Get to Know Team O

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United through sport, driven by purpose.

Let the Games begin! We don't know about you, but we are excited to cheer on Team O as they compete at the Canada Winter Games in PEI. Did you know that Ringette joined the Canada Winter Games program for the 1991 Games in PEI and has remained on the program ever since. So you could say we have come full circle.

Get your RED, BLACK & WHITE gear & cheering voice ready because the countdown is on. 

Let's get to know Team O!

 

Our Athletes  

#29 Elyssa Perron 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Elyssa Perron, and I currently attend the University of Guelph for Criminal Justice and Public Policy.  In the future, I plan to get a Master’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy, a license in investigation, and potentially attend law school.  Aside from academics, I am always at the rink on my own time or with my team. When covid hit and all ice times were cancelled, I panicked. Worried I would lose all my progress on the ice, I started renting ice on my own time with my dad to train and work towards my goal of Team Ontario.  I believe this is one of the main reasons I am where I am today. Taking matters into my own hands and putting in the time and hard work away from the team truly paid off, whether that was renting my own ice or training off-ice. 

What does ringette mean to you? 

 To me, ringette is more than a hobby.  Ringette is something I am passionate about and love doing. Ringette has given me a second family; growing up with the same people your whole life and meeting so many new people along the way is a fantastic experience and feeling. 

What is your favourite aspect about the ringette community and being involved with ringette? 

For as long as I can remember, my favourite aspect of being involved in the ringette community is the friendships that come along with it.  Ringette has always been an outlet for me, away from academics and everything else in my life. It doesn’t matter if things aren’t going your way away from the rink because you know you’ll always have your ringette team and community.  

 

#9 Megan Heaney  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Megan Heaney; I am defence and number 9 on Team Ontario. I am 19 and have lived in Waterloo my whole life until moving to Guelph for school. Growing up, I have always loved being outdoors, camping, and travelling with my family as well as drawing and reading in my spare time. I played a variety of different sports throughout the school as well as competitive soccer in Waterloo until 2019. I now focus on ringette and school as I am in my second year at the University of Guelph studying Landscape Architecture. I work at a landscape company in the summer and live in Guelph during the school year with my roommates.   

Can you tell me about your ringette journey? 

My ringette journey started as I began learning how to skate at age 4 and started the bunny ringette program a few years later. I have played my entire career in Waterloo at the AA level and was lucky enough to play with the majority of the same girls from u12 to u19! I began as a forward and changed to defence in U16, where I have stayed ever since. I have won 3 Provincial championships throughout my career, attended the La Releve camp in 2019, and competed at Nationals twice, in 2019 and 2022. I am now playing for Waterloo NRL and am excited to continue playing and learning more about Team Ontario!  

What does ringette mean to you? 

Ringette is a major part of my life and a place where I have met some of my best friends. To me, ringette means hard work, collaboration, and drive and is my outlet for stress in my life. Ringette has taught me valuable life skills and has shown me that values like trust, respect, and persistence are traits you must have to be a good player and teammate.   

 

#20 Danika Osborne 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today?  

My name is Danika Osborne, I’m 19 years old, and I’m from Ottawa. I’m a social butterfly and love being around people. The most important things to me are my family, friends, my education and of course ringette. I’m currently in the Political Science and Juris Doctor program at the University of Ottawa. My end goal after my studies is to become a family law lawyer.  

What is one piece of advice you would offer a future player, coach or parent? 

Play because you love the game. If you love the game, you will push yourself and achieve your goals. Be patient with yourself, and success will come. It’s you VS you always.  

What are you most excited about for CWG/ being on Team O? 

I’m excited to live this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity alongside my wonderful teammates. I’m most excited about the opening ceremonies and meeting other athletes from different sports. 

 

#17 Genevieve Robichaud 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today?  

My name is Geneviève Robichaud, but everyone knows me as Gen. I am 16 years old and the youngest player on Team Ontario. My mom put me on skates at the age of 3 and I started playing ringette at the age of 4. I fell in love with the sport instantly. I take school very seriously, and I care a lot about my academics, but I'm also a very athletic girl. I played competitive soccer growing up, up until last year when it got too much with my ringette. I'm also a very good long-distance runner. I train and work very hard, and that had a huge impact on where I am today. Last year I got the chance to be selected and come to try out for the Team. 
 

Why ringette? Why did you choose ringette? 

