Ringette player enjoying competitiveness of AA level

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

For the first time at the double-A level, the Zone 2 Blaze will field a U14 and U16 team comprised of players from Strathmore, Indus, Chestermere, Airdrie and Cochrane, and for U14 head coach Chad Gillies it’s all about preparing the girls for the tough competition they will face.
“With starting out in Zone 2 as a double-A program it’s more of a development year, so they can develop their skills, so they can be at this level again next year,” said Gillies.
“There’s a lot of good competition with Calgary and the north teams of course. It’s been good for all the associations to come together. I think it helps the associations work better together to develop this program.”
Gillies thinks this was a team in the making for a few years because of Ringette Alberta’s push for rural areas to develop into double-A programs, and to Gillies it does not matter what the score is, as long as the girls get better.
“We’re trying it this year, which is good for the girls,” said Gillies.
“I told the girls we’re going to have some hard games (and) some good games. I told them not to worry about the scoreboard, the wins don’t mean a lot right now.”
He has been impressed with the girls’ ability to listen to what they are told and their keenness to soak in whatever is taught to them.
“At this age, they’re like a sponge,” he said.”They will soak in anything that you give them. At this level, they are here to play and eager to learn new things. I learned on the weekend (the St. Albert tournament) that a lot them are afraid to make mistakes and I told them ‘don’t worry about making mistakes,’ and play like in practices and they have been.”
First-year Strathmore player Mackenzie Duggan has taken it all in stride and thinks there is a lot of improvement to be had to keep up with the pace at this level compared to the lower levels.
“It’s a much faster game, there’s way more skating back and forth,” said Duggan. “It’s just the skill level is that much higher and you definitely have to move your feet faster and be more intense than if I was playing A or B.”
She added probably best things about being on this squad is having four other local players on the team that she knows and getting to meet other ones from the zones to gain familiarity.
“It’s fun meeting the other girls and we’re already so close already,” said Duggan. “And it’s good to have Strathmore too, it’s more comfortable than if there wasn’t any Strathmore girls at all.”
Elizabeth Proust, who tried out for double-A last year and knew what to expect this time around, is looking forward to the challenge of keeping up the intensity that is needed to succeed at this level.
“I want to make it big in ringette,” said Proust. “It’s good to be on high paced teams. You have to be fast to pick up the rings, skate hard and avoid penalties.”
Cayley Boschee, Annabelle MacInnis and Jewlyn Foat round out the Strathmore contingent of the roster.