 Jocelyne Landry and Josee Doiron in aNational Ringette League (NRL) game against Richmond Hill Lightning | |
| Highestgoverning body | International Ringette Federation (IRF) |
|---|---|
| First played | 1963; 62 years ago (1963) |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No contact, incidental only |
| Team members |
|
| Type | Winterteam sport |
| Equipment | Ringette ring, ringette stick,ice hockey skates, ringette girdle withpelvic protector and otherprotective gear |
| Venue | StandardCanadian ice hockey rink with ringette markings |
| Presence | |
| Olympic | No[1][2] |
| Paralympic | No |
| World Games | No |
Ringette is a winterteam sport played on anice rink usingice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and ablue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces.[3] While the sport was originally created exclusively for female competitors, it has expanded to now include participants of allgender identities.[4] Although ringette is similar to ice hockey and is played onice hockey rinks, the sport has its own lines and markings, and its offensive and defensive play bear a closer resemblance tolacrosse orbasketball.[5]
The sport was created in Canada in 1963 bySam Jacks fromWest Ferris, Ontario, andRed McCarthy fromEspanola, Ontario. Since then, it has gained popularity to the point where, in 2018, more than 50,000 individuals, including coaches, officials, volunteers, and over 30,000 players, registered to take part in the sport in Canada alone.[6][7] The sport has continued to grow and has spread to other countries including the United Arab Emirates.[8] Two differentfloor variants of ringette are also played:in-line ringette, and gym ringette.[9][10][11]
Ringette is especially popular inCanada andFinland, having come to prominence as national pastimes in both countries. The premier international competition for ringette is theWorld Ringette Championships (WRC) which is organized by theInternational Ringette Federation (IRF). On the international stage,Canadian teams andFinnish teams have proved to be the most successful and are regularly at the top of the rankings. Several other countries currently organize and compete in the sport includingSweden, theUnited States, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, all of whom have national ringette teams though Slovakia has not competed since the2016 World Ringette Championships. National organizations for the sport includeRingette Canada,Ringette Finland, theSweden Ringette Association, USA Ringette, the Czech Ringette Association, and the Slovakia Ringette Association.
The sport is also played at the semi-professional level in Canada (National Ringette League), in Finland (SM–Ringette), and in Sweden (Ringette Dam-SM), as well as theuniversity and college level. In Canada, the sport is a part of theCanada Winter Games programme and the annualCanadian Ringette Championships serves as the country's premier competition for the sport's elite amateur athletes. The sport's first international tournament was hosted in Finland in 1986.[12][13]
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Two teams compete against each other on anice rink while wearingice hockey skates and using other ringette-specific equipment. The objective is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting a blue, hollow, rubber ring into the opponent's goal net. Skaters use a long straight stick with a tapered end and a drag-tip.Ringette Canada creates the "Official Rules and Case Book of Ringette" for participating parties competing in Canada; it contains the forms, rules, and codes which are used in the sport nationwide.[14]
Intentional body contact is not allowed in ringette, though incidental contact may occur.Body checking andboarding are penalized andfighting is strictly forbidden by a zero-tolerance policy. The only type of checks allowed are stick checks, which involve using the stick in an upward sweeping motion to knock the ring away from the ring carrier or by raising the ring carrier's stick upwards by lifting or knocking it, followed immediately by an attempt to steal the ring. Sticks may not be raised above shoulder height andhigh-sticking is penalized.[15][16][17]
In ringette, teams during play are divided into two units of six players: one centre, two forwards, twodefenders, and one goaltender.[18] The players take up specific formations and roles when defending or attacking. The goal of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ring into the opposing team's net. Goal nets used in ringette are identical to those used in ice hockey (6 by 4 feet [1.8 m × 1.2 m]). Ringette goaltenders are the only players allowed to play the ring with their hands but must do so from within their goal crease which only they can enter. After stopping a shot on the net or receiving a pass, they have five seconds to throw, push or pass the ring to another player.
In comparison toice hockey, the rules of ringette differ in several ways. There are nooffsides, oricing. Ringette games are typically played on ice surfaces used for playing ice hockey but use different lines and markings; a ringette rink is augmented with lines and markings specific to ringette instead. Ice hockey rink markings such ashash marks andface-off dots are not used in ringette. In addition, aringette rink uses extra lines and markings such as the "free play line"a.k.a. the "extended zone line".
