R
INGETTE WAS CREATED
in the
1960
s by Mr. Sam Jacks, Director of
Parks and Recreation in North Bay, Ontario.
He was enthusiastic about developing an
on-ice skating game for females, and he
succeeded in creating a game that is now
played in many countries around the
world. The first-ever ringette game was
played in the winter of 1963-64 in the
Northern Ontario town of Espanola.
CIO spoke with Ellorie Hanson, Interim
Senior Leader for Ringette Canada, about
the sport, its role in Canadian communities,
and the opportunities available for spon-
sorship.
CIO:
What is the role of Ringette Canada in
promoting the sport?
Ellorie Hanson:
Ringette is a terrific sport
for girls, and it would be a terrific sport for
boys if more boys were involved. Our job is
to encourage participation at all levels. Our
number one mandate is our motto: play
it, love it, live it—we need to increase our
numbers, and continually work to improve
our sport, as with any sports organization.
CIO:
Is accessibility an issue, considering
that most ice time in arenas is likely dedi-
cated to hockey, here in Canada?
EH:
Accessibility is an issue because rin-
gette doesn’t generally get the ice time that
hockey gets. Usually hockey is the prior-
ity, so we need to increase local association
memberships across Canada so that there is
more opportunity for all girls and women
to play. We have a very strong women’s
league in Ontario, but in many cases rin-
gette comes after hockey in terms of family
participation, so it is a challenge to get girls
involved.
CIO:
What are your current projects to im-
prove and promote the sport?
EH:
We introduced a requirement that there
be a woman on every competitive team’s
coaching staff, in order to promote the role
of women. We are also going into a multi-
sport project with Speed Skating Canada
and Hockey Canada that will help with
our participation levels. Hopefully with the
multi-sport project kids will be able to find
their own route in ice sports.
Our Come Try Ringette program also helps
build participation. It’s a national program
across the country; we just have to keep
promoting it. Where our programs are ex-
ecuted properly across the provinces, they
work. Our association needs to push the
provinces to keep at the local associations to
get those numbers in. It is also helpful that
the multi-sport project is for all ages—if we
can get people out to skate, there will be
participation from everyone including new
Canadians. It’s amazing how many new Ca-
nadians come out to skate as a part of get-
ting involved in their community and the
Canadian culture!
CIO:
Why is it so important that girls and
women have a female-oriented ice sport?
EH
:
It’s important especially for girls be-
cause they are very social—girls want to
be with their support system, with other
females, and ringette gives them that com-
petitive but family atmosphere.
“
Our number one mandate is
our motto: play it, love it, live
it—we need to increase our
numbers, and better our sport.”
RINGETTE CANADA
