Ringette History

Ringette has grown a lot since its invention in 1963.  The first invitational tournament was held in Oshawa, Ontario in 1971 and soon most other provinces adopted the game. In 1975, the sport received its first major television exposure during a “Hockey Night in Canada” intermission feature film. In the same year the first regional and provincial championships is held in Ontario. In 1976, the first invitational high school ringette tournament is held in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

In 1979, the sport goes global with the first Canadian ringette team travelling overseas to Europe (Finland). That same year, Winnipeg, Manitoba hosts the first Canadian ringette championships.

In 1983 Ringette Canada gains control of the official ringette rules and ringette rulebook copyright with cooperation of the Ontario Ringette Association and two years later Ringette Canada registers it’s 20,000th player. In 1988, Ringette Canada’s Hall of Fame is established.

In 1990, Gloucester, Ontario, hosts the first-ever world ringette and Team Alberta takes the gold and the all-new Sam Jacks Trophy. That same year, the Canadian ringette championship is televised for the first time from Calgary, Alberta. The next year, in 1991, ringette becomes a feature sport in the Canadian Winter Games for the first time in Prince Edward Island. In 1999, Ringette Canada announces a Women’s National Team program and player selection camps are held country-wide.

The 30-second shot clock rules come into effect for some divisions in 2002, making the game even faster. In 2004, ringette saw the birth of the National Ringette League, which featured 17 teams in three cross-country divisions. In 2008, the first ever world club ringette championship is held in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario featuring four teams from Canada’s National Ringette League and the top two club teams from Finland. In 2009 Canada Post jumped on-board, Canada Post issuing a set of four stamps celebrating Canada’s sporting inventions, including ringette, basketball, five-pin bowling and lacrosse. That same year the inaugural U19 world junior ringette championship takes place in Prague, Czech Republic.