Canada’s Jr. and Sr. National Teams bring home SILVER from the Ringette World Championships in Espoo, Finland

Helsinki is a true capital of sports, which is one of the reasons why the 2022 World Ringette Championships is in the right place here. Here are some of the fittest, fastest, and most intense athletes to be found the world over.

 

High-performance sport has emerged as an umbrella term that captures the enormity, growth, and pervasive nature of elite sports on the global scene.

 

If there is one thing I have learned after spending the week in Espoo, Finland, watching high-performance sport, and absorbing all the World Ringette Championships has to offer it is this: Ringette belongs on the world stage.

 

Before reading this article, I want you to close your eyes, sit still, and relax. I want you to imagine the most amazing elite sporting event you can. Conjure up imagery of every detail and every aspect. With your eyes closed, take your time looking around—what do you see?

 

Yup. That’s it. You nailed it.

 

The arena, the branding, the fans, the merch, the sponsors, the reporters, the TV crews, the athletes, the lights, the sounds, and the spectacle were all exactly what you would imagine them to be. It was a true celebration of a fabulous sport. The focus and the fluidity of these athletes combined with the roar of the crowd and the understanding that we were all watching something truly spectacular was incredible.

 

Some may look at the results and think that it was a slight miss for Canada, with our Jr. National Team and our Sr. National Team each bringing home a silver medal. The National Teams from Finland were incredibly strong. They took gold in both of the high-performance pools. Ringette was invented in Canada, and as one of the World’s foremost experts in the sport, would we be happy with anything less than gold?

 

I came to Ringette Canada in the midst of the global pandemic of COVID-19.  It was a very difficult time for sports in this country.  Everything ground to a halt.  Every.  Single.  Thing. In the early days of quarantining, we were even being advised not to exercise outside at all (because we would be breathing too hard). We very well and truly locked our doors and waited. Sport? Nope. Forget about sports. We were on the cusp of life and death for some, and everything else simply couldn’t compare.  

 

So, we waited. These athletes were off the ice for TWO years. Gyms were closed, teams were not to engage, and spirits slowly drooped.

 

Being able to attend this event, being able to compete, being able to get these athletes together and train in the build up to this Ringette World Championships, after all that they have been through, was nothing short of a miracle. 

 

These athletes and coaches far exceed any expectation that could have been placed on them. Coming home to Canada with a silver medal on the other side of, what can only be described as the most bizarre two years in recent world history, is amazing.  I could fill this page with synonyms for grit, determination, drive, and I still couldn’t find the right way to describe it.

 

Ringette Canada is so proud of our teams. So very, very proud.

Canada is proud of them, and more importantly, they should be incredibly proud of themselves.

Well done.  

 

• by Jenni Lloyd