Canadian Living Magazine Article - October 2001

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Ringette: Fire on Ice

Discover why ringette is inspiring passion in women across the country

By Lynne Ainsworth 

In the big-business world of organized team sports, the game of ringette hardly rates a footnote. But to the thousands of Canadians who play it, ringette ranks star status.

  
           
 

 

"If ringette were easy, they'd call it hockey."

   Ringette vs. hockey
Both hockey and ringette are played on ice between opposing teams of six players. In both sports the mission is to score goals by shooting an object across the ice into the opposing team’s net using a stick. But that’s where the similarities end. In ringette there’s no centre line; instead, two blue lines divide the rink into three equal parts. Before a player crosses a line, she has to pass the ring.

Ringette combines the speed of hockey (though ringette is faster) with the strategy of basketball. Among those who know the game, there’s an expression: if ringette were easy, they’d call it hockey.

  
     
   "[In ringette] you can get a pass and a pass and another pass and then a goal, but in hockey you get goals more from rebounds or by jamming away at the net," says Keely Brown, who plays ringette for Canada’s national team and is also a top hockey goalie.

Keely excels at and loves both games but has a special feeling for ringette. "A female hockey player is always playing women’s hockey, never just hockey. In ringette we play ringette. We’re not second to men, we’re simply the best."

It’s a team effort
Almost 25,000 women play on ringette teams across the country. Vicki Gorman had never heard of the game until her eight-year-old daughter signed up to play. Vicki spent two years watching her and decided that she wanted to play, too. "With ringette everyone can participate, even those who aren’t really strong players," says Vicki. "It’s a real team game."

There’s also the game itself. Maria McKenzie is a veteran of 11 Canadian ringette championships and the 1996 world competition in Stockholm, where she helped Canada win a gold medal. "I love the speed and the intensity," says Maria. "It’s the most awesome sport on ice. You step on the ice and you feel so free."

Get into the game

  • Anyone can join a ringette league. While it’s mostly girls who play the game, boys do play with them on teams; about 600 of Canada’s 25,000 players are male.
  • Ringette leagues are found in every province and are organized according to age, beginning with Bunnies for those seven years and under, and continuing up to Masters for women aged 30 and older.
  • Registration usually takes place in September, with season fees starting at about $85 per player for the learn-to-skate Bunnies program; house-league fees are about $225 per player but can be higher if the teams travel for competitions.

Equipment

You will need:

  • a pair of hockey skates with heel guards
  • a hockey helmet certified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) with a ringette-approved face protector
  • hockey gloves
  • knee and elbow pads
  • pelvic protection
  • a neck protector
  • a regulation ringette stick made of wood, plastic, aluminum or graphite composite

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