ringette (thing)

Devised in 1963 by the late Sam Jacks and originating from North Bay, Ontario, Canada, the game of Ringette was originally invented as a girl's team sport, and is classed as 'a fast-paced team sport on ice, Ringette players use a straight stick to pass, carry and shoot a rubber ring to score goals'. Although for the first 10 years of its existence play was centred in Canada, the sport quickly accumulated a large following. Now holding the title of 'Canada's favourite sport for females', Ringette has a following of approximately 50,000 participants, 2,866 registered referees and more than 9,000 certified Ringette coaches within Canada alone.

Ringette is proving to be a popular sport in many other countries too, including the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, England and Japan, and is also developing an increased interest from male fans of the sport who are eager to try the game. It is said that Ringette is set to become a popular International sport.

The Ringette Pitch:

(-      ZONE     -)                                 (-      ZONE      -)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
|     |     X     |  o  #    o     |     o    #  o  |    X     |       |
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
|  ===|           |     #          |          #     |          |===    |
| {   | \         |     #          |          #     |        / |   }   |
| { G |  C        |     #          S          #     |       C  | G }   |
| {   | /         |     #          |          #     |        \ |   }   |
|  ===|           |     #          |          #     |          |===    |
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
|     |     X     |  o  #    o     |     o    #  o  |    X     |       |
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
|     |           |     #          |          #     |          |       |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(-     ZONE      -)                                 (-     ZONE       -)

KEY:
C - Crees
G - Goal
X - Face Off Areas
o - Position Markers
S - Center Face Off Mark
# - Blue Lines

The Rules of Ringette:

1. A player must pass over each blue line.
2. Players can't pass over both blue lines without anybody touching it in-between.
3. Nobody, except the goalie, is allowed in the crees (meaning stick, skate, ANYTHING).
4. There are only three skaters allowed in the zone at one time per team. If for any reason the goalie is pulled, 4 skaters are allowed in for that team, however, only one player may enter the crees).
5. When the ring is in the crees or on the crees line, only the goalie may pick it up. She has 5 seconds to get pass it to another team member, but she may not throw it over the blue line.
6. The game is started with the ring at centre ice (or after a goal) in the face off circle (only ONE person is allowed in the circle - the player who will pass the ring). The team with the ring must pass it out of the circle within 5 seconds, else the ring is handed over to the opposing team. At various other points during the game, there will be another face off in any one of the face off circles.

Penalties:

1. The stick can not be brought up above the waist line, else a 'high sticking' penalty will be awarded to the opposing team.
2. Only 6 people per team are allowed on the ice, including the goalie. If there are more, it's classed as a 'too many players on the ice' penalty.
3. No slashing is permitted.
4. No hooking is permitted.
5. No foul play or foul language is permitted.
6. No body checking is permitted.
7. No tripping is permitted.
8. If a player sets a screen (player stands in front of the goalie so that the goalie cannot see), they must not look at the goalie or face them (unless the ring is behind the net).
9. If a player sets a pick (player stands still so another player of the opposing team can not pass by them), the penalised player cannot move their feet or body until the opposing player has passed by. Feet must be shoulder length apart and stick kept close.

When observing the rules of Ringette, it appears to almost be a cross of Hockey and Ice Hockey, with a hint of Netball rulings thrown in for good measure. Slightly different variations of the original rules for all games are evident, i.e.

However, some rules that are original to the game;

One unique point is in the way that the teams and tournaments of Ringette are split into separate age divisions and the names of the division groups;

"If Ringette was easy, they would call it hockey."
Citizen Sports (2000)

_{http://www.ringette.ca
http://www.geocities.com/amyslittleplace4/ringetterule.html
http://www.pgringette.org/Ringette_rules.htm}