I choose ringette because I love ringette. My mom played while growing up and still does. My aunt also played on Team Canada which had a huge impact on me as a little girl. I also made great friends at a very young age in the sport which makes me like it even more. 

How would you describe ringette?

 
Ringette is a passion. Ringette is friendships. Ringette is commitment. 
 

 #6 Jordan McClement 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

I grew up and went to school in the small town of Hanover. My parents put me into the French immersion program at my elementary school, and because I excelled in it, I graduated high school with French immersion on my diploma. I got really good grades throughout high school, and I knew that I wanted to attend post-secondary school, but I was never fully aware of what I wanted to be when I was older. It wasn’t until I started going to my hometown physiotherapy clinic for an injury, that I realized that I would like a career in athletic rehabilitation. I have always enjoyed sports and medicine and becoming a physiotherapist was the perfect combination of the two. I then applied to different schools that offered a kinesiology program and were accepted to all of them. My first pick was Wilfrid Laurier University, and so I accepted their offer. I am now in my second year of Kinesiology at Laurier and am really enjoying it.  

What one piece of advice you would offer a future player, coach or parent? 

My one piece of advice that I would offer to a future player, coach or parent would be to trust the process. Sometimes things don’t go the way you want in ringette, whether that be that you are dealing with a difficult situation, you didn’t make the team you want, or you don’t feel like you are good enough. Things will always work out if you put the work in. I remember feeling like I would never be good enough to play on a high-performance team or that I would never have the opportunity to make friends from across the country, but all I had to do was trust in myself, my coaches, my team and work hard. It takes time to develop skills and to make connections, which is why you can’t put so much stress on yourself about the future and just focus on the now and have fun during the process. 

What does ringette mean to you? 

Ringette is my life. I enjoy playing it so much, and I love everyone that I get to play with. Ringette is also my escape from real life. When I get on the ice and am practicing or playing a game, I forget about all of my stressors and my anxiety. It is a way for me to relax and to focus on something else, like the competition of a game or the fun I am having with my teammates.  

 

#5 Laiya Evraire

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

Hi, my name is Laiya Evraire, and I have been playing Ringette for 15 years with the Nepean ravens. Currently, I am a player on Team Ontario and Nepean NRL. Throughout elementary and high school, athletics played a massive part in my experience. I played Ringette, volleyball, tennis basketball, ultimate frisbee, rugby, football, and swim team. I did track, cross-country, and just about every other sport you could name. My involvement in sports won me many MVPs and athlete of the year awards. Outside of school and Ringette. I also worked two jobs in high school, both of which were in sports retail stores. I still currently work at one of them. As well as Ringette, I've also been playing football for 15 years. When I graduated high school, my former football coach asked if I would like to be a quarterback coach for the high school girl's touch and tackle football team. I agreed and started coaching a young local girl's flag football team as well. I am now a second-year student at Carleton University, where I am studying commerce. I've always been interested in business and hope to run my own one day. 

Can you tell me about your ringette journey? 

My family first heard about Ringette through family friends. My sister started playing when she was young. Then I followed her, and I've been playing Ringette competitively for ten years now. I've played with the Nepean ravens my whole life, and now I can continue as a raven in NRL. In 2018 my team won provincials and went to nationals as Team Ontario in Winnipeg, where we medaled and won bronze. I have played two cycles of AAA, one on United AAA and one on Team Purple. Team Ontario has been something I have worked very hard towards over the years, and to finally say that I've made it is surreal to me. The hard work doesn't end here. I must train and play harder and stronger than ever to prepare for the Canada winter games.  

What does Ringette mean to you? 

Ringette is my passion. Everything that I do revolves around Ringette. I train six days a week to become stronger for Ringette. I work hard in school so I can continue to play Ringette. I adjust my social life around my games, practices, and tournaments because I have the most fun when I am at Ringette. Ringette has given me goals to work towards, and I am so grateful that I have been able to play it for the past 15 years. 

  

#18 Rachel Steckly  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

  I grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, with my parents and my two sisters and my dog, of course! Growing up in a fairly large family, there was always something going on in my house, which made for a very fun childhood. All my sisters played competitive ringette, so we were busy, to say the least. I was always active, whether that was with ringette, training or school sports like wrestling or football. I got my first job when I was about 15 at a butchery, and I have had a few since. Currently, I work at 9 round gym (kickboxing gym), and I am one of the trainers there! I went to bell high school, and I am currently studying Criminology at the University of Carleton. I am only a few weeks in, but loving it. I am not totally sure what I want to do with my degree in the future, but I do know I want to be engaging with people. That is a very ruff summary of my life, but that’s the fun points:) 

What one piece of advice you would offer a future player, coach or parent? 

