Ringette History Part One

Ringette was invented in North Bay, Ont. by Sam Jacks in 1963.  Sam Jacks was the Director of Parks and Recreation in North Bay at the time and one of his interests was to start a game for girls to play on-ice.  He had three boys Barry, Bruce, and Brian who played hockey, and Sam believed that girls should also have the opportunity to play an ice game.

The very first ringette game was played during the winter of 1963-64 in Espanola in Northern Ontario.  The sport has never looked back and is now played in more than half a dozen countries around the world.

Ringette introduced to:

1967: Fort Garry, Man.

1973: Langley, B.C.

1974: Alberta

1985: St. James Ringette Association of Winnipeg introduced ringette to the Soviet Union

1985: Barry Mattern introduces ringette to Japan

1986: introduced to Australia and New Zealand by the Maples ringette tour

Ringette provincial associations formed:

1963: Ontario

1972: Manitoba

1973: Quebec

1974: Nova Scotia

1974: British Columbia

1976: Alberta

1976: Saskatchewan

1981: New Brunswick

1982: Newfoundland

1985: Prince Edward Island

1986: Northwest Territories

The first set of rules were composed in 1964.  in 1974 Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia representatives formed a Ringette Canada committee for a national governing body.  The first Ringette Canada Annual General meeting was held in Halifax in 1976.  A Ringette Canada Seminar was held in Banff, Alta. in 1978 to determine the direction for the national organization.

Ringette had its first major television exposure in 1975 during a Hockey Night in Canada intermission.  The Ontario Ringette Association Hall of Fame was initiated in 1977.

Quebec withdrew from Ringette Canada and returned in 1981.  coaching and officiating certification programs were established in 1978 in Ontario for the first time.

The International Ringette Federation (IRF) was formed in 1986 with Canada, Finland, France, Sweden, and the United States as the forming countries.