DCHP-2

ringette DCHP-2 (July 2016)

• n. — Sports

  a non-contact team sport played on ice similar to hockey (see Image 1), played especially by women and girls.

  Type: 1. Origin — Ringette was first introduced in Ontario in 1963 (see Ringette Canada reference). It was originally developed for girls, who had limited winter recreational opportunities compared to boys who played ice hockey. Rather than hockey sticks and pucks, the sport is played with straight sticks and small rubber rings. Ringette quickly spread from Ontario and Quebec to the rest of Canada, and leagues now exist in the US, Finland, Sweden, Russia and France. While growing in popularity over the years and expanding, the sport is not nearly as popular as hockey. The 1988 quotation, which explains the sport to Vancouver Sun readers, as well as the 2016 quotation, with its mission to "grow the sport", suggest that ringette had not been generally known in the late 1980s and that even today it has not completely shaken off its fringe status.
  See also Gage-3, s.v. "ringette", ITP Nelson, s.v. "ringette", which is marked "Sports", and OED-3, s.v. "ringette", which is marked "Canad.".

  See also: hockey  

  • 1971  In a girls' East-West all-star game of ringette (floor hockey on ice essentially), the East triumphed, 3-2, on goals by Dorothy Slusarczvk, Karen Moore and Darlene Fong. Carrie MacGeddes and Debbie scored for the losers. 
  • 1979  The laughter is part of a daily celebration of a game born 15 years ago in North Bay and played by young girls who would rather not engage in the rough-and-tumble antics of hockey. Saturday was the last day of Ringette Week, recognizing the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Ontario Ringette Association. It is the third time Ringette Week has been proclaimed in Ontario, but the first national celebration. A handful of girls played the game after it was invented by Sam Jacks of North Bay in 1964. He patched together hockey and basketball rules, cut the blades off hockey sticks, and fashioned a ring, or a hollowed out puck. In 1969, when the Ontario Ringette Association was founded with a government grant of $229.27 1,500 girls in 14 communities took part in the game.
  • 1988  Yet both she and Murray say hockey's image as a brutal sport is undeserved. Murray notes that some mothers don't want their daughters to play the "rough game of hockey" and so put them into figure skating or ringette, an ice game played with poles and a ring. "But there are girls who have been interested in hockey all their lives. I want to see them get a fair chance. If mothers are worried about safety, they should come out and watch a game." 
  • 1997  Reid has observed other children's ice sports besides hockey and said the difference in the parents is obvious. "For speed skating and ringette, the parents are more relaxed. They're here because their kids are enjoying themselves. But in minor hockey, for some reason, parents have their eyes set on the NHL. They're yelling and screaming at the ref the whole bullshit. The difference in crowds is just bizarre," Reid said during a recent speed skating practice at Lion's Arena. 
  • 2008  Salla Kyhala, formerly a member of Finland's world champion ringette team, has touched down in Canada to play a season with the National Ringette League's Saskatoon Wild. "This has been a dream since I was little to come and play ringette in Canada," said Kyhala. Kyhala's dream can be traced to her introduction to the sport when she was seven. 
  • 2012  In case you don't know (and let's face it, you probably don't), 2013 is set to be a huge year for ringette. The sport is turning 50, and two events will define the occasion. First, the world under-19 championship takes place in London, Ont., starting this week and concluding Jan. 3. In December of 2013, the world ringette championships will happen in North Bay, the northern Ontario city where the sport was invented a half-century ago. If you're envisioning some girly-girl exhibition of giggles and funny little sticks, you're living in the past. Today's ringette is not your grandmother's ringette. Modern ringette is stocked with good Canadian stuff like the occasional busted rib. 
  • 2016  News: CORA's *New to Ringette* Special
    As CORA parents, we all want our girls to be able to play at the level they want to, both recreationally and competitively, and in order to ensure this can happen we need to grow the sport of ringette. Over the past few seasons, we've hosted two several well attended Come Try Ringette events, with another one to be scheduled this fall. To complement this, CORA will offer a discounted rate to first-time ringette players who join at U8 level or above for the 2016-2017 season. It is our hope that these reduced registration fees ($325) will encourage interested parents/girls to try it!