 One piece of advice I could offer to a future player would be to work your hardest every practice, training session and game. But don’t take it too seriously. You don’t play ringette to not enjoy yourself; that’s probably the opposite of why you play. So always remember to enjoy where you are right now and have fun with whatever you do. 

What does ringette mean to you? 

I couldn’t imagine a life without ringette. It's where a lot of my happiness stems from, where I’ve created my strongest friendships, where I enjoy myself the most, and where I feel like I can escape the world and just be on the ice. Ringette means everything to me, I don't think there's a sentence or a word that can explain it. 

 

#19 Jalena Marelic 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Jalena Marelic, I'm born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, and my home association for ringette has always been West Ottawa. Last season and this upcoming season, I am currently playing for the Nepean NRL team. I am studying at the training division academy for firefighting and working as an automotive apprentice.   

Can you tell me about your ringette journey?

I started skating when I was 3 through a hockey program, then when I was four years old, my mom switched me to ringette, where I played for West Ottawa. Coming from such a small association like West Ottawa, becoming a provincial and or national athlete was very unheard of until my second year of u16aa when Colleen Hagan became our team's head coach. She has helped my teammates and me grow and improve so much as players and people in just one year that we became the first team from our association to ever play at nationals in 2019.  After that, I had the opportunity to be invited to compete in the La Releve program and try out for the Eastern AAA team, where we competed at Ontario Winter Games and won gold. Throughout the year 2019-2020, Covid-19 has struck and cancelled our provincials and the following season. Last year was my last u19AA year, and I have chosen to play NRL as I wanted to prepare myself in hopes of receiving an invite to the junior national team. Thankfully this year, I am receiving the opportunity to play not only for my province but for my country as well.  

What is your favourite aspect about the ringette community + being involved with ringette? 

My favourite aspect about the ringette community would be the unforgettable memories and long-term friendships you get 

 

#34 Lauren Nagy  

Tell me about yourself. How did you get where you are today?  

I grew up in the small town of Brooklin, Ontario and have lived there since I was 2. My mom is Canadian, and my dad is Hungarian. I have two brothers; one older, one younger and one dog. I went to Blair Ridge elementary school. I got my first job at Domino's pizza and worked there from grades 9-11. I am trained in first aid and have been teaching swim lessons in my backyard for three summers now. I quit my job at Domino and started working at Mary Brown in grade 12. I am currently attending the University of Guelph studying nutrition in hopes of being either a dietitian or nutritionist  

What is your favourite aspect about the ringette community + being involved in ringette?  

My favourite aspect about being a part of the ringette community is that there are always opportunities for me to be able to teach younger athletes. Not only that but being a part of the ringette community automatically allows me to have a huge number of people in my corner. Being able to give back to the younger ringette players brings me joy and makes me proud to be a member of the ringette community.  

What are you most excited about CWG/ being on Team O?  

I am looking forward to CWG for many reasons. I am most excited to play the sport I love with the most amazing group of players and coaches. The experience will definitely be one to remember, and I am just so excited that I get to share that experience with 17 other amazing athletes. I know the friendships I make on this team will last a lifetime, and I am just so grateful that I can create this core memory with them.  

 

#15 Taylor Forrest  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Taylor Forrest, I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and I am currently 18 years old. I’ve lived in Ottawa my whole life, and I’m currently attending Carleton University, completing a bachelor's in Business Commerce. I also have a part-time job at “9round” as a trainer. I have a huge passion for fitness, so I am lucky to have a job that lets me share my passion. I am a very active person so I like to go to the gym or do some sort of physical activity at least once every day.  

Can you tell me about your ringette journey? 

I started playing ringette when I was five years old. I’ve always played for the GCRA devils, and I’ve always played at a competitive level. I've been very lucky to always play on a strong team with many talented athletes. My team medalled in provincials throughout all of my competitive years of ringette and won the gold medal in 2018 and 2022. I’ve gotten the opportunity to compete at the Eastern Canada Ringette Championships as well as the Canadian Ringette Championships twice. In my second year of u16, I played for United AAA and competed in the Ontario Winter Games in 2020. I also played AAA in 2021 for team red.  

What is your favourite aspect about the ringette community + being involved with ringette? 

