All-star ringette celebration packs house following pandemic hiatus

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/12/2022 (1105 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The lights dim and the music starts as fog creeps over the ice.

Jia Aimola (they/them) is a long way from home when their name is announced to the crowd at Seven Oaks Arena, yet Jia seamlessly fits in once they take the ice.

Aimola, a product of Espoo, Finland (about a 20-minute drive from Helsinki), joined 167 of the best young ringette players from across the city for the 12th annual Winnipeg Ringette League all-star competition on Tuesday.

The event returned for the first time in three years, as athletes once again laced their skates to compete against club teammates and show off their skills. This year marked the largest showing of players, as the skills competition, which is typically exclusive to U14 players, expanded to the U16 players that missed out on the chance to have their moment in the limelight throughout the pandemic.

“After the three-year hiatus, it’s fantastic to be able to host this again,” said Al Gowriluk, media relations representative for the Winnipeg Ringette League. “We started setting up at 8:30 (a.m.), we told people that we opened at 9:30 (a.m.) — we had people here at eight o’clock.

“There were players here before I was here, so that tells you that they’re excited to be here.”

Aimola, 17, helped cap the day with the U19 all-star game. Despite it being after midnight in Espoo when the ring dropped, their mom tuned in from home via live stream to watch the game.

“I’m so excited. A little bit nervous, but it’s such an amazing opportunity for me. I didn’t even know this was a thing,” Aimola told the Free Press moments before the game.

The Finnish defender is in Selkirk as an exchange student for their senior year of high school. They’re following in their mom’s footsteps, who came to Canada in the 1990s on an exchange program. After meeting with their mom’s host family in 2018, Aimola decided it would be a great opportunity.

“I just loved the overall atmosphere of the place. The people are so nice and I just wanted to experience that.”

Aimola has played ringette for the past 10 years for EKS, also a hockey club. After moving to Manitoba, it was a no-brainer to continue playing. Now excelling as a member of the Park City West Wildcats club, ringette has helped Aimola acclimate to Canada.

When Aimola’s coach asked them to take part in the all-star showcase, Aimola replied with a resounding yes.

“In Finland, I didn’t play competitively last season, so being an all-star player, it wasn’t really on the table for me. So I was just so amazed that I could be here,” Aimola said.

“I feel like more people here do know what ringette is than in Finland because it’s not that big of a sport in Finland. The ringette community, it’s a very tight community. If you find someone who plays ringette or who is involved with ringette, you instantly have something to bond over.”

Before Aimola and the U19’s showcased their talent, the U14 and U16s put on a show for those in attendance, racing around the rink to decide who was the fastest, firing shots at the net to crown the hardest shot and challenging the goaltenders to see who had the best glove hand.

Sarah Beatty captured the title of fastest skater among the U16s for the sprint competition.

“It was so nice,” Beatty said before being honoured with her trophy. “It kind of feels like the NHL all-star game, it makes you feel like a real athlete. It was really nice to see people from the other teams that don’t really know. They’re kind of the enemy when you’re on the ice but you realize that they’re all really cool people.”

“It’s crazy. Ringette has always been not a very popular sport. Not many people even know about it. So it’s just so cool to see this many people that actually care about ringette. I love it.”

Eve Kubesch took home fastest U16 skater in the relay event, which tasked her to transition between skating forward and backward.

“I haven’t done anything like this before. I had no idea what was gonna happen when I came in here but it was pretty fun,” Kubesch said. “I liked seeing everyone do all the (competitions).”

To some, the grand numbers the event drew was indicative of the growth ringette has had in Manitoba’s capital. Hundreds of fans filed through the arena throughout the six-hour competition and kept the stands packed.

“It’s great to see the support in the crowd and the growing numbers for sure,” said Kim Elchieshen, Beatty’s mother. “It’s a great sport, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and she loves it. It’s good to see other people participate.

“She’s just having fun and it’s all about the friends that they meet too, right? It’s a fun sport to watch and a fun sport to play.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam