Provincial A/AA Teams

2024/25 Player Intents - U14+ A/AA

Any player who is interested in trying out for an U14+ A/AA team is welcome and must complete a Player Intent Form before attending any tryouts. 

Player Intent Forms must be completed and submitted by March 20, 2024. Players will not be permitted to attend any tryout if a Player Intent Form has not been completed by the deadline. It’s advisable that you complete the form if you are interested in playing A/AA, even if you’re not 100% certain that you will attend the tryout.  The Intent form is a planning tool but does not commit the players to attending a tryout. 

If you do not fill in this form YOU CAN NOT ATTEND ANY TRYOUT, Home Association or anywhere else. The purpose for this is to ensure all Associations and the region know who wants to play and at what level, and helps Associations to determine if they can/want to host a team at A/AA for the 2024-2025 season. 

If your player would like to try out for AA and later changes their mind or does not attend, they will automatically be moved to A. Please only complete one intent form for Southern at the highest level they may be trying out for (if you only put in for A they CAN NOT STEP ON ANY AA ICE). If you are sure your player only wants A, then only put an intent in for A. 

Players are encouraged to try out in multiple Associations to maximize your opportunity of being offered a spot on a team; however, the Closest Association Matrix must be followed.  

If your Home Association is offering the level of play, players must try out with their Home Association first.  If your Home Association is not offering the level of play, players are encouraged to try out with other Associations, ensuring that they are following the Closest Association Matrix. 

EXAMPLE:

Etobicoke is planning to host a U14A team.  All Etobicoke U14 aged players who wish to tryout for “A” level play, must tryout with Etobicoke first. You may also choose to try out with neighbouring Associations who are offering U14A.

If you do not tryout with Etobicoke U14A, or are not selected for Etobicoke U14A or another Association U14A team, you will be able to play on the Etobicoke U14B team (no tryout process required). 

The Closest Association Matrix for Etobicoke players is as follows:

1. Etobicoke (Home)
2. Mississauga
3. Richmond Hill
4. Burlington

If there is no A/AA team available at the Home Association, and the player is not offered a spot in Mississauga (Closest Association), it is up to Richmond Hill to offer a spot or release the player to Burlington.  Players cannot simply choose where they would like to play - they must be released (according to the Player Release Policy) in the order of the Closest Association Matrix. In this example, if a player attends a tryout in Etobicoke, Mississauga and Burlington but is not offered a spot in Etobicoke or Mississauga, Burlington cannot offer a spot to this player without a release from Richmond Hill. If however, Richmond Hill needs more “A” players at this age division, they are within their rights not to release the player.

If there is no team being offered in your Home Association, players may go directly to the next Closest Association tryout if they are offering that level of play.

Expectations of A/AA Provincial Ringette 

U14+A/AA 

U14+A/AA levels of ringette are more competitive levels of ringette, also referred to as “Provincial”, where players must try out for a spot on the team.  

• In most cases, the commitment level of a U14+A/AA team is more demanding than B teams, including time, travel and financial requirements. 
• U14+A/AA teams will typically practice 1-2x per week, 1x dryland conditioning/strategy session and have 1-2 games (home or away) per week
• Provincial teams play in the Great Lakes Ringette League which covers Chatham to Etobicoke to Sunderland to Barrie and everywhere in between (spanning Southern, Central and Western Regions).
• There are fewer AA teams, so the travel distance is often further and more frequent
• “A” teams will still travel the same distance but will have more opportunity for games closer to home
• U14+ A/AA teams typically enter up to 4 tournaments per season in addition to the Provincial year-end tournament. These tournaments are assigned by Ringette Ontario, and are a minimum of 4 games and some may begin on Thursday, which increases the financial considerations (travel, time off, accommodations, meals, etc.). 
• The Provincial year-end tournament can be hosted anywhere in the province.  For reference: the 2023 A “Provincials” is in Mississauga,  in 2022 it was in Ottawa.  The 2023 AA “Provincials” is in Kitchener-Waterloo.  

U12A -- Team Formation is in the Fall 2024

The U12A program is still considered a “regional” program and will be formed in the Fall, however it offers a higher level of competition.  It has the same financial and time commitment as the B regional program, but it is a higher level of play and requires a higher level of commitment from the player and their parents to ensure that they are available for practices and games.  This means that players may be asked to choose ringette over other social activities (school and family excluded).   

More information about U12A will be coming over the next few months.  No action is required at this time, other than registering with your Home Association via RAMP as per usual when it becomes available in early April 2023. 

Important Key Dates

 Additional Resources

2024 Southern Region Team Declaration & Tryout Process

Southern Region Closest Association Matrix