Strathmore U16 AA Ringette going to nationals

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

Strathmore’s U16 AA Ringette team will be representing Team Alberta at the national tournament set to be hosted in Calgary next month.

The team’s head coach, Wesley Clark, said although he is not surprised with the outcome of the team moving onto the national tournament level, he is excited for his team’s success and the opportunity to compete at such a high level.

“We were ranked the No. 1 team in the province virtually all year and we’ve had a lot of success throughout the season,” said Clark. “We won gold in St. Albert in October (2021), we won gold in Regina in November (2021). Unfortunately, we had a few tournaments cancelled.”

Clark added his team went into the provincial tournament two years ago in similar standing and was unfortunately defeated in the crossover game following their round-robin. 

This time around, Strathmore outscored the Calgary representative team in the gold medal game 11-4.

The team maintains a strong defense and penalty kill, something that Clark said enables them to create many more opportunities to score for themselves.

He said, however, that it is important that his team not think themselves invincible. 

“We played four games and unfortunately in our fourth game we lost … but that was a good thing because it always settles the nerves,” explained Clark about their provincial games.

“If you can get a loss out of the way in a game that’s not as important, then you can build off of that.”

Though it has been a very positive season for Strathmore’s U16 AA team, Clark explained it was not without its fair share of challenges.

These included disruptions caused by COVID-19 concerns both to the well-being of the team, as well as scheduled games.

Despite this, Clark added he is proud of his team and the leadership qualities they have displayed over the season.

“As a coach, I’ve been blessed with a team that works hard, they’re dedicated and I know that they’re one of the best teams that any coach could ask for,” he said. “I don’t like to single out any one or two players because we do play so well as a team. We have some girls who really step up in big games, but we’re more of a team and it’s not just about one or two players.”

The The Canadian Ringette Championships (Nationals) will run from April 3 to 9 in Calgary. The team will spend the next few weeks in preparation, conditioning themselves to be able to potentially play more games in a shorter span of time than they are normally accustomed to.