My favourite aspect about being part of the ringette community and being involved with ringette is how much of a family it is and how supportive everyone is. I am lucky enough to have met my best friends through the sport and so many other people who have had amazing impacts on my life.  

 
 

#10 Julia Wilson  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

To start off, my name is Julia Wilson, everyone calls me Jules. I’ve been playing competitive ringette for over ten years now and have been on skates since I was 4. My whole life, I’ve been in sports, from competitive ski racing to swimming, soccer, lacrosse, etc. Ringette was the path & sport that I chose, and I’ve never thought twice about it. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and I can’t wait for the upcoming years. I’m a student at uOttawa, studying International Development and Globalization. Balancing school, ringette, jobs, training, and friends & family have definitely been challenging, but all that has shaped me into the person I am today, and I’m forever grateful for amazing friends and family that have supported me through it all.    

What does ringette mean to you?  

Not enough words would be able to describe what ringette means to me. Ringette has been a part of my life for a very long time now, and I couldn’t imagine my life any differently. The rink is the place I go to when I need to clear my head and when I need to see my teammates and coaches. This sport has had such a big positive impact on my mental health and has helped me tremendously, especially throughout these past few years.   

How would you describe ringette? 

Ringette is a very fast and competitive sport on ice. It involves certain unique rules, like having to pass over the blue line, staying out of the crease, free passes, etc., which all contribute to its originality. The rules of ringette really ensure that the ring gets moved up the ice, always keeping the speed of the game at a high level. In the end, the goal of ringette is for your team to score as many goals as you can, trying to defeat the opponent.   

 

#61 Kate Babineau 

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today?  

I am in Grade 12 at AY Jackson High School in Kanata, Ontario. I have always been interested in being active and playing competitive ringette, and competitive soccer. I also play volleyball and soccer with my high school. I also work part-time as a banquet/ wedding server which is a great job since it lets me pick my own shifts since I travel a lot with ringette. I spend whatever free time is left with my best friends. 

What one piece of advice would you offer a future player, coach or parent? 

I would encourage all kids just learning to skate - to try ringette. It is such a great team sport - that you will not only learn to skate, but you’ll make the best friends you’ll ever have. And remember - ringette is THE FASTEST sport on ice! 

What are you most excited about for CWG/ being on Team O? 

I am most excited to play with this amazing group of girls. All of them contribute major parts to this team that make us a unit and being able to play with girls that are older than you teaches you so much and makes you not only a better player but a better leader. Team O has been a forever dream of mine, and being able to go to the CWG to represent my province and compete with other talented teams is unreal. Being on team O so far has been life-changing for me to develop as a player and a person. This is something that I will carry on for the rest of my life and will be forever grateful for. 

  

#14 Brianna Jacobi  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Brianna Jacobi, and I am 19 years old. I grew up in Elmira, a small town outside of Waterloo. I have three older siblings, along with three nieces and two nephews. Starting in high school, I worked as a student in a Law office, and more recently, I also worked for a lawn care company. I attended elementary, middle school and high school in Elmira and have grown up playing school sports, as well as soccer and ringette. I am currently in my second year of Kinesiology at Wilfred Laurier University and living in Waterloo with my teammate, Jordan and other friends from school.   

Can you tell me about your ringette journey? 

I began my ringette journey playing for Woolwich from Bunnies to my first year of u12. In my second year of u12, I came to Waterloo and have played there all the way up to my last year in u19. I have had the privilege of being a part of a team that went on to win the Provincial Championships to become Team Ontario twice in my ringette career. Also, one year as Team Ontario we went on and won silver at the Eastern Canadian Ringette Championships in PEI. I had the opportunity to be a part of the Western Region AAA team in 2019/2020. Now, I am currently playing my first year in the NRL for Waterloo and playing for Team Ontario! 

What are you most excited about for CWG/ being on Team O? 

The best part about being on Team Ontario is the opportunity to play with and create friendships with people you have played against your entire ringette career. I am most excited to go as and compete against the best of the best at Canada Winter Games.   

 

#21 Sarah Pedersen  

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today?

