Ringette

Ringette

A young girl playing Ringette
Characteristics
Mixed gender	female
Presence
Olympic	No
Paralympic	No

Ringette is a team sport with two variations, one indoor and one outdoor version. The winter sport is played on an ice rink. One indoor court version is called gym ringette.

The game objective is to outscore the opposing team. Created in Canada, the sport is played on an ice surface, primarily by women and girls, and requires the use of ice skates. The sport uses a blue rubber pneumatic ring and all players, with the exception of goaltenders, use a straight stick. One of the sport's most recognizable and defining features is the fact that it does not involve the use of intentional body contact as a strategic component. Despite its primary popularity among female participants, the sport is officially mixed.

In the sport's home nation, Canada, the nations elite ringette players play in the National Ringette League (NRL). The final competition is held annually at the Canadian Ringette Championships. The winning team in the NRL division is awarded the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup named after the late Governor General of Canada, Jeanne Sauvé. Initially coined the Jeanne Sauvé Cup and initiated in December of 1984, it was first presented at the 1985 Canadian Ringette Championships in Dollard des Ormeaux, Québec. It is now entitled the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup, in memory of the late Governor General of Canada and is awarded to the best team in the National Ringette League.

Ringette is a winter season team sport played on an ice rink using ice skates. From its beginnings in 1963 in Northern Ontario, participation in the sport has increased in Canada, and spread to the United States of America, Finland, Sweden and France. In Canada an annual national level competition is held called the Canadian Ringette Championships and the sport is also included in the Canada Winter Games.

Ringette was invented in 1963 by the Northern Ontario Recreation Directors Association (NORDA), led by the two founders of ringette, Sam Jacks, from West Ferris, Ontario, director of Parks and Recreation for the city of North Bay, Ontario and Mirl "Red" McCarthy, recreation director for the town of Espanola, Ontario. The title of birthplace of ringette is shared by both North Bay, Ontario, and Espanola, Ontario, where the first game was played in the fall of 1963 under the direction of McCarthy.