Strathmore ringette players took their talents to nations capital

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

The U16 Zone 2 AA ringette team took their talents to the nation’s capital in search of some new competition.
The ringette squad is comprised of girls from Strathmore and surrounding area. They headed east for the 42nd installment of the Gloucester Cumberland Ringette Tournament, Feb. 1-6 in Ottawa.
Not your average weekend road trip to Red Deer; the coaching staff wanted to expose the team to new competition.
“We only play eight teams in our league, and we are going to Nationals later this spring, so we wanted to see what kind of competition the rest of the country had to offer,” said assistant coach and Strathmore native Rhonda Olson.
The ringette team started off great, brushing back West Ottawa 4-1 and blanking Gatineau 5-0 Feb. 3.
“They were all really good games. The reffing was a little more lenient than what we were used to, so the girls were able to play more aggressive,” said Olson.
The following day, the team from Alberta dropped a pair of games. First, Laurentides polished them off 5-2, and then they were clipped 7-4 by New Brunswick later that afternoon. No slouches, the two teams that got the better of the Zone 2 squad met in the tourney final.
Hailey Kenney, Daylen Wathn, Grace Olson, Jewlyn Foat and Elizabeth Proust made up the Strathmore representation on the team.
Doing Ottawa in style, the local ringette team stayed in a hotel five minutes from the Parliament building.
“It was a great trip for team bonding,” said goaltender Foat. “We took a tour of Parliament, we got to meet Member of Parliament Martin Shields, toured downtown and skated on the Rideau Canal.”
Olson’s troops gained some much-needed experience, as they plan on making a deep run at provincials and nationals this spring.
Provincials are set for Feb. 24-25 in Calgary and nationals go March 26 – April 2 in Leduc. Nationals will feature 20 teams from across Canada.