Ringette in the Foothills is set to freeze over High River and Okotoks this weekend.
The Foothills Ringette Association is hosting its second annual Foothills Freeze tournament which has nearly doubled in size year over year with 30 teams taking to the Bob Snodgrass Rec Plex in High River and Piper Arena in Okotoks from Feb. 2-4.
“Last year was a huge success, we sold out and got some really good feedback,” said Niki Taggart, marketing co-ordinator for the Foothills Freeze tournament. “Our association has also grown, for the first time ever we’ve got two U14 teams and we also have an Active Start team, which is kids who are four to six years old.
“So just the fact that we’re bigger, we have more of our own teams that want to play and that opens up spaces for teams from other places as well.”
The three-day tournament will feature teams in the U14 B, U14 C, U12 B, U12 C along with U10 steps 1, 2 and 3 divisions. Foothills has seven division teams this year, an increase of two from last season.
The 2023 iteration, the first major tournament hosted by the FRA since it was founded in 2016, saw 16 teams take to the ice.
“It’s huge, the fact that we’ve really only had teams playing within the Chinook league since 2019, the fact we’ve been able to grow as much as we have is just fantastic,” Taggart said.
“Female sports is such a hot topic these days, in terms of conversations around mental health and inclusion and all of that, and ringette is such a quintessential female sport.
“It’s just awesome to have something like that we can offer to the community.”
Taggart acknowledged the fantastic work of the volunteer-run board to make the tournament happen.
“We’re not a huge association yet so every person really makes a difference,” Taggart added. “We’ve also had a couple of sponsors that have donated to our silent auction, the Okotoks Dawgs and the National Ringette School is doing a free Alberta camp certificate for us.”
Off the ice, the tournament will feature a 50-50, silent auction, raffle baskets, vendors Kona Ice and apparel from Pressed YYC.
Additionally, the FRA will be running a spring ringette program for the first time for players in the U10 to U16 age range. Registration for the program opens on Feb. 5 and will include a dedicated program for goalies.
The association is running its next Come Try Ringette event on April 7 at 2:45 p.m. at the Okotoks Centennial Arena Gold.
For more information, visit the FRA’s Instagram page @foothills_ringette and foothillsringette.com.
