Macdonald Ringette going strong

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This article was published 07/12/2018 (2708 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, Macdonald Ringette Association players are on the ice for another season.

The Macdonald Ringette Association is part of the Winnipeg Ringette League, which combines rural and urban players in St. James and south Winnipeg to form teams in certain age groups if there aren’t enough players within an area.

Macdonald Ringette’s players range in age from three to adults.

The ringette players use arenas in Oak Bluff, Sanford and Starbuck for practices and games. While instructors are hired to teach skills, the coaches, community representatives from Oak Bluff, Starbuck, Sanford and La Salle and other board members are all volunteers.

“We depend on volunteers for the board, fundraising and coaching,” said Macdonald Ringette Association president Jodi Sheppard.

This year, there were enough players in Macdonald to form one R4U team (ages three to seven), one U10, two teams each in U12 and U14 age groups, as well as five open (adult) teams. The teams based in Macdonald use the Wildfire team name.
Players in the higher age groups were able to try out for teams within the Winnipeg Ringette League.

Glenn Houser is the Oak Bluff rep and has watched his daughters and others first learn skating skills in the R4U program.

“They learn to play with their heads up,” he said, approvingly.

“It’s a sport that gets the girls working as a team,” Houser said. “Not enough people know about it.”

Older players are involved in helping coach and mentor the younger players. They also have the opportunity to try out for teams that compete in western Canadian and national tournaments.

Macdonald players Taylor Hildebrand, of Oak Bluff, and Brett Van Nieuw Amerongen, of La Salle, were recently named to the Manitoba  team that will compete in the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta. from Feb. 15 to March 3.

Sheppard, who’s been involved in ringette as a player and coach for about 25 years, said she believes that the sport gives girls a chance to form friendships.

“Ringette is not dying. The sport is evolving,” Sheppard said, adding that the adult teams are among the most popular with players wanting to continue in the sport as adults.