Why play ringette?
- Ringette emphasizes team play over individual stardom.
- Deliberate contact is prohibited.
- Ringette offers competition at every skill level - recreational leagues, elite leagues, university, National Ringette League and international competition.
- Ringette strongly promotes the physical learning principles of Long Term Athlete Development.
- Ringette seeks to develop individuals to their maximum potential as an athlete and as a person.
Who plays ringette?
- EVERYONE - girls and boys, men and women, pre-schoolers to seniors!
Where can you play ringette?
- ANYWHERE there is an arena - or a gym.
What equipment do you need?
- ringette stick
- ringette ring
- skates - goalies may choose to use goalie skates
- shin pads, worn under the pants (or goalie pads)
- protective girdle with a ‘cup’ or a ‘jill’
- ringette pants
- gloves
- elbow pads
- jersey
- helmet with ringette facemask
- neck guard
Ringette is played with a ring and a straight stick.
The ring is hollow and made of rubber. Sticks are not recycled hockey sticks. Companies produce sticks with tapered ends with steel, aluminum or plastic tips. Different styles, flex and weight are available.
Ringette is played 5 on 5 plus goalkeepers.
Teams are usually made up of 11 to 17 players; with six skaters on the ice at the same time (a goalie, two defense, a centre and two forwards).
The ring is passed at every blue line.
A player cannot carry the ring over a blue line in either direction. The ring must be passed over the blue line to another teammate. That teammate is permitted to skate ahead of the ring carrier and already be across the blue line before the ring crosses it.
Players never enter the goalkeeper’s crease.
If the ring lands in or on the crease, the only player who can touch it is the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper usually picks up the ring and throws it to a teammate. The goalie has five seconds to pass it out of her crease.
Players have 30 seconds to take a shot on net.
Teams have 30 seconds to take a shot on goal after they gain possession of the ring. If time runs out on the shot clock, a buzzer sounds and the other team is awarded the ring.
In the offensive zones the game is played 3 on 3.
You will notice the free play lines (small red line at the top of the circles) on the ice. From this line to the end boards, it’s a game of 3 on 3. Players can rotate in and out of the free play zones producing a lot of movement and creativity.
Ringette players wear protective equipment.
Players wear a neck guard, elbow, knee, and shin pads and equipment that provides hip, and tailbone protection. Helmets with full-face mask are mandatory. The masks must have triangular or tight horizontal bars to prevent the stick from penetrating.
There is no intentional body contact.
Ringette promotes a no-contact policy when it comes to the physical aspect of its game. Penalties are given when a player, makes excessive body contact with another player, checks a player too high on the stick, trips, hits or interferes another player.
Ringette is a Canadian invention that has become one of the fastest team sports on ice. Sam Jacks, a recreation director and sports enthusiast from North Bay, Ontario, invented the sport in 1963 when he saw the need for a winter team sport for girls. Interestingly enough, Sam Jacks was also responsible for the development and introduction of floor hockey in 1936.
Since the early 1960s, the sport has continued to grow and currently boasts nearly 30,000 registered players on nearly 2000 teams, with over 8000 coaches and over 1500 officials. While it is primarily a female sport, there are currently over 700 males playing ringette across the country.
Ringette, like hockey, is played on ice with skates and sticks with six players per team on the ice at once. The objective is to score goals by shooting the object of play into the opposing team’s net at either end of the rink during stop-time periods of play. But this is where the comparisons between ringette and hockey really end. The stick is straight. The object being pursued by the players is a rubber ring, not a puck. There is no intentional body contact. And the rules of ringette make it a wide-open and dynamic sport.
The emphasis is on play-making and skating skills. Players cannot carry the ring across the blue lines on the ice. Only three players from each team, plus the defending goalie, are allowed in the end zones at the same time, which keeps the play open, puts a premium on sharp offensive moves, and requires defending players to skate close to their opponents. These features of the game demand the development of keen skating skills that give ringette players fantastic skating speed and agility.
In 2000, a 30-second shot clock was introduced to make the game even faster. The shot clock starts when a team gains possession of the ring, and if they have not taken a shot on the net within 30 seconds, a buzzer sounds and the ring is then awarded to the opposing team.
Internationally, ringette is played in a number of countries around the world, including Finland, Sweden, the United States, France, Slovakia, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Abu Dhabi.
Since 1990, a world ringette championship has been held on a regular basis, with Canada and Finland being the predominant challengers.
Over the years, ringette in Canada has noted many achievements and accomplishments. These include the establishment of a Hall of Fame, which recognizes outstanding ringette achievements and contributions to the development of the sport; the introduction of a successful junior and senior National Team Program; the development of programs such as the National Coaching Certification Program and the National Officiating Certification Program; the development and implementation of a comprehensive Long Term Athlete Development model and a Come Try Ringette recruitment system; and an expanding National Ringette League.
Ringette tournaments abound. There are local and regional invitational tournaments throughout the season. University teams play competitively across Canada. Most of the provincial and territorial associations hold an annual championship tournament. Ringette has had a presence at the Canada Winter Games since 1991. And the Canadian Ringette Championships have been held every year since 1979
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