⁣ (Nokia Athletes⁣)
• Raision Nuorisokiekko ry (Raisio Youth Hockey)

Ringeten SM-sarja Finnish Champions 1988–Present[]

Year	Finnish National Champion team
1988	VG-62
1989	VG-62⁣
1990	VG-62⁣
1991	VG-62⁣
1992	VG-62⁣
1993
1994
1995	Hyvinkää Ringette
1996
1997	Hyvinkää Ringette
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2003	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2004	LuKi-82⁣ (Luvian Kiekko -82)
2005	LuKi-82
2006	VG-62⁣
2007	LuKi-82⁣ (Luvian Kiekko -82)
2008	⁣
2009	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2010	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2011	RNK Flyers (Raision Nuorisokiekko ry)
2012	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2013	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2014	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2015	Nokian Urheilijat[68]⁣
2016	Nokian Urheilijat⁣ (Nokia Athlets)
2017	RNK Flyers (Raision Nuorisokiekko ry)
2018	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)
2019	Nokian Urheilijat[69]⁣
2020	Nokian Urheilijat[70]⁣
2021	LL-89⁣ (Lapinlahden Luistin -89)

National Finnish ringette championship titles[]

Team	Titles
Lapinlahden Luistin -89 (LL-89)[71]	8
Tuusula Ringette	6
VG-62[72]	6
Luvian Kiekko -82 (LuKi-82)[73]	3
Nokian Urheilijat	4
Hyvinkää Ringette[74]	2
Raision Nuorisokiekko (RNK)[75]	2
Helsinki Ringette[76][77]	1
Lahti Ringette	1
Espoon Kiekkoseura⁣ (Espoo Hockey Club⁣)	0

Ringette In Sweden[]

Ringette was introduced to Sweden in the 1980s.^[78] The first ringette club was Ulriksdals, in Stockholm. The national federation of ringette of Sweden was established in 1990.^[79]

The Swedish Ringette Association, ,^[80] is a special sports association for ringette formed in 1994. It was elected as an associate member of the Swedish Sports Confederation, Riksidrottsförbundet, in 2003.^[81] The association's office is located in Solna.

The elite ringette competition in Sweden is .

Swedish clubs[]

The elite league was established in 1994, the same year the Swedish Ringette Association was formed. The league groups together seven professional women's clubs:

Kista Hockey^[82]

IFK Salem^[83]

IK Huge^[84]

Järna SK^[85]

Segeltorps IF^[86]

Sollentuna HC^[87]

Ulriksdals SK^[88]

Several junior teams, and numerous amateur teams are connected with these 7 semi-pro clubs. Most Swedish ringette associations are located in the Mälardalen region.^[89] There are programs of "twin towns" between Swedish ringette association and Canadian associations for the development of the sport within the Swedish population. More than 6,000 girls are registered annually.^[90]

Ringette In the USA[]

In the early years of the sport in the US,^[91] ringette was played in various places in Michigan during the mid-1970s and 1980s and was most popular in Alpena and Flint. After the sport fizzled out in the area and the local association disbanded around the late 1980s, a revival later occurred and the Michigan association is operating again in the state today.

In the mid-1970s ringette was introduced to Minnesota. During same period the sport was established in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Viroqua and Onalaska, Wisconsin.

USA national teams[]

The national ringette team of the USA competes regularly at the World Ringette Championships.

The two national sporting organizations for ringette in the USA are ^[92] and .^[93][94]

The most recent World Championship appearance by Team USA Ringette was in the 2019 World Ringette Championships which took place in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Team USA took on Sweden and the Czech Republic in the President's Pool with the USA falling to Sweden in the championship game 5–3, finishing 2nd and bringing home the silver.

Notable in the success of Team USA's development is coach .^[95] Sadoway was head coach for Team USA in the World Ringette Championships of 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 and was inducted as a coach into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 2012.^[96]

International Competitions[]

World Ringette Championship[]

The World Ringette Championship is the premier international ringette competition between ringette playing nations. The tournament is organized by the International Ringette Federation. In the beginning, the World Ringette Championships were held every other year, but have been held every two or three years since the 2004 World Ringette Championships were hosted in Sweden.

