MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Ringette Canada, it is with great pleasure that I provide our long-term vision and strategic direction for the sport of Ringette in Canada.

Our vision is of a dynamic sport that has evolved signifi cantly from its beginnings and that will continue to develop and evolve in the future. As a Board, we passionately believe that the sport will grow and become much more part of the mainstream of Canadian sports.

We recognize and pay tribute to the early roots of the sports and to the original goal of developing a team sport on ice for girls and women. However, we also recognize that just as our sport has changed and developed so too has Canadian society. Canada has become much more diverse in the last forty years – diverse in terms of the ethnic and cultural make-up, in terms of our values and the importance of sport in our society, in terms of the opportunities and barriers that have tumbled between the genders.

As we move forward, we believe Ringette will be a sport of signifi cant appeal to the Canada and Canadians of today. Through implementation of this plan, it our hope and belief that the sport will become broadly known for its attributes rather than who plays the sport. This strategic plan is a complex document that addresses the many facets of a national organization. As we implement the plan it will be important to address all of these facets not becoming overly preoccupied with one area to the exclusion of other, equally important areas. We have built into the plan a number of ways to measure our progress towards achievement of the objectives in the plan. These measures are expressed as outcomes and are directly associated with 2010 or 2013 objectives.

It is not in any way our intention to put this plan on the shelf as a completed project and let it gather dust until 2013. It is our intention to regard the plan as a talisman – it is the basic document guiding Board thinking and it underlies the governance process. Ringette Canada’s fi nancial planning and budgeting will be in support of achieving the objectives of the plan. Similarly annual staff operating plans will have clear linkages back to the strategic plan.

Nevertheless, a strategic plan is something of a living document. While it is highly unlikely that our core values or vision will change, it is entirely possible that as events unfold we will make quicker progress to the achievement of specifi c objectives or that experience will prompt us to review or revise some objectives. Additionally as we progress towards the end of the current planning horizon it will be important for the Board to retain a long-term focus and to regularly establish new planning horizons. Regular review of the plan will be a feature of Board activity and similarly workshops relating to the Plan will become an important feature of the annual meeting weekend.

Producing this strategic plan is the work of many people. I would like to thank all of those you provided their thoughts and ideas both in the early initial planning stages and in providing commentary on earlier drafts of the plan. In particular I would thank my predecessor, Joanne Dearden and the previous Board of Directors of Ringette Canada for having the foresight to change the Board structure and the governance model that enabled us to move forward with a comprehensive planning approach. I would also like to thank Rose Mercier of Maverick Consulting who very capably facilitated much of our early planning work and kept us focused and moving forward. I would also like to acknowledge and thank our hard working Ringette Canada staff and in particular David Patterson who have not only adapted very well to our new governance structure but who have also tolerated signifi cant ambiguity as we worked our way through the planning process. Finally I would like to express particular appreciation to my fellow Board members who have taken the time, stayed focused, and provided the thought and creativity contained in this plan.