
The 2019 World Ringette Championships took place in Burnaby at the Bill Copeland Arena. National teams from all over the world attended to compete against each other. The team roster consisted of Team Canada, Team Finland, Team Sweden, Team Czech Republic and Team USA. Each national team was put into a separate pool (President’s, Sam Jack’s or Junior), based on their skill set and age range, compared to the other countries. The championships took place from November 24 – Dec 1, with a total of 14 friendship, exhibition and competitive games. Ringette fans visited Vancouver internationally to watch the tournament, cheering for their native country and filling the stands.
Local 18+ teams from Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Westside Kelowna had the opportunity to each play a team in a Friendship game. These Friendship games followed the same layout and protocol as a real championship game. The teams each have a 20 minute on-ice warm up, followed by an ice-clean, the national anthem and then four 15-minute periods, with an intermission in between for another ice-clean.

Port Coquitlam’s open Ringette team, coached by Michelle Macrae, played against the Czech Republic. Many Riverside alumni are athletes on this team and have been playing Ringette for most of their lives. These include Sierra Olson, Michael Keresztes, Jenna Price, Cassidy Ewart, and Ashley Macrae. The Port Coquitlam team led the game the entire time, ending the match with a 5-0 score.
In the President’s pool, Sweden came in first place with USA in second, and the Czech Republic in third. The winner of the Sam Jack’s pool was the Finland senior team, beating Canada in the best 2 out of 3 round robin games. The Canadian junior team took the first-place spot in the Junior pool, against the Finland juniors.
Click here to watch the Poco vs. Czech game!
Photos courtesy of Manto Artworks