The winning national senior team is awarded the Sam Jacks Trophy. The winning national junior team is awarded the Juhani Wahlsten Trophy.

World Junior Ringette Championships[]

This event has since merged with the World Ringette Championships and no longer exists as a separate tournament.

The first World Junior Ringette Championships took place in August, 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic: two Canadian teams, Canada West Under-19^[97] and Canada-East Under-19^[98] faced two Finnish teams, Finland White and Finland Blue.^[99]

Ringette World Club Championship[]

Initially organized by the International Ringette Federation as a separate tournament from the World Ringette Championships, this tournament no longer exists.

The Ringette World Club Championship was an international ringette competition organized by the International Ringette Federation. It featured the top teams of the Canadian National Ringette League (NRL), the Finnish and Swedish . The World Club Championship was held in 2008 and 2011.

Czech Ringette Challenge Cup[]

Traditionally held in Prague, Czech Republic, the Czech Ringette Challenge Cup is the only tournament of its kind in Central Europe. The last tournament was held 19th – 21st of July 19 – 21, 2019. It was the 16th annual Czech Ringette Challenge Cup.^[100]

National Competitions[]

Canadian Ringette Championships[]

The Championnats Canadien d'Ringuette/Canadian Ringette Championships (abbreviated CRC) took place for the first time in 1979 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.^[101] This tournament was created in order to be able to determine the Canadian champions in the categories of Under-16 years, Under-19 years and Open (replaced by the National Ringette League since 2008). The Canadian Ringette Championships usually take place in April every year.

Eastern Canadian Ringette Championships[]

The provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario have competed in the Eastern Canadian Ringette Championships (ECRC) in the following 4 divisions since 2002: (U14AA, U16A, U19A and 18+ A).

Western Canadian Ringette Championships[]

The provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia have competed annually in the (WCRC) since 2003, at the levels of U14AA, U16A, U19A, and 18+ A.

Canada Winter Games[]

The Canada Winter Games are considered an important national event in Canada and is considered to be a key event in the development of Canada's young athletes. The multi-sport competition involves the best young Canadian athletes competing in their age groups. The entire event is of two weeks in duration and is held every 4 years. Today twenty-one sports appear in the program.

Ringette has been part of the Canada Winter Games since 1991.^[102] The ringette program takes part during one of the two weeks of the Canada Winter Games. Competition usually begins on Mondays followed by the semi-final on Friday evening with the National final taking place on Saturdays. The best ringette athletes from ten Canadian provinces are selected to compete on their representative provincial teams.

The next Canada Winter Games will take place in Prince Edward Island in 2023.

Canada Winter Games: Ringette Champions (1991-2019)

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
2019[103]	Red Deer, Alberta	Quebec	Ontario	Manitoba
2015[104]	Prince George, British Columbia	Manitoba	Ontario	New Brunswick
2011[105]	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Ontario	Alberta	Quebec
2007[106]	Whitehorse, Yukon	Ontario	Alberta	Quebec
2003[107]	Bathurst and Campbellton, New Brunswick	Ontario	Manitoba	British Columbia
1999[108]	Cornerbrook, Newfoundland	Ontario	Manitoba	Saskatchewan
1995[109]	Grande Prairie, Alberta	Alberta	Manitoba	British Columbia
1991[110]	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island	Alberta	Ontario	British Columbia

University competition[]

In Canada, university ringette competitions are organized by the organization, (abbreviated CUR). The national competition between university ringette teams is called the University Challenge Cup.

University ringette in Canada[]

In Canada, ringette players have the opportunity to play their sport at the university and occasionally the college level in several provinces. The organizing body for the post-secondary level is known as (abbreviated CUR).^[111] The first tournament took place at the University of Winnipeg in 1999.

Scholarship opportunities[]

Scholarship opportunities in Canada include the Agnes Jacks scholarship, named after the wife of Sam Jacks who served as an ambassador of the sport until her death.

Canadian university competition[]

The annual competition between competing universities in Canada is known as the "University Challenge Cup". The tournament groups together ringette teams from various Canadian universities^[112] in 2 conferences and is organized by the Canadian University & College Ringette Association (CUR).