When attempting to gain possession of the ring, ringette's blue line rule prohibits players from carrying the ring over either of the blue lines bisecting the ice surface and players are thus required to pass the ring over each line to another teammate to advance the play. In addition, only the goaltender may enter the goaltender's crease, and before each play a free pass is taken in which no one but the player taking the free pass is allowed inside the free pass circle. Once the free pass has been taken and the ring is completely outside of the circle, the other players are allowed to enter the area again.
Recreationally, ringette is a game played over two 24-minute intervals. At the sport's top levels, specifically theNational Ringette League andWorld Ringette Championships, the game is divided into four quarters, with each quarter lasting 13 minutes.[19] A 30-secondshot clock is used to prevent players fromrunning out the clock, improve the flow of the game and increase the speed of play. The rule was first introduced in Canada in 2002 and went into effect for age groups which used to be known as the junior, belle, and open divisions.[20] The 30-second shot clock is now used almost universally in all age groups as well as internationally (including the World Ringette Championships) with the exception of very young players and some of the lower divisions. If the shot clock goes off during the play, the goaltender gets the ring.
Theringette rink uses five free pass circles, each of which has a bisecting line. The start of every quarter begins with a free pass from the free pass circle at centre ice. During the rest of the game, free pass circles are used for restarting the game after a goal or a violation. At such times, players may not enter the circle unless they are the player making the free pass. If a player is making a free pass, they have five seconds after the whistle blows to either pass the ring to another teammate or take a shot at the opposing team's goal, but they must not exit the circle or cross the bisecting line before doing so.
The sport uses a "free play zone" (alternatively known as the "extended zone") which exists in each of the rink's two end zones and consists of the area between the end boards and the free play line (or "ringette line"). The ringette line is a thin red line bisecting the rink which is placed atop the free pass circles in the end zone.[citation needed] Only three players from each team are allowed in these zones at one time or a "four in" call is made and play is stopped with a free pass awarded to the non-offending team.[citation needed] The remaining players must remain behind the ringette line. There is one exception which can be made in higher divisions whereby the defending team is serving a penalty: in such a case, the opposing team maypull its goaltender and send in another attacker, meaning four of its players are allowed into the zone without penalty.[citation needed]
Ringette games are played onice rinks either indoors or outdoors. Playing area, size, lines and markings for thestandard Canadian ringette rink are similar to the average 85-by-200-foot (26 m × 61 m) Canadianice hockey rink with certain modifications.[21][22][23][24] An exception exists for European ice hockey rinks which may be slightly larger in size. A ringette rink uses most (but not all) of the standard ice hockey markings used byHockey Canada, but with additional markings: five free pass circles (each with a bisecting line) with two in each end zone and one at centre ice, four free-pass dots in each of the end zones, two free-pass dots in the centre zone, and a line demarcating a larger goal crease area which is shaped in a semi-circular fashion. Two additional free-play lines (also known as a "ringette line" or "extended zone line") are also required, with one in each end zone.
Ringette uses a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for play on an ice surface. The official ring has a diameter of 16.5 cm.[citation needed]
Ringette rings have three designs: theofficial ice ring designed for use on ice, apractice ring, also designed for use on ice known as a "Turbo ring", and thegym ring, designed for use on dry floors forgym ringette.
The ring used for the ice game is a blue, rubber pneumatictorus. The gym ringette ring is an orange torus made of a sponge-like material and unlike the ice ring, is not hollow. The ringette "practice ring" (a.k.a. "turbo ring")[25] is not a torus, but a small open disk (atoroid) used on ice to help ringette players develop and hone pass receiving skills and is typically either orange or blue. First designed in Canada in 1997, the Turbo ring is safe to use when shooting on goalies, doesn't break, and slides like an official ice ring but is half the size. Practice rings don't collect snow and come in different high-optic colours for easy visibility.
The equipment players wear is similar to that used by ice hockey players but involves a few differences. Required equipment for ringette players includes the following:
Ringette sticks[26][better source needed] are straight and have tapered ends with metal or plastic drag-tips designed with grooves to increase the lift and velocity of the wrist shot. Sticks must conform to specific rules including those which determine the acceptable measurements for the taper and face of the stick. The stick and the tip must also meet the minimum width measurements. Sticks are reinforced to withstand the body weight of a player – a ring carrier leans heavily on the stick to prevent opposing players from removing the ring.
