Inside the Winnipeg
Ringette League
By Al Gowriluk
The volunteers who keeps on
giving and giving and…
2015 is “The Year of Sport” in Canada
and what better way to celebrate
than with the volunteers of the sport
invented in Canada, just over 50 years
ago.
The 2015 -16 Winnipeg Ringette
League (WRL) season is scheduled to
start October 28 but the amount of
prep work can be mind-blowing. The
volunteer run organization is run with
the precision of a finely tuned sports car
with each gear joining in to do a very
specific task.
Some local associations host preseason tournaments. These are well
received as the teams do not have
to use up a valuable opt out of the
schedule request as each team has 1
for each half of the schedule. These
pre-season tournaments give the
teams an opportunity to see what the
competition is going to be like for the
upcoming season.
The lives of the WRL volunteers are
busier in September that any other
time of the year. They must book ice for
sweat camps, evaluations and tryouts,
collect registrations from each club
and put them in their local association
data base. Confirm numbers are in
and information if players want to try
out for an “A” team before the WRL
amalgamation meeting
Before the amalgamation meeting
of all associations, countless hours are
spent doing the homework of what
associations are hosting teams, or need
players or goalies and how things are
looking for their own association going
into the meeting. When they attend the
amalgamation meeting, all associations
come together in working as a team to
make sure all players have a place to
play.
The tireless volunteers need to be
at the rink for all of the above to take
attendance and hand out and collect
pinnies or jerseys, receive evaluators for
the tryouts, as well as the on ice help.
They must work on getting coaches and
make sure all their teams have goalies
and if not brain storm on how to get
one. The goalie is the backbone of any
team. Not having a full time dedicated
goalie can make for a long season.
The WRL seeds the U 10 teams based
on a matrix submitted by the local
association. It gives some added insight
in to where each team should be seeded
based on past performances.
Once the teams are put together the
coaches need their practice ice. Local
associations have an “Ice Convenor”
who is solely responsible to obtain ice
contracts from local arenas, submit ice
to the league and give each team the ice
that the coach needs for practice and
gym time for dryland training.
Some associations have a meet &
greet with coaches & managers to
have a Q and A session. In the younger
age groups, this may be the rookie
coach and many unknowns need to be
addressed.
Early October is the seeding meeting,
where every local association present
what level of play their teams will
compete.
A light at the end of the tunnel is
when the rosters are submitted to the
Manitoba Ringette Association (MRA)
and then attend the WRL seeding
meeting to figure out which teams they
will be playing against.
…And now this is where 99% of the
families get started. With all this ground
work completed to pave the way to a
seamless transition from the off-season
to the new season, with all the hopes
and dreams of the new school year.
So next time you see a local
association volunteer, and league
volunteer, a board member, let them
know their personal time is much
appreciated. If they don’t do it, you can’t
play. l
Website:
www.winnipegringette.com
Twitter:@wpgringette
Past & present players of the U19 Garden City Aces Ringette Team, volunteering at the
2015 WRL All-Star game along with Roxie, Ringette’s greatest mascot and Boston Pizza’s, Lionel.
28 / sportslife
Facebook: Winnipeg Ringette League