Juniors on a Mission

The St. Albert Mission are peaking for the Ringette Alberta junior U16AA provincials at the right time.

The tournament hosts for the six-team, 14-game competition this weekend are playing their best ringette of the season when it matters the most.

“We’re clicking as family now and it helps on the ice because everyone knows where each other is,” said captain Katie Shigeta, one of four returning players on the Mission roster that includes seven U14AA tweens from last season. “We started off (the season) OK and since then we’ve become really close. We’ve really bonded as a team and we’re playing like one.”

The Mission are an impressive 24-6-3 overall after Sunday’s 9-2 victory over Spruce Grove U19A.

“We’re going to come out strong for provincials,” said assistant captain Maddy Sanders. “We just need to focus on what we want to do. We all know what our positions are on the team and how to do them. We’re really good with communication and our defence is really good too so right now we’re focusing on our offence.”

All six teams at provincials qualify for nationals, March 25 to April 4 at Fort McMurray. The provincial winner will represent Team Alberta and the rest of the teams will go as their club teams.

“It’s a good thing that everyone gets a chance to have that experience but I kind of wish that you’ve got to make it (as the provincial champion) so it means more,” Shigeta said. “Everyone is really, really good this year and pretty evenly matched so anyone can win it. If we do our best we can probably be right up there too.”

Last year the Mission placed fifth at provincials and 13th at nationals in Regina as the fourth-lowest Alberta juniors out of six teams. The Central Alberta Sting returned home with silver medals, Team Alberta (Calgary Edge) won bronze, Calgary Koda finished fifth, Edmonton Elite placed 10th and Zone 5 Zeal placed 15th overall.

“I feel like we can do better this year. We now know what everyone’s strengths are,” Sanders said.

Last season marked the debut of junior AA ringette in St. Albert.

“It helped us because now we know what we have to do at nationals,” said Sanders, a 16-year-