Strathmore Ringette looks to increase registration

Melissa Strle
Times Reporter

 

The Strathmore Minor Ringette Association is busy getting organized as it enters its regular season with evaluations starting on Sept. 7 at the Strathmore Family Centre.
This year, the association will have teams comprised of U10 to U19 players and will also offer a Can Skate program for seven to 10-year-olds. Can Skate will be run as a fun program offering basic skills and games.
Association vice president Derek Innes said they have a fairly good idea what numbers they have, and the association would really like to see the number of registrants increase this year.
“For this season we’d just like to see our numbers grow,” he said. “We really want to see kids come out and give it a try – we’re sure if they come out and give it a try, they’re going to enjoy it.”
Non-registered youth are also able to come to the rink on Sept. 7 to register, and all players will be placed into age categories. Then, tryouts will start to assess the skills and see where players belong.
Cory Moore will be in charge of evaluations, and there will be many coach and parent volunteers on hand to help out.
“There are a whole handful of coaches and parents, there’s a load of volunteers that help with evaluations,” said Innes.
He said it will take about a week to get all the tryouts done and by the end of September they will know where everyone belongs.
“Typically the real star athletes stand out; and then we place the middle groups and see what kind of numbers we have for teams,” he said.
Innes said there will be changes this year.
“The evaluations are going to be a little bit different this year,” said Innes. “We’re not exactly sure how Ringette Alberta is going to set it up. There’ll be some new faces on the board and some new coaches in the benches.”
There will be a lot of U10’s and U12’s this year; however, Innes would like to see as many Can Skaters as possible.
Last year, there were 26 Can Skaters and some of those kids will be moving up to U10, while others remain in Can Skate.
The association is looking for volunteers and is also looking to fill the association’s president position.
“Ringette survives strictly on volunteers. We can’t have enough volunteers,” said Innes.
The association will also be offering a chance to come try ringette on Sept. 8 at 6 p.m.