Locals shine at western championship

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: April 5 2019 Strathmore Times

By Mario Prusina Times Editor

The Zone 2 U14AA Blaze ringette team went undefeated during the Western Canadian Ringette Championship March 28-31 in St. Albert. The Blaze features four girls from Strathmore. Photo Courtesy of Lisa Sader

The Zone 2 U14AA Blaze ringette team went undefeated during the Western Canadian Ringette Championship March 28-31 in St. Albert. The Blaze features four girls from Strathmore.
Photo Courtesy of Lisa Sader
Four ringette players from Strathmore – Kiri Sader, Bailee Wathen, Alyssa Bailie and Tessa Galandy – represented their province at the Western Canadian Ringette Championship in St. Albert March 28-31.
The Zone 2 U14AA Blaze ringette team, which attended and represented their province as Team Alberta, went 6-0 en route to a gold medal at the western championship.
“There were times throughout the weekend that our team was down but never doubted that we could do it in the end,” said Bailie. “Our team has been playing hard all season and we knew that we could beat any team we came up against if we just played our game.”
Ten teams competing from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba took part in the tournament, but Blaze claimed the gold medal with a 7-3 win over the Calgary U14AA team in the final.
“There were difficult parts of the weekend – like when we were down – but we were always able to push through and come out on top,” said Sader. “What made our team successful was the mental and physical training, and we were very bonded as a team. We have been working together since September and it all factored into winning.”
The Blaze became Team Alberta by winning provincials for their age division on March 16. They went undefeated by beating out seven other Alberta teams as they won the first provincial championship for the Zone 2AA program.
“It felt amazing… not everyone gets an opportunity like that and it was super exciting,” said Wathen. “Our team was successful because we played as a team. We got through our challenges and played as a team. Every player gave 100 per cent effort.”
The Zone 2 14AA team is made up from a collection of high-level ringette athletes from the Airdrie, Cochrane, Strathmore and Indus ringette associations. They had a very successful season this year posting an astonishing record of 52-11-4.
“It shows all of our team’s work ethic and determination to reach any goal we set our minds to,” said Galandy. “We really played as a team. We never could have done it without every single player.”