Ringette facemasks are designed to meet ringette's specific safety requirements and are available in different styles for both goaltenders and other players. In the case of the traditional wire cage ringette masks in North America, the bars are shaped like triangles rather than squares and are designed so that the end of a ringette stick cannot enter the mask. Similar North American designs exist but must meet certain safety specifications required by theCSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association or "CSA").[citation needed] European ringette cage and bar styles may differ. Some players wear clear plastic shields but half-visors are illegal. Some masks are a combination of a shield and tightly spaced wires or similar. At all levels, ringette players must wear a pelvic protector.
Goalies in ringette use protective equipment that is similar to the equipment used in ice hockey. Whileice hockey goaltending equipment is used, there are a few differences. For example, goalies in ringette wearleg pads and use the samegoalie skates andgoalie stick as goalies in hockey. Nonetheless, goalies are required to wear a combination of a ringette-approved helmet, facemask, and throat protector. Moreover, they must also wear genital protection, chest and arm protectors, and pants.
On the free hand, also known as the glove side, a glove known as a "catcher" or simply a "glove" is worn. For their glove side, goaltenders may use anice hockey trapper, anice hockey blocker, a glove like a player's glove or lacrosse glove, or a ringette goalie trappera.k.a. "Keely glove", named after aKeely Brown, a former goalie ofCanada's national ringette team who helped create the sport's first design.[27][28] A custom prosthetic Keely glove design has been developed for a one-handed goalie.[29][30]
There are two off-ice variants of ringette:in-line ringette and gym ringette, played wearing shoes. Gym ringette was developed in Canada as a floor variant of ringette in the 1990s, largely by Ringette Canada.[citation needed][9][10] It is meant to be played as a stand-alone activity or as a form of dry-land training to help players develop skills which are transferable to the ice sport.[11] In-line ringette is played as an informal alternative, but a consistent set formal rules have not been codified and sizeable organizing bodies do not exist. Ringette does not have anyparasport variant.
Ringette was created inNorthern Ontario, Canada, as a civic recreation project for girls by its two founders,[31] Sam Jacks fromNorth Bay, Ontario, and Red McCarthy fromEspanola, Ontario.[32][33] Jacks is credited with creating the idea for the sport in 1963, following his earlier development ofa variant of floor hockey[34] in 1936,[35][36] which used bladeless sticks and a flat felt disk with a hole in the centre.[37] McCarthy was responsible for developing the sport's first rules.[38] Ringette was created in the hopes of increasing and maintaining female participation in winter sports under the existing authority of the Society of Directors of Municipal Recreation of Ontario (SDMRO) and the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA) due to a lack of success in generating interest among the young female population in the winter team sports of girls'broomball and girls' ice hockey.[33][34]
For as long as Municipal Recreation has existed there has been, with some justification, a concern that our sports tended to be male orientated.
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.[33]
— Ringette Rules (A Game on Skates for Girls), SDMRO (1965–1966)
The idea for the new game was first introduced at a general meeting between the members of NORDA in January 1963 in Sudbury, Ontario.[39][38] The first ringette game took place that fall inEspanola, Ontario under the direction of McCarthy between a group of girls who had played ice hockey atEspanola High School.[40][38] Other Northern Ontario communities soon began experimenting with the game in the winter of 1964–65.[33][41] On May 31, 1965, a set of rules developed by McCarthy were presented by NORDA to the SDMRO which then published them for use in the 1965–66 season.[33][42][43][44][45][46]
The SDMRO then developed and organized the sport on a larger scale, and in 1969 the Ontario Ringette Association (nowRingette Ontario) became the first provincial ringette association in history[12][13] and was formed as a provincial governing body with a $229.27 provincial government grant (equivalent to $1,828 in 2023) and 1,500 players in 14 locations.[47][48]
The sport was introduced toManitoba in 1967 and the province's first team, the Wildwood, was created two years later inFort Garry, Winnipeg.[20][49][50]
In Canada, ringette spread to Manitoba,Quebec,Nova Scotia andBritish Columbia.[20] To better organize the sport nationally,Ringette Canada was founded in 1974. The following year, the sport received national television exposure in an intermission feature duringHockey Night in Canada.[20] The copyright to the official ringette rules, which had been transferred from the SDMRO to the Ontario Ringette Association in 1973, was acquired by Ringette Canada in 1983.
After 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 received theOrder of Canada for this work in 2002.[51] Ringette Canada initially had little money and received no assistance from the Canadian federal government though the sport grew significantly between the 1970s and 1980s.[52]
In 1979, former professional Finnish ice hockey player and coachJuhani Wahlsten introduced ringette to Finland at girls' ice hockey practices in theTurku area. The first recorded game in Finland took place on January 23, 1979, and the first tournament took place in early 1980. Meanwhile,Alpo Lindström and his son Jan Lindström[53] brought ringette toNaantali near the end of 1979, the same year Juhani Wahlsten brought the sport to Finland for the first time.[54] Jan had been an exchange student in the United States the previous year, 1978, and had seen girls playing ringette. When he returned to Finland, he foundedVG-62's ringette club,VG-62 (ringette).[55]
The game quickly gained popularity, aided by Canadian coaches who helped establish programs. In 1983, a national association was established, which organized tournaments of more than a hundred matches by the mid-1980s.[56]
Ringette spread to Sweden in the early 1980s. The league Ringette Dam-SM was formed in 1994,[citation needed] along with theSweden Ringette Association was also established in 1994.[57][58][59]
Ringette was introduced to theMidwestern United States in the mid-1970s and had gained popularity by the 1980s with most activity centred inMinnesota. However, participation fell dramatically in the mid-1990s when ice hockey was endorsed over ringette as an official high school sport for girls.[60][better source needed]
In 1986, the World Ringette Council was founded in Finland to promote and develop the sport internationally and to establish international competitions.[citation needed] The World Ringette Championships were first held in 1990. The following year, the World Ringette Council changed its name to theInternational Ringette Federation (IRF), possibly to avoid confusion due to the fact that it had the same acronym as the world event.[61][better source needed]
The International Ringette Federation (IRF) is the highest governing body for the sport of ringette.[62] There are four member countries: Canada, Finland, the USA, and Sweden. Historically, Canada and Finland have been the most active ambassadors in the international federation and regularly send teams to demonstrate how ringette is played in countries including Japan, Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, and South Korea.[citation needed]
Ringette is not a part of theWinter Olympic programme.[1][2] TheInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) asked Canada to stage a heritage games event for the sports of ringette,broomball, andlacrosse for the2010 Winter Olympics inVancouver, but the three sports were unable to meet objectives and the event failed to materialize.[63] Ringette Canada receives funding support from Sport Canada.[citation needed]
The World Ringette Championships (WRC) is the premier international ringette competition between ringette-playing nations, organized by the IRF. Initially held in alternate years, the tournament has been held every two to three years since the2004 edition with some exceptions. The winning national senior team is awarded theSam Jacks Trophy. The winning national junior team is awarded theJuuso Wahlsten Trophy. ThePresident's Trophy is awarded to the winner of the President's Pool.
Initially organized by theInternational Ringette Federation as a separate tournament from the World Ringette Championships, the Ringette World Club Championship was a competition held in 2008 and 2011, which featured the best teams from the CanadianNational Ringette League, the national Finnish ringette league,SM Ringette, (formerlyRingeten SM-sarja), and Sweden's,Ringette Dam-SM. The championship was discontinued after 2011 due to the fact that competing teams faced financial costs which made the tournament untenable.
Traditionally held inPrague, the Czech Lions Cup is the only ringette tournament of its kind in Central Europe. Along with the Finland Lions Cup, it is one of Europe's premier ringette tournaments played every summer.[64]
The Finland Lions Cup is a ringette tournament which takes place annually in Finland.[64] Along with the Czech Ringette Challenge Cup, it is one of Europe's premier ringette tournaments played every April, July, and December.[65] The tournament typically features ringette teams from Finland, Sweden, and Canada. Competing divisions include under-14 (U14), under-16 (U16), and under-19/open.
