For one group of young ringette players, last weekend provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate their formidable spirit. At a three-day tournament in Regina, 12 teams faced off for a chance at a gold medal. Among them was the Red River Rage U12, a team comprised of Niverville and St. Adolphe players under the age of 12.
The girls took home the silver medal in the end, a bittersweet outcome after six hard-fought contests. Although visions of gold loomed in their sight, the players and head coach, Jennifer Trinkies, were extremely impressed by their second-place finish.
“Manitoba teams are typically seen as not very strong at the club level,” says Trinkies. “Of course, the Eastman Heat and The Flames are top teams, but Manitoba clubs aren’t really feared in the ringette world.”
For that reason, Trinkies says she had no expectation her team would make it to the finals on Sunday morning.
As for the Regina team that won gold, they’ve gone completely undefeated in their entire season so far. To face off with a team of that calibre and lose by only one point with 11 seconds left in overtime? This small-town Manitoba team left the tournament with a whole new level of respect from the entire field.
In fact, this weekend marked their very first time playing in an out-of-province tournament.
“Our teams typically go to Regina to get a bigger challenge,” Trinkies says. “Their program is amazing, so we go there expecting not to win but just to have a good time.”
For Trinkies and the other coaches, the weekend was packed with good memories. Among them was watching some of these young players score their very first goals.
“This shows that our girls were working together as a team,” Trinkies says. “It wasn’t the same girls getting [the goals] every time.”
After every game, the team collectively chooses four team members to take the titles of smasher, sniper, best attitude, and best overall player of the game.
During the tournament, Trinkies says every one of her players received at least one of these special mentions, further demonstrating that sportsmanship trumps showmanship for these young hopefuls.
“I think it’s important to go to hotel tournaments, as I call them, because it brings the team together,” she says. “This tournament, you could see our whole team working the hardest that they’ve ever worked—and I think it’s because they were hanging out with each other, getting to know and trust each other. You can just really tell, on the ice, when they’ve started to gel.”
