They aren’t listed as medal contenders, but seven Vernon athletes are feeling confident for the Canadian Ringette Championships starting Monday in Leduc, Alta.
Two teams from B.C. will be participating in nationals from March 27 to April 1 – the U19AA girls, representing Team B.C., and the U16AA girls. representing the Thompson Okanagan Ringette League, both comprised of players selected from the valley, including Vernon, Kelowna, Salmon Arm.
“We’re a young team,” said U19AA coach Warren Carter of Vernon. “Last year they were 12th out of 20 in the nation.”
However, this year, the team graduated many of their players, now sporting a partial lineup of players new to the U19AA bracket.
“We would expect to be somewhere in the middle of the pack, we hope to be,” said Carter. “If everything goes right we’ll be higher.”
The team will have rely on their offensive speed.
“We’re quick, we’re young, we’re energetic, we’re healthy, (and) we’re good learners,” said Carter.
“It’s quick, it’s a real team concept. You have some dominant offence players, but at the same time you have kids that are really good defensively.”
While the U19AAs are a young team, the players are ready for the challenge.
“I think it will be good, we’ve grown a lot in the past few months,” said Emma Carter, forward for the U19AA team.
“But there’s tough competition there, so there should be a lot of good games.”
After Nationals, Emma Carter will try out for Team B.C. at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
Emma Carter’s teammate, centre Alyssa Racine, feels that the nationals will be a learning experience.
“I’m hoping that we’ll win a couple games this year,” said Racine, who will try out for the team again next year.
“Most of us are first years, so kind of growing for next year.
“We’re definitely going to win some and lose some, but hopefully we can pull out a few extra wins.”
Defensive player for the U19AA Evan Koshure will be participating for the third year in nationals, and feels this will be her best year yet.
“I feel like out of all the years this will be the best one,” said Koshure, who hopes to compete for at least another year. “I’m hoping to get into the top round and hopefully place, obviously, but we’ll see.”
Saylor Martian, defence, who will be playing for B.C. and Vernon for the last year before studying to be a veterinarian at the University of Alberta, is simultaneously excited and nervous.
“I’m hoping to just end this year on a really good note. And I think we’re going to have lots of fun.”
Like their more senior players, the U16AA girls are also excited for the opportunity to compete in nationals, and hope to continue playing for Team B.C. in the future under the U19AA bracket.
“There’s only a few girls that have been to nationals, so it’s kind of a first experience for a lot of us,” said U16AA centre Aly Carter, who will try out for the 2019 Canada Winter Games this summer.
“Let’s learn something from nationals. I want to do good. I think we can do good. It’s kind of going there knowing anything can happen.”
Centre Abby Williamson is taking a laid-back approach.
“I don’t really feel pressured,” said Williamson. “We’re coming in as a low ranked team, but we can do well if we play our game and work well together.”
Defensive player Madison Fox agrees.
“I’m feeling really good, feeling confident about my team,” said Fox. “We’re pretty strong, really fast. (I) feel like we can win a few games, get ourselves in there.
“I expect a good experience for my team, getting (them) to really bond and work together.”
Wayne Oye, coach for the U16AA team, said his players have the talent and skill to be successful. The team has been riddled with injuries, but are healthy now.
“Things are coming together for us and we are peaking at the right time,” said Oye of Kelowna. “We will need to play a complete game in order to be successful and if we do that, we will do well.”
While the teams are confident, being a ringette team from B.C. has its downfalls.
“Our issue in B.C. is, for ringette, there are not a lot of teams at this level,” said coach Carter.
“So when we get into our tournament play, our biggest downfall is really our game knowledge and the experience that the other teams have.”
However, the teams don’t let that slow them down.
“It’s always a challenge that these guys look forward to playing.”
And Oye agrees.
“The girls have worked very hard and have been very committed to the program we are running. It’s time for them to be rewarded for their hard work.“