Ringette is played in all ten Canadian provinces and the Northwest Territories. An average of 30,000 players register to play the sport annually.[7]Ringette Canada is the country's national organizing body and promotes the sport. It established theRingette Canada Hall of Fame in 1988.[66][67] Canada selects twonational ringette teams for international competition:Team Canada Junior andTeam Canada Senior. Both teams compete in theWorld Ringette Championships. At theuniversity and college level, ringette players have the opportunity to play their sport in several provinces. TheNational Ringette League[68] (NRL) is Canada's semi-professional ringette league for elite ringette players aged 18 and over.
Canada's elite ringette players compete in the annualCanadian Ringette Championships. There are championships for under-16 years, under-19 years, and the National Ringette League (the Open division prior to 2008). Ringette became a part of the Canada Winter Games program in 1991.[69][70] The sport is also part of the provincial, winter-based,multi-sport competitions in some provinces. Several cities and regions also have annual ringette competitions. Cross-sport participation is common among Canada's ringette athletes, with some national-level ringette players having also playedbandy for theCanadian women's national bandy team.[71][72][73][74]
The Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup is Canada's championship ringette trophy, awarded annually to the winning team in the National Ringette League. The cup was established byBetty Shields (the fifth President ofRingette Canada) and was named afterJeanne Sauvé.[75] The championship cup was first awarded at the 1985Canadian Ringette Championships inDollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec.[76]
There are more than 10,000 ringette players registered to play in Finland.[77] Players participate in 31 ringette clubs, with important clubs inNaantali,Turku, andUusikaupunki.[78] The national governing body for the sport,Ringette Finland, was created in 1983, four years afterJuhani Wahlsten, also known as "Juuso" Wahlsten, introduced ringette in Finland; he is considered the "Father of Ringette" in the country.[79] Former President ofRingette Canada, Barry Mattern, helped introduce ringette to Finland in 1979 when he brought a team over fromWinnipeg, Manitoba's,North End.[80]
TheFinland national ringette team competes regularly at theWorld Ringette Championships and is home to bothTeam Finland Senior andTeam Finland Junior.
Finland has a semi-professional ringette league calledSM Ringette, formerly known asRingeten SM-sarja.[81][82][83] In English it is known as the Finnish National Ringette League. The league has been in operation since the 1987–88 winter season. The Agnes Jacks Trophy, named after the wife ofSam Jacks, is awarded to the league's Most Valuable Player at the end of each season and was first awarded in 1992.[84]
The Women's Premier League was formerly known as Ringete ykkössarja. The first division has been played since the 2008 season. During the 2021–22 season, six teams played in the Women's First Division.
Naisten Ykkössarja [fi] (Women's Premier League) is the second-highest series level of Finnish Ringette, which operates under Ringette Finland (Ringette Finland), formerly known as the Finnish Ringette Association.
Also notable isTimo Himberg who coached theFinland national ringette team for many years, andAntero Kivelä who coached in the SM ringette league for over a decade.
Ringette was introduced to Sweden in the 1980s.[85][86][failed verification] The first ringette club was Ulriksdals, inSolna, Stockholm, with most Swedish ringette associations located in the surroundingMälardalen region.[85][58] There are programs oftwin towns between theSweden Ringette Association and Canadian associations for the development of the sport within the Swedish population. In Sweden, more than 6,000 girls are registered to play ringette each year.[86][failed verification]
Sweden's elite league (Ringetteförbundet) was established in 1994 and the Sweden Ringette Association was formed the same year.[58] Several junior teams and numerous amateur teams are connected with these 7 semi-pro clubs. The league groups together seven semi-professional women's clubs: Kista Hockey,[87] IFK Salem,[88] IK Huge,[89] Järna SK,[90] Segeltorps IF,[91] Sollentuna HC,[92] and Ulriksdals SK.[93]
The Swedish Ringette Association is now an associate member of theSwedish Sports Confederation.[59] TheSweden national ringette team competes regularly at the World Ringette Championships in theSenior Pool. Sweden has occasionally formed ajunior national ringette team, but the senior team has made the most international appearances.