Canadian Universities with ringette teams include:

Ontario^[113] (12 teams)

Other

University Challenge Cup[]

The University Challenge Cup (UCC) is an annual competition in Canada which groups together ringette teams from various Canadian universities^[114] in 2 conferences and is organized by the sports association known as Canadian University & College Ringette Association (CUR).

The UCC typically involves in excess of 350 players, coaches, referees and tournament staff.

University Champions

Year	Host University[115]	Gold Tier 1	Gold Tier 2
2021	Carleton University
2020[116]	Wilfrid Laurier University	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2019	Wilfrid Laurier University	University of Calgary	Dalhousie University
2018	University of Guelph	University of Calgary	Wilfrid Laurier University
2017	University of Guelph[117]	University of Ottawa[118]	McMaster University[119]
2016	University of Calgary[120]	University of Calgary	N/A
2015	University of Calgary[120]	University N. Alberta	N/A
2014	Nipissing University[120]		University of Guelph
2013	Nipissing University[120]	University of Alberta	McMaster University
2012	University of Western Ontario[120]	University of Alberta	McMaster University
2011	University of Western Ontario[120]	University of Calgary	University of Western Ontario
2010	Brock University[120]	University of Calgary	University of Western Ontario
2009	Brock University[121]	University of Calgary	University of Western Ontario[122]
2008	University of Ottawa[123]	University of Calgary	N/A
2007	University of Ottawa[124]	University of Calgary	N/A
2006	University of Ottawa		N/A
2005	University of Manitoba[125]	University of Calgary	N/A
2004	University of Winnipeg[126]	University of Calgary	N/A
2003	College of Saint-Boniface		N/A
2002	College of Saint-Boniface		N/A
2001	University of Manitoba, Team A		N/A
2000	College of Saint-Boniface		N/A
1999	University of Winnipeg	University of Winnipeg	N/A

State Funding for Ringette Organizations[]

Ringette as a sport is currently not recognized by the International Olympic Committee and therefore does not have a spot in the Olympics which has led to a lack of state funding.

Canada[]

It is because ringette has not obtained Olympic status that in Canada the sport does not receive federal financing.

In Canada, lack of federal funding places pressure on smaller sports organizations such as those in the sport of ringette to pursue state funding by other means in order to aid in the production of new revenue streams. Once such area of pursuit is that of funding by provincial government Finance Ministries who reward activities in relationship to Social Justice movements.

In 2013-2014 such an approach was successfully pursued by 6 ringette associations in the Canadian province of British Columbia in relation to the ^[127] and included the following organizations:

British Columbia Ministry of Finance, Office of the Comptroller General | Public Accounts 2013/14[]

Government Transfers for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014 (Details of payees receiving $25,000 or more):

• B.C. RINGETTE ASSOCIATION^[128]

Finance: $20,790 CDN

Justice: $54,300 CDN

• FRASER VALLEY RINGETTE ASSOCIATION^[129]

Justice: $35,875 CDN

• GREATER VERNON RINGETTE ASSOCIATION^[130]

Justice: $29,400 CDN

• KELOWNA RINGETTE ASSOCIATION^[131]

Justice: $35,000 CDN

• PORT COQUITLAM MINOR RINGETTE ASSOCIATION ^[132]

Justice: $32,025 CDN

• SURREY-WHITE ROCK RINGETTE ASSOCIATION^[133]

Justice: $25,000 CDN

Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 2014.

Notables in ringette[]

Sam Jacks[]

: Sam Jacks is the inventor of ringette. The West Ferris Arena, today called the West Ferris Centennial Community Centre, was built in 1967, four years after the birth of the sport in 1963 at the Espanola arena. The West Ferris arena, surrounding ball fields, and tennis courts is together called the Sam Jacks Recreational Complex.

Sam Jacks was inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame as a "Founder" in 1988.^[27]

The World Ringette Championships Senior champions trophy has been named in his honour.

Agnes Jacks[]

: After Sam Jacks died in May 1975, his wife Agnes Jacks promoted the game and acted as an ambassador for the sport until her own death in April 2005.

