Welcome to National Ringette School!

June 10, 2020 – Update

Dear Ringette Families,

We hope you are able to be outside taking advantage of warmer summer weather.

Like many of you, we have been following the progress each province has made in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and we have been familiarizing ourselves with their reopening strategies.  We are encouraged to see that some provinces are in a position to start allowing more physical activity by opening more facilities.  We hope the facilities and operators are able to do so in a way that keeps everyone safe.

So what does this mean for us and running ringette camps in July and August 2020?  Unfortunately, we are not in a position to re-open registration at this time.  This decision is made with three things in mind: the health and safety of our instructors, your children and your families; the uncertainty of whether there will be resurgence in COVID-19 cases that would close down provinces again; and the financial risk that re-opening registration poses to us as a business.  Our initial cancellation of Summer 2020 camps in April came with a significant financial loss and doing so again would be quite detrimental to our small business.   

As Alberta is implementing Stage 2 beginning June 12th in Alberta, provincial authorities have provided guidelines on operating day camps. Please go to the following link for full details: https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/covid-19-relaunch-guidance-day-camps.pdf.  As you can see, the long list of requirements and restrictions would render it very difficult to run a full-day ringette camp that would be comparable to the top quality product we’ve provided in the past.

Lastly, we are also considering the decisions by Ringette Canada and provincial ringette associations, as many of the risks and liabilities that they face are similar to those that we encounter when running camps.  The bottom line is: we need to feel comfortable with regards to the responsibility of preventing COVID-19 transmission between children and families in a ringette environment.  We aren’t there yet.   We will be continuing to monitor the progress made in each province and if Stage 3 is implemented before the end of the summer, we may yet be back at the rink together.  

In the meantime, we are working on some fun at home ringette activities that we will be sending out at the start of July.  Something to keep us connected during this time of separation.

We hope that we will see you back in the arenas for camp during Winter break and in the summer of 2021.

Thank you for your patience and interest in our camps.

Stay safe and healthy!

The NRS Team

May 4, 2020 – Refunds Update

Thank you for your patience.  We have processed all of the refunds for every participant that was registered for a camp or program this summer. 

The refund should appear on your credit card statement this week.  If you purchased your camp using one credit card number and have a new credit card number, the refund should still appear on your credit card statement.  The credit card companies typically link these accounts. 

If you paid for your registration by using the payment plan option, the refund will reflect these same payments (i.e. if you made 2 out of 3 payments, then you will receive 2 separate refunds and the third payment has been cancelled).

If you do not receive your fees by the end of this week please email us at questions@nationalringetteschool.com.  

April 27, 2020 – Camps Update

We are all living in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has created tremendous uncertainty for all Canadians, including concerns for our health and safety as well as for our economic security.

In trying to plan for our 2020 National Ringette School summer camps we have been following the news carefully and have consulted with a number of others

On Thursday, April 23^rd, 2020, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hinshaw, announced that the orders in place prohibiting gatherings of 15 or more people would continue throughout the summer. She explained that this would be reassessed in the fall. This order also requires that people gathered in groups of fewer than 15 to maintain a distance of two metres from one another. The result is the automatic cancellation of all one-time or annual summer events in Alberta, including our summer ringette camps.

If you have been to one of our ringette camps you know that it is exactly the opposite of social distancing – it is a celebration of coming together for a week of shared excitement. It is playing and learning closely together both on and off the ice and it is the sharing of hugs and laughs with both new and old friends. That closeness is what makes ringette and ringette camp special.

While there may be differences across Canada as to when some of the restrictions on activities happen, it seems clear that any relaxing of those restrictions will not occur until late spring or summer. At that time there will likely be a gradual lifting of those restrictions. Things done for fun and entertainment – like recreation and attending a summer camp – will likely be toward the end of the list when it comes time to relax the social distancing rules.

With this in mind have decided that we will not be proceeding with the operation of our camps for July and August 2020. This is by far one of the most difficult decisions we have ever made. We realize that this will likely cause sadness and frustration in your households, as it does in ours. We do however feel that it is the right decision to make in order to ensure that we do all that we can to protect the health and safety of our participants and their families, as well as the health and safety of our staff and their families.

For the parents that have already registered for a 2020 Summer Camps, we are working through issuing complete refunds of fees paid.  You will receive an email confirmation once your refund has been processed.

Follow along with us this summer for some activities like: instructor challenges, practicing your off-ice shot, strategy chalk talk, fun fitness with your family and much more. Follow us on Facebook (@ringetteschool) or Instagram (@nationalringetteschool).

We truly appreciate your understanding while we work through this time of uncertainty together.

Stay safe and healthy.

Danielle Hargreaves and Murray Pettem

The NRS Team