The two national sporting organizations for ringette in the United States are USA Ringette[94] and Team USA Ringette.[95][96] The sport was introduced in theMidwestern US in various places during the mid-1970s and ten U.S. States were home to ringette by the early 1970s.[97] During the 70's ringette was most popular inAlpena,Flint, Michigan,Minnesota,Grand Forks,North Dakota, andViroqua andOnalaska, Wisconsin.[98]
TheUnited States national ringette team competes regularly at the WRC, beginning in 1990 with the first WRC. Notable in the success of Team USA's development is coach Phyllis Sadoway who was the team's head coach at the WRC from 2004 to 2013, and was inducted as a coach into theRingette Canada Hall of Fame in 2012.[99][100]
The Czech Republic is host to an annual international ringette tournament in Europe, theCzech Ringette Challenge Cup and theCzech Republic national ringette team competes in theWorld Ringette Championships. The Czech Republic made its first international appearance at the2016 World Ringette Championships. It was also host of the first everWorld Junior Ringette Championships (Under-19) inPrague in2009. The national governing body for ringette in the country is theCzech Ringette Association.
In 1982, ringette was introduced in Japan by formerRingette Canada President, Barry Mattern.[12]
In 1986, ringette was introduced to Australia and New Zealand via the "Maples Ringette tour".[12]
In 1984, a sports delegation helped introduce ringette to theU.S.S.R. In 1985, ringette was again introduced via an initiative called 'Ringette in Russia' by the St. James Ringette Association ofWinnipeg, Manitoba. However, within two years it became evident that the sport had failed to take hold in the Soviet Union.[101][12]
The international development of the sport has continued with the formation of associations in Estonia, Slovakia, and France. Furthermore,Ringette Canada has been instrumental in spreading the game to the Netherlands, Switzerland, andWest Germany.[102] The sport has also been introduced toSouth Africa[97] and the United Arab Emirates.[8][103]
Ringette has had an unintentional influence on the sport of ice hockey, including a minor effect on men's professional ice hockey and a larger impact on girls' and women's ice hockey.
The "ringette line" began to have a potential impact on men's professional ice hockey in 2012 in regards to theAmerican Hockey League with several professionals includingToronto Maple Leafs general managerBrian Burke considering its possible application in ice hockey to correct areas of concern about the game.[104]
Ringette concepts and rings have been used in professional ice hockey practices since the late 1970s, when the Toronto Maple Leafs head coachRoger Neilson sought to add variation to practices.[105] After observing this, the coach of theCzechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team,Karel Gut, took notes on the game and made modifications to apply it to a training system used in Czechoslovakia's university ice hockey teams.
Prior to the 1990s in Canada, the development of women's ice hockey had failed and growth stagnated. In Ontario where ringette was invented, there were only 101 female ice hockey teams existing in the province by 1976.[106] By 1983, there were over 14,500 ringette players in Canada compared to only 5,379 female ice hockey players.[107] By 1990–91 there were still only 8,146.[108] Female ice hockey only began to experience significant growth after it bannedbody checking, which was mostly accomplished in Canada by 1986.[107] Following this, the expansion of female ice hockey in Canada was largely accomplished by aggressive recruiting from the ringette system.[107]
Ringette remains one of the few organized sports worldwide where most of its elite athletes identify as women rather than men. Many women's sports are variants of male-dominated sports and are meant to serve as the female equivalent, rather than being sports developed for females. Canadian media and parts of the ringette community increasingly avoid calling ringette a girls' sport in spite of its heritage.[33][109]
Canada Post issued four stamps in a series of sports with Canadian origins: ringette,basketball,five-pin bowling andlacrosse.[110][111] The commemorative stamps were issued on August 10, 2009, and featured well-worn equipment used in each sport with a background line drawing of the appropriate playing surface.
The sport was featured on an episode of the children's showCaillou.
Although mixed teams have appeared, there is asocial stigma against males playing ringette.[112][113] In 2021,CBC Radio reported on the controversy of a teenage ringette goaltender who identified as male and who had competed in ringette in Quebec.[114] Although there were about 700 men playing ringette in Canada in the 2013–14 season, the number has dropped drastically.[citation needed] Some provinces have embraced men in ringette, like Ringette BC, while other provinces have put bylaws in place to limit men in ringette, like Ringette Ontario and Ringuette Quebec.[115] The 2025 Western Canadian Ringette Championships is set to have a male division for the first time.[116]
Notable in ringette isSam Jacks who created the sport, in addition with the help ofRed McCarthy.Juhani Wahlsten is notable for introducing ringette to Finland in the late 1970s.Timo Himberg coached Finland's national teams for many years andAntero Kivelä coached semi-proSM Ringette.
Sports portalIt was Shields who established the Jeanne Sauvé Cup in 1985