She was awarded the Order of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario on Saturday, October 25, 2002, at 11:00 am (AST) and received her induction at a ceremony held at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Her Excellency The Right Honorable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, presented her with the Order of Canada Medal.^[134]

Agnes Jacks was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a "Builder" in 1996.^[134]

Mirl "Red" McCarthy[]

: Mirl Arthur "Red" McCarthy (March 12, 1930 – 1995), was a Canadian sportsman and founder and co-inventor of the sport of ringette. McCarthy helped develop the first set of rules for ringette in Espanola, Ontario in the early part of the 1960s.

Awards, Honours and Achievements[]

• Ringette Canada Hall of Fame - Founder (Inducted 1988)^[135]
• Sudbury Sport Hall of Fame (2007, inducted post-humously)
• Mirl "Red" McCarthy Memorial Trophy - awarded to top Coach in Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League
• Recreational Director of Espanola, Ontario for 41 years.
• Athletic complex in Espanola named the "Red McCarthy Memorial Athletic Fields".

McCarthy passed away in 1995.

Phyllis Sadoway[]

: :^[136] Coaching - assistant coach for Team Alberta at the 1996 Worlds; assistant coach for Team Canada in 2002; head coach for Team USA in the World Ringette Championships of 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013.

Sadoway was inducted as a coach into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 2012.^[137]

Timo Himberg[]

: is a ringette coach in Finland. He was the head coach of the National Ringette Team of Finland (Senior division) in 2011–2020. From 1993 to 2000, Himberg was the second coach of the National Ringette Team of Finland (Senior) and from 2007 to 2010 the head coach of the National Junior Ringette Team of Finland. At that time, the Junior national team won the 2009 U19 World Championship.

In Ringette's Finnish Championships, he has coached RNK, VG: 62 and Turku Ringette .

Notable international players[]

United States[]

:

Finland[]

Susanna Tapani[]

: Susanna Tapani is an elite level athlete, ringette player, in-line hockey player and women's ice hockey player in Finland. She has played for the national ringette team of Finland at the World Ringette Championships.

In the elite ringette league in Finland, Ringeten SM-sarja she played for and captained the RNK Flyers team, Raision Nuorisokiekko (RNK Raisio). She has also competed for Finland's national women's ice hockey team in the Winter Olympics.

During the 2020-2021 winter season, scheduling conflicts between ice hockey and ringette resulted in Tapani making the choice to play ringette.^[138]

Tapani became the subject of a documentary film in Finnish called, "" (“Icebreaker”)^[139] which was initially released in 2020. The film covers her life as an athlete from a period of 2015 to 2019.^[140]

Anna Vanhatalo[]

: Anna Vanhatalo is a retired ringette goalie who competed with the Finland national ringette team. Vanhatalo played in the elite Finnish ringette league, Ringeten SM-sarja with the Helsinki ringette club. Vanhatalo won two World Ringette Championship gold medals, one in the 2004 World Ringette Championship where she was elected the best goaltender of the tournament, and the other gold medal in the 2007 World Ringette Championship.

In 2006, Vanhatalo went to Canada to play one season for the Montreal Mission team in Canada's National Ringette League.

See also: , , , , , ,

Canada[]

Shelly Hruska[]

: Shelly Hruska is a Canadian Metis ringette player who helped lead Team Canada to victory twice at the World Ringette Championships in 2002 in Edmonton, Alberta and the World Ringette Championships in 2004 in Stockholm, Sweden where she played a key role on the team.^[141][142]

Julie Blanchette[]

: Julie Blanchette is a former elite level Canadian ringette player who played for the Montreal Mission in the National Ringette League, and has been a member of the Canadian national ringette team as a player, coach, and trainer.

See also: , Keely Brown (not to be confused with the Canadian curler), ^[143] (see French language Wikipedia)

Popular Culture[]

Canada Post Stamps[]

Canada Post issued four stamps in a series entitled Canadian inventions: sports featuring four sports with Canadian origins: ringette, basketball, five-pin bowling and lacrosse. The commemorative stamps were issued on August 10, 2009. The stamp featured well-worn equipment used in each sport with a background line drawing of the appropriate playing surface.

Children's programming[]

The sport was featured on an episode of the children's show, Caillou.

External links[]

• International Ringette Federation
• Ringette Canada
• (in Finnish) Ringette Finland
• Team USA Ringette
• (in Swedish) Sweden Ringette Association
• Ringette Slovakia
• Czech Ringette

References[]

See also[]

•  Sports portal