The Force was with Foothills Ringette in its bid to retain the regional championship.
The Foothills Force U12 B team became the first team in Foothills Ringette Association history to repeat as regional and Chinook League Division 1 champions with a relentless pursuit of success.
“These girls were highly committed and focused all season. They had a desire to win that they did not need to be taught,” said Force head coach Alex Mouland. “We only had 12 skaters on our roster, so we needed each and every player game in and game out.
“This season we used seven different goalies as not one of players was a goalie previously.”
Mouland attributed the team’s success to the commitment of its athletes.
Despite the challenge it faced, the Force powered to a 29-3-4 record with three golds and a bronze in tournament play.
“This group of girls were unstoppable this year,” added Mouland. “They never stopped believing that it was possible to win regionals and watching them achieve what they worked for was a magical moment.”
It was a sweet victory in the regional final in Lethbridge.
Foothills, the top team in the regular season, knocked off Indus for the Chinook banner just a couple weeks of being on the other end of the zone championship featuring the same combatants.
“We entered into the tournament in top spot and we had a very tough draw,” said assistant coach Leanne Jones. “They took the top five teams and pooled them and did as a division 1 and then tiered the rest of the teams in the league.
“We had two draws and two wins in pool play, but still came out in the number-one position.”
Three players — Everly Jones, Isabelle Peterson and Emy Lou St-Amour along with coach Jones — were part of the 2023 championship squad.
“They’re the first kids in our organization to win back-to-back anything,” Jones added. “It’s great to know that even though we’re a relatively young association that there is competitors in our organization and we have a lot of talent at home and a lot of potential for the future.”
Foothills will look to add another banner on the March 22-24 weekend when it hosts the U12 C regional tournament at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink.
The full schedule can be found here.
