Ringette

Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female competitors, it has expanded to now include participants of all gender identities. Although ringette is similar to ice hockey and is played on ice hockey rinks, the sport has its own lines and markings, and its offensive and defensive play bear a closer resemblance to lacrosse or basketball. The sport was created in Canada in 1963 by Sam Jacks from West Ferris, Ontario, and Red McCarthy from Espanola, Ontario. Since then, it has gained popularity to the point where, in 2018, more than 50,000 individuals, including coaches, officials, volunteers, and over 30,000 players, registered to take part in the sport in Canada alone. The sport has continued to grow and has spread to other countries including the United Arab Emirates. Two different floor variants of ringette are also played: in-line ringette, and gym ringette. Ringette is especially popular in Canada and Finland, having come to prominence as national pastimes in both countries. The premier international competition for ringette is the World Ringette Championships (WRC) which is organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). On the international stage, Canadian teams and Finnish teams have proved to be the most successful and are regularly at the top of the rankings. Several other countries currently organize and compete in the sport including Sweden, the United States, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, all of whom have national ringette teams though Slovakia has not competed since the 2016 World Ringette Championships. National organizations for the sport include Ringette Canada, Ringette Finland, the Sweden Ringette Association, USA Ringette, the Czech Ringette Association, and the Slovakia Ringette...