This message was posted to the women-in-hockey mailing list: ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 15:16:34 -0600 (MDT) From: nihacan@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca To: women-in-hockey@plaidworks.com Subject: Re: WOMEN-IN-HOCKEY digest 38 Hi there - I would like to answer the "What the heck is ringette?" question. Ringette was invented over 26 years ago by a recreation programmer who wanted a great game for girls - it is a "non-contact" game (just like basketball, right?) The game is played with skates on ice, five on five plus a goalie. The game is a combination of hockey, basketball and soccer. Players wear full equipment very similar to ice hockey, except most teams prefer the full leg cooperal as opposed to hockey pants and socks. Basic play starts with a "free pass" where Team A has posession of the ring (usually a blue rubber ring, approximately 1" thick and 4 or 5" wide in diameter) the player has 5 seconds to make a pass from inside one half of one of the five circle to someone on the outside. Players use a straight stick much like a blade-less hockey stick. Players can not carry the ring from end to end as the ring must be passed at each blue line. This game emphasizes teamwork, speed, finness and ring control. It is an excellent way to develop skating skills for the beginning skater. Ringette has been in the Canada Winter Games, has held National Championships for over 17 years and has held three World Championships. The last World championships were held in Minnesota in April 1994. Approximatley 60,000 people (some men) play in Canada with a growing number of countries participating every year. In fact the last World championships were won by the Finnish national team! And that is a very short synopsis of what ringette is. NATIONAL IN-LINE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION email: nihacan@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca EDMONTON, AB, T5G 0X5 ------------------------------