The tournament director for the fourth annual Stadnyk Frozen Ring has high hopes for winter weather conditions next weekend for the only outdoor ringette competition in the province.
“I have been praying for the cold. Everyone else has been loving this warm weather but I’ve been biting my nails and I don’t have too many left,” said Donna Sawchuk. “I know I’m asking for a lot but it would be ideal if we can have around minus six, minus eight and overcast.”
Twenty-seven games are scheduled for the Alpine and Flagstone outdoor rinks and another 11 games will be played at the Akinsdale, Kinex, Mark Messier and Troy Murray arenas.
“I was quite happy to hear that it is getting colder this week so the city will have the opportunity to get out there and get the rinks in better shape. We pay the city to come out and put ringette lines on the ice for us,” Sawchuk said. “A couple of years ago we had some warm temperatures and the sun was beating down and it actually melted the lines on the ice.”
The Frozen Ring, named in honour of former St. Albert Ringette Association president Glenn Stadnyk, will bring together 19 teams from across the province in the U10 Step 2 (seven teams) and Step 3 (five teams) and U12 petite A (four teams) and C (three teams) divisions.
SARA is represented by the Huskies and Fire Rings in U10 Step 2, Sting and Tenacious in Step 3, Shock and Fear in U12A and Chicks with Sticks in U12C.
Every team in the tournament will play indoors at least once and all the finals will be staged outdoors at Flagstone for U10 Step 2 and Step 3 and at Alpine for U12 A and C.
Teams will have access to the clubhouses at both outdoor rinks throughout the weekend.
The tournament opener is 7:45 a.m. Friday between the Huskies and Fire Rings at Flagstone.
At 8 p.m. Friday players can skate and play with the reigning Canadian University Challenge Cup champions from the University of Alberta at Alpine.
A free pancake breakfast for players and parents goes from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Alpine.
The Elevate Activewear Shootout on Saturday starts at 11:30 a.m. for U12 at Alpine and 2:30 p.m. for U10 at Flagstone.
The popular St. Albert coaches versus the out-of-town coaches ringette game Saturday runs from 8 to 9 p.m. at Alpine.
“It’s a busy weekend but it’s a lot of fun too,” Sawchuk said. “We want to make it a really special event for the players and the parents. It’s really unique to play in an outdoor tournament. I love the sport of ringette and I think it’s really neat to put on a tournament like this. It’s a combination of playing outdoors and the atmosphere that makes it so special. The City of St. Albert has been just amazing in assisting us too. We’re able to have fire pits and we have bales of hay out so we can sit on.
“We also play O Canada at the start of each game, which the players don’t necessarily get all the time. It’s things like that which make it so enjoyable.”
Visit www.stalbertringette.com for the Frozen Ring schedule.