Today I am a student at the University of Guelph taking Human Kinetics and looking to go into physiotherapy or athletic therapy. I have lived in Guelph my whole life and went to elementary school around the corner from my house, so my dad would walk me to and from school every day when I was younger. We also had a lot of family friends in the neighbourhood that played hockey, so we would build an outdoor rink every winter. I would try to play hockey, and sometimes they would flip their sticks and try to play ringette. I played baseball and ringette growing up until grade 8 when I partially tore my MCL in U14 ringette provincials, I couldn’t twist to swing the bat, so I had to take a season off of baseball. The next year I decided to switch to lacrosse. All three sports that I was very good at were unpopular, so they didn’t have teams in high school. A gym teacher noticed I played ringette and told me to come to hockey tryouts since other girls that also played ringette at my school played on the hockey team. I didn't end up making the team, and the coach said that I was the fastest skater on the ice but couldn’t stick handle or play hockey at all. In high school, I was really good at math, science and gym class which was good because I had been to physio for a while when I hurt my knee, and I knew that's what I wanted to study. I was excited to get into Guelph, especially since I got to play my last year of the U19 ringette in Guelph. Now I’m trying to figure out what I want to do after my four years, working at a physiotherapy clinic and getting shadow physiotherapists.  

 What one piece of advice would you offer a future player, coach, or parent? 

The piece of advice I would give to a player, coach and parent is the same and would be to enjoy the experience. As a player, the best thing you will ever experience is the feeling you get when you are playing and having fun, working hard to reach goals and being confident in yourself. There will come a day when you can’t play anymore, so enjoy the time you have; even when you may not be getting the results you want, the happiness you get from playing is all you need. As a parent or as a coach, be supportive of the players and wish nothing but success for them because watching them reach the goals that they have been dreaming of since they started ringette is unimaginable. Appreciate the first time they stand up on skates, the first goal they score, and the first AA team they make and enjoy watching them love the sport because there are only so many firsts you can have, and they all add up to reaching an ultimate goal.  

What is your favourite aspect about the ringette community + being involved with ringette? 

The ringette community is so big and so full of love for each other and for the game. I love that there aren't many teams in Ontario where I don’t know at least one person on the team. In club ringette, I was always so excited to go to tournaments because I was able to see my friends that lived in the east, and I could only see them in tournaments. I love covering forwards on the ice that I have played with before because it’s a different kind of friendly competition, I love the little chats on the ice with friends from the other team after shaking hands and I love sitting in the stands cheering for them when my team isn’t playing.  

 

#8 Cyndii Chestnut 

Tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today:  

I am a very focused and hard-working person. I have always taken my school studies seriously and gotten good marks. I am now studying Geology-Physics at the University of Ottawa and hoping to do my Masters in the future. I started ringette late (U10) but worked hard to catch up. I skated on any ice surface that I could find - outdoor rinks in my neighbourhood and even ponds in the forest behind my house. I love ringette so much. When I’m playing, I feel so happy and free.  

What one piece of advice could you offer a future player, coach, or parent: 

Never give up; you can do anything at any time because it’s never too late to start. If you have the right mindset and drive, you can achieve anything. Always try to better yourself even if you feel that you have stalled on improving a certain skill. If you stick with it, you’re probably a few practices/games away from showing progress.  

How would you describe ringette?

Ringette is a TRUE TEAM SPORT. No player is more important than the others since it is a game of SHARING. You have to have all six players on the ice (goalie included) working together to get the ring up  

the ice and across the two blue lines in order to shoot at the opposing team’s goalie. When a goal is scored, it’s really the end result of all six players working as a team.  

Ringette is FAST. Keeping the ring or trying to get the ring means that you have to skate your hardest from the beginning to the end of each shift.  

Ringette is really FUN. Playing a sport with all of my best friends makes me happy.  

 

#16 Brooke Wasylyshyn  

Tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today: 

My name is Brooke Wasylyshyn, and I am 19 years old, currently attending Carleton University for Criminology and Criminal Justice. My hometown is Waterloo, Ontario, where I played ringette all my life up until the last season. In 2021, I graduated bilingual and with honours from high school. I also played soccer at a very competitive level since I was around six years old until I suffered a very bad knee injury, where I tore my ACL, MCL, and meniscus in two spots and had to undergo ACL reconstruction surgery. Because of this, I was unable to continue playing soccer and was out of ringette for almost two years. This was very hard on me as it made me feel as though all my years of progression in ringette were for nothing, as I thought I would never be as good as the other players who were now two years of development ahead of me. Due to the fact that I trained hard to recover and worked hard to get back to where I was before my injury, I ended up coming back with even more strength and skill than before. Overall, this injury taught me to be more resilient, optimistic, and goal-focused. 

Why ringette? Why did you choose ringette? 

I chose ringette when I was young because, at the time, I had a Neighbour who played for one of the U7 teams in Waterloo. I had never heard of ringette before until he and his family started suggesting that I join for something to do and to learn how to skate. I ended up joining one of the teams the following year and simply fell in love with the game! 

What one piece of advice could you offer a future player, coach, or parent? 

One piece of advice that I would give a future player would be that it’s important to understand that in most cases, coaches who take the time to critique you often usually do it because they see the potential in you to be better and because they want to see you succeed. Despite the fact that sometimes you may feel that it is annoying or that you feel as though they are trying to bring you down, just remember that it's coming from a good place and that it’s important to listen to what they tell you. 

 

#82 Claire Lodge

Tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today: 

My name is Claire Lodge, and I am 16 years old, born in December 2005. I am currently in grade 12 at Henry Street Highschool, Whitby. I have worked at two different medical clinics - A chiropractic clinic and a Physiotherapy clinic. I want to go into the medical field to become some kind of specialist (possibly a Neurologist). During school and maybe after, I want to be a Personal Trainer as I absolutely love working out and weightlifting; it is one of my passions. I am a very organized individual, but at the same time, go with flow kind of girl. I love making people laugh and enjoy always having a good time with the company. My hard work and passion for most of the things I do are what got me here today.

Can you tell me about your ringette journey? 

My ringette journey did not start too long ago. My first year was 2015, playing U12R. This was a hard year, we lost every single game, but I knew in the future, I would have great things coming if I kept working hard. From there, I played U12PP, then U14A. My U14A year was one to remember. I played for Ajax-Pickering stars and travelled across Europe with that team. We went to in July of 2018 to Sweden first and played one of the first-ever minor Sweden ringette teams, it was pretty cool; I’d say after was Finland, where the main tournament was, The Lions Summer Cup. We ended up being undefeated, winning gold, and still have the gold medal hanging up to this day (we also travelled to Estonia and Iceland). Definitely one of my best memories up to date; absolutely an unforgettable experience. After that year, I played U14AA for central, which gave me redemption from my year before, as I was cut from the 2017-2018 U14AA team. I worked so hard on my own that year, day after day, having power skating and training to better myself as a skater and player. I then proved to myself and others that true hard work pays off. After that year of playing AA for the first time, I never looked back. The following year U16AA was one of the best teams I have been on, coaching and teammate wise This was going to be there year I finally got to go to nationals and live my absolute dream. Still, halfway through our provincials which we were a 3-0 record already, covid came into the mix and shut everything down. The next year after that was strictly just training and still working to better me as a player. This takes me to this past year, my rookie year of U19AA. This was an odd and confusing year for everyone as it was not consistent with covid and coming back from over a year break from the game. Now the present, 2022. From all of my hard work, pain, early mornings, and working through the exhaustion just looking ahead for the goal I set for myself long ago, I finally have reached my ultimate goal, Team Ontario.

What are you most excited about for CWG/ being on Team O? 

I'm most excited to play at such a high level with the amazing girls that got selected to be on this team with me. We will make so many unforgettable memories, travelling Canada while playing the sport we love. I am also stoked to have such great coaching and gain much knowledge from them! GO, TEAM O!

 

#27 Ella McGoldrick

Can you tell me about yourself & how you got to where you are today? 

My name is Ella McGoldrick, and I am currently in grade twelve and am working at the University of Waterloo in food services. For future plans, I'm considering going into sciences at the University of Guelph, but I am still figuring out what direction I want to go academically and career-wise. Aside from those aspects of my life, I spend a great deal of time with my team at the rink. These are the people I love the most, so I wouldn't have it any other way. I would say that the people I surround myself with on and off the ice have made a huge positive impact on my life; the connections through the ringette community have even helped me land the job I have now, so I am very thankful for these people!

Why ringette? Why did you choose ringette?

I played many different sports growing up, softball, soccer, gymnastics, figure skating and curling, but ultimately I chose ringette because the other sports didn't give me the same rush, and the connections I’ve made with my teammates are so precious to me. How could I not choose ringette?

What does ringette mean to you?

Ringette is a way to clear my mind and feel a part of something, take a break from everything else, hang around amazing people who are full of support, and of course, have some fun. During the off-season, even though I still participate in summer ringette, without the regular season, I honestly feel like a big chunk of myself is lost, but it all comes rushing back in the fall. It really makes me appreciate the sport so much more.

 

Bench Staff: