U12B and U16A medal at Ruppe

Times Reporter   

 

Thirty-nine teams flocked to the Strathmore Family Centre from Jan. 31-Feb. 2 for the annual Laurie Morton Ruppe Memorial Ringette tournament, including 14 from Strathmore. The U12B Strathmore Ice Warriors finished with gold in their division, while the U16A Strathmore Ice earned silver.

“I think this is the fifth or sixth year for this huge one,” said Kimberly Proust, tournament organizer. “We used to have (the age groups) all separated, but we decided a couple years ago to combine. That’s what’s really unique about this, is we had our youngest skater who was four, and every single Strathmore ringette team participated in the tournament, all the way up to our ladies team. It was kind of cool that we had that opportunity this year.”

470 participants competed for medals. Prebunnies, bunnies, and novice all were awarded hardware, but the older teams had to battle for gold and silver.

“We got lots of very, very positive response, from the traveling teams and the home teams. It was very, very successful,” Proust said. “I very much appreciate all the volunteers. We can’t even have a tournament close to this without them.”

Proust said that Laurie Morton Ruppe even coached her ringette team when she was younger.

“Laurie was a member of our community who loved playing ringette. She was very instrumental in our association. She played, she refereed, she coached, and at one point she was the president,” Proust said. “The tournament is really in honour of her commitment to the sport.”