by Elizabeth Merritt

Another Esso Golden Ring come and gone

Well the end of another Esso Golden Ring has come and gone. The weekend was full of early mornings, late nights, and a full schedule in between. After taking a few days to relax and stay home from the rinks to get a bit of a break from the sport is almost a must after this tournament. I think the weekend went pretty good with having 190 teams playing 365 games in just the three days. From what I saw during the weekend it went smoothly. There were some amazing games to watch, especially the…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Esso Golden Ring time again

In just two days the Esso Golden Ring tournament will take over the majority of arenas all over Calgary. This year 25 different arenas are being used for the tournament. With 190 teams participating 365 games are being played in the three days of the tournament. Three of the 365 games are National Ringette League games; two are being played on Saturday and one on Sunday with all games being Calgary Rath against Ottawa Ice. On Saturday the first game is at noon at East Twin Red, the second game is at 6:45pm at the…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Officials Signals

Just like in hockey ringette has some similar officials signals. Here is a link to the different officials signals from the Ringette Canada website.  http://www.officiatingringette.ca/index.php?page=216 With the biggest ringette tournament just around the corner I will be blogging about more information on how the game is played and why certain things are called. If you are looking for the Esso Golden Ring schedule it can be found here under Schedules on the left hand side of the screen: http://www.essogoldenring.ca/site/3333/page.asp?LeagueID=9927&page=news_basic I highly recommend the Open AA games because those are the National Ringette League games. As…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Now that it’s the New Year there is just 15 more days until the Esso Golden Ring tournament. It is also time for the second half of the season to begin. Some teams have had practices already while others don’t have any until the weekend. Some people are heading to Red Deer for the weekend for a tournament while others get ready for upcoming tournaments like Leduc and the Esso Golden Ring. I’m excited to see what the second half of this season brings. It has already been an amazing season and…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Half a season already come and gone

I think the first half of the season has gone pretty good.  There have been some amazing games to watch.  Right from the first practice I coached you can see who has improved already just from having games and practices. With having the first tournament right near the beginning of the season it was a great chance to see how the girls skills were and what should be worked on right away.  The girls kept trying their hardest during their games through the beginning of the season. The games played during tournaments were amazing to…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Almost that time of year again

It's getting to be that time of year again.  The biggest ringette tournament in the world is just around the corner.  The tournament will be held January 16-18, 2015.  In just 32 days 190 ringette teams will take over hotels and rinks all across Calgary. There will be two National Ringette League (NRL) teams playing games during the weekend.  I can't wait to watch the NRL games because they are amazing games. Although the weekend will consist of early mornings and long days it is one of my favourite weekends of the year.  There are…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Medicine Hat day Two

An early start to day two. Game at 9:15 a.m. and have to be at the rink just under an hour before it. It should be another good day for games. The first game for the Fireballs resulted in a loss of 10-4 to Medicine Hat. The Fireballs played an amazing game that ended with them leading shots 42-19. It was a good game to watch and the girls kept trying no matter what. Watching the first period of the game right after coaching proved how much more intense tournament games can be. It was…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Medicine Hat day One

Well it was a slow start to the day.  Leaving Calgary took longer than it should've.  There was a couple accidents so just about every way for getting out of the city for getting to Medicine Hat was backed up.  We drove 12km in 38 minutes.  Finally an hour after we left our house we got to the highway to get on our way to Medicine Hat. The first game was really tense to watch since the Fireballs were playing the other NW team from Calgary. It just shows how evenly balanced the team are…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Out of town Tournaments

Some people love them and some people hate them.  I love out of town tournaments even it they are only 20 minutes from where I live.  I just love tournaments and wish that I had gotten to more while I played. The biggest challenge to out of town tournaments I find is not getting enough rest throughout the weekend and not eating as healthy as you should.  Also with staying at a hotel with a pool just about all the girls on the younger teams want to go into the pool between games, which personally…

by Elizabeth Merritt

Tournament time again

It's time for tournaments again.  They happen all through out the season, but right now it's time for two particular tournaments.  This weekend there is the Ed Horvath tournament in Medicine Hat.  I'm beyond excited for it right now I have always wanted to go to this tournament and now I'm going with the team I coach.  I'm expecting it to be an amazing weekend already.  It will be great to go and watch some higher level games for the team I coach to pick up on some new skills or plays. With having a…