TEAM THE TEAMS - CRC (CANADIAN RINGETTE CHAMPIONSHIPS)

This year may not have been a regular season, BUT the fact that we could get back on the ice was the “icing on the cake.” The talent showcased over the season & championships shows just how bright & strong the future of Ringette is.

Ringette Ontario is proud to introduce you to our talented group headed to Nationals (Canadian Ringette Championships) in Calgary from April 3rd - 9th, 2022. 

From Ringette Ontario, we wish ALL our teams the best of luck at nationals. We KNOW you all will make us proud!

U16 AA:

GLOUCESTER CUMBERLAND: TEAM ONTARIO

Get to know the team: Gloucester/Cumberland is found on the Eastern boundary of Ottawa. This particular group of athletes came together last September. As a group, they had not had any meaningful games over the previous two years up until these Provincial Championships except for a handful of league games. It was so rewarding to see this particular group come together and persevere throughout the 2022 Provincial Championships. Of their seven games, they trailed in four of them and learned not to ‘pack it in’ and ‘stay the course’ and come back to win gold eventually. A special shout out to all of our parents who made it all possible and to both Waterloo/Kitchener Ringette Assoc (Provincial Championships) and Calgary Ringette (National Championships) for hosting these events and bringing back a sense of normalcy.

Players: Morgan Forrest, Maya Howard, Genevieve Robichaud, Adelle Desmarais, Elie-Anne Osborne, Thalia Nalley, Marriana Utano, Tia Flynn-Mantyla, Ashley Morency, Cloe Muller, Jordan Huget, Janie Thauvette, Sarah MacRae, Jessica Robinson, Rachel Amo

Bench Staff: Dave Mainwood, Celine Leduc, Alyssa Mainwood, Kim Pickup, Karl Morency

WEST OTTAWA:

Get to know the team: We are a dedicated group of ringette athletes thrilled to be back on the ice again! It has been a memorable season despite the shutdown in Ontario. Our team was fortunate to attend the Oshawa mini tournament in November and the Ajax tournament at the end of February. We embraced our Ontario winter with many outdoor practices, shinny games, and our Olympic competition. Our private ODR allowed us to spend quality team time together! Despite shutdowns, quarantines and COVID, the team persevered with great determination to win the silver medal at provincials. In the history of our West Ottawa Ringette Association, we are the second team to attend nationals proudly and are looking forward to competing in Calgary with the best teams in Canada!

Bench Staff: Head coach -Bonnie Fioravanti, Coach - Jamie Barteaux, Coach - Dustin Leskiw, Coach -Hanya Wyatt, Coach -Jayme Simzer, Trainer -Jo-Anne McGuire 

LONDON:

Get to know the team: Coming from both urban and rural communities in Southern Ontario, the London U16AA team is an accurate representation of players from multiple associations coming together to compete at the AA level. We believe that this is what AA ringette is all about. Despite Covid and injuries, this team has persevered and is on track to achieve their team goals. Through dedication, hard work and the sense of fun that comes from playing a competitive sport you love, the London U16AA players are proud to have come together as a team and are looking forward to competing at the National level!  

We are so thankful to our families, communities and sponsors for their support!

Players/ Bench Staff: Pasha Kostyria, Morgan Noad, Sophie Howard, Aly Emery, Karlina Fransen, Olive Aarts, Cameron Stier, Izzy Wilkie, Arwen St. John, Aryn Workentin, Abby Wynja, Ava Robinson, Avery Lawrence, Abigail Bickford, Keira Lambourn, Steve Howard, Gina Silvestri, Sierra Mitobe, Angela Desjardins, Paul Noad

U19 AA:

GLOUCESTER CUMBERLAND: TEAM ONTARIO

Get to know the team: Our journey to these Championships began in 2018. It was an emotional year for our team since one of our teammates was diagnosed with cancer. We fought hard for her in the final games at provincials and were able to win gold to represent Ontario at the Eastern Canadians at the U14AA level in Halifax, Novascotia. In 2019 we won silver at Provincials and went to PEI for the Nationals at the U16AA level. We were having successful provincials in 2020 when covid hit. Unfortunately, our provincials were cut short, and we were sent home after playing only three games. This year our team came together at Provincials, and we were able to come from behind and wind gold in overtime. Therefore, we are representing Ontario as “Team Ontario” at the National Championships in Calgary, and we are going for gold!

How do you feel about representing Ontario?

We are very excited and honoured to be able to represent Ontario as Team Ontario. This is their first National Championship and first time representing our province as Team Ontario for some players. It is a moment of which we are very proud. We’ve been fortunate enough to share this opportunity with our association U16AA team, who also won gold this year and will represent Team Ontario at the U16 level. This has allowed sisters from both teams to enjoy this moment together.

What are you looking forward to at the CRC?

We are looking forward to meeting other teams from across Canada and getting the chance to play at such a high level of Ringette. We are also looking forward to adventuring as a team out to the Canadian Rockies and spending time together.

What does competing at this level mean to you.

Competing at this level is a great honour for us. Not many players get the chance to experience this opportunity. It’s a fantastic chance to improve our skill level by being exposed to all of these amazing athletes from across Canada.

Fun Facts

• You would see our association’s team repping yellow helmets during the regular season. However, for this week, we’ve switched to black helmets to match our Team Ontario Uniforms.
• All of our players from the Ottawa region are entirely bilingual, and we regularly switch from French to English in the dressing rooms and on the ice.

Players: Marissa Altherr, Michelle Altherr, Kiera Bell, Katie Bray, Cynthia Chestnut, Gracyn Cooper, Lorence Daviault, Camille Desmarais, Julia Emery, Taylor Forrest, Katrine Gagnier, Josiane Labelle, Danika Osborne, Maya Segal, Olivia St-Martin, Kyra Sullivan & Julia Wilson

Bench Staff: Jessica Boisvert (Head Coach), Dan Altherr (Assistant Coach), Krista St-Martin (Assistant Coach), Judith Labelle (Assistant Coach), Sarah Brown (Assistant Coach), Stephanie Bell (Manager) 

WATERLOO-V:

Get to know the team: The Wildfire is excited to represent Waterloo at the 2022 Canadian Ringette Championships. For 11 athletes, this will be their first trip to Calgary, and ten are competing for the first time for a national championship. Four of our coaches compete during the week for the 2022 National Ringette League Championship.

Players: Elyssa Perron, Rachel Bettke, Avery Cairns, Nicole Ingram, Megan Heaney, Ella McGoldrick, Jordan McClement, Kylee Tracey, Brianna Jacobi, Brooklyn Norris, Brooke Wasylyshyn, Emily Sharpe, Caroline Routledge, Avery Riley McKay, Jace Cormier, Isabella Lorentz, Madi Atkins

Bench Staff: Christianne Varty, Erin Markle, Erika Kiviaho, Melanie Norris, Lisa Lorentz, Kenzie Taylor, Manager - Shelley Wasylyshyn

GUELPH:

Get to know the team: After a 2-year hiatus due to Covid, this Guelph Preds team is back and is better than ever. These 16 amazing athletes, under the guidance of our talented non-parent bench (who still actively play Ringette at the Open level), have pulled together a formidable team that never gives up. A cross-section of ages and talent makes this team tough to play against, with goal contributions scattered across the bench. However, our defence and goalies are an aggressive group that battle their opposition relentlessly to keep the ring out of their net. 

Many of these athletes play in the Ringette Ontario AAA program away from Guelph Ringette Association. Some are active junior ringette coaches and officials. One of our athletes even plays Varsity Rugby for the University of Guelph.

Our all-female bench is exceptionally dedicated, driving from as far as Toronto and Paris for practices and games. As well, almost 40% of the team is made up of athletes from several communities surrounding Guelph, with some travelling 2 hours one way for each ice time.  

Their passion is Ringette, their family stands shoulder to shoulder with them on the bench, and they can’t wait to show their pride and talent at their Nationals debut!

Players: Abby Auger, Alyssa Lederman, Campbell Schnurr, Ciara Shanahan, Emily Hales, Emma Mason, Gabby Jauvin, Hanna Hutton, Marin Storey, Meghan Claerbout, Rosie McDougall, Samantha Tracey, Sarah Pedersen, Sarah Storey, Skylar Lina, Tasha Dykstra

Bench Staff: Head Coach: Freedom Warne, Ass’t Coaches: Elysia Ashton, Leanne Claerbout, Rebecca Seguin, Trainer: Jessica Walden, Goalie Coach: Claudie Carpentier, Manager: Nicole Cataford

NRL (National Ringette League)

CAMBRIDGE TURBOS:

Get to know the team: The Cambridge Turbos play in the National Ringette League and compete against teams across Canada. The Turbos are a team built from both new and returning players. We take pride in staying true to our philosophy and building it up year after year. The Turbos have a history of success, winning Nationals in 2015, 2016 and 2017. We are looking to build on our success and climb back to the top. However, we chose this season to focus on what is in our control and playing turbo ringette!

We are looking forward to competing against the best athletes in the Country at the Canadian Ringette Championships coming up!

Players: Sheri Adams (F), Josie Scott (F), Taylor Campbell (C), Robin Scott (F), Sydney Nosal (F), Jackie Gaudet (C), Jennifer Gaudet (F), Paige Lanteigne (D), Erika Neubrand (F), Christyn Oda (F), Tatum Allen (D), Katherine Shaughnessy (D), Melissa Breslin (D), Madison Sunset (D), Hannah Starzynski (D), Jessie Callander (G), Lauren Nagy (G)

Bench Staff: Scott Borland (head coach), Debbie Findlay (assistant coach), Sharolyn Wouters (assistant coach), Jeremy Allen (Trainer)

NEPEAN RAVENS:

Get to know the teams: Nepean Ravens NRL is a new team based in Ottawa, ON, that allows players in the Eastern Ontario region to play at the most competitive level for Ringette in Canada. The group comprises 16 girls from Nepean, Gloucester, Ottawa, Clarence Rockland, London and Rive-Sud. 

This team loves Ringette; however, they take pre-game handball to the next level and are “semi-pro .”Aside from being one of the new teams, Nepean has a relatively young squad led by some very impactful vets who know how to set the pace and the tone. The team has had 14 girls compete and medal at Ontario Winter Games (AAA), three girls who have previously played for Team Ontario at Canada Winter Games, three girls who have played for the Junior National Team and one player who has previously played for the senior national team (good luck to our three athletes who are in the selection process!). Though many athletes have attended and medaled at CRCs before, this will be Nepean’s first time at nationals in the NRL category!

You can find the girls in the gym outside the rinks, working, pursuing their degrees or passionately doing Justin Bieber Karaoke. We are excited to be back to playing and can’t wait to compete!

Players: Jayme Simzer, Olivia Edissi, Kaitlyn McGillen, Laura Dayman, Allison Biewald, Amanda Gour, Samantha Jones, Molly Lewis, Larissa Adamo, Emma Kelly, Jalena Marcelic, Rebecca Bastien, Abby Manson, Rachael Pellisek, Gabrielle Ednie, Shannon Pelisek, Emma Harvie, Camdyn Wilson, Amanda Law, Laiya Evraire

Bench Staff: Paul Youldon, Jodi Walsh, Jessica Crouch

WATERLOO WILDFIRE

Get to know the team: Waterloo Wildfire is looking forward to attending the CRCs this year. Like all teams, we were primed to go and compete in 2020 and 2021. In 2018, we won Bronze, and at our last CRC in 2019, we ended 4th, missing out to compete for a medal with an overtime loss. If you add up all the years our players have attended a CRC event, we have 85 years of experience!  

We welcomed a couple of experienced NRL players to our roster - Chantal Gauthier joined us from Richmond Hill Lightning, and Robyn Gillespie joined us from Edmonton Wam.   

A fantastic thing about our team is the number of players who give back to the sport in incredible ways; Christianne Varty, Erika Kiviaho and Erin Markle are coaching the Waterloo U19AA team competing at CRC this week as well. They earned the Silver medal at Ringette Ontario Provincial Champions.  

Cam Schnarr and Ayton Johnston assist with local goalies and lead the Waterloo Goalie clinic.  

Maddie MacLean works with several local teams providing off and on-ice training along with Meghan Hanton-Fong and Emma Heaney all assist with our local ringette skill sessions.

Once CRCs are done on the coaching front, Sheri, Melanie, and John are looking forward to beginning the Team Ontario program with an eye on Canada Winter Games in 2023.

We are looking forward to an incredible event and looking to make Waterloo and Ringette Ontario proud!

Players: Ayton Johnston, Erika Kiviaho, Lydia Duncan, Paige Miller, Kristin Bortolon, Christianne Varty, Emma Heaney, Cam Schnarr, Jada Laliberte, Emily Power, Kelsey Youldon, Erin Markle, Chantal Gauthier, Laura Soper, Robyn Gillespie, Maddie MacLean, Meghan Hanton-Fong

Bench Staff: Assistant Coach John Mezenberg, Assistant Coach Melanie Norris, Coach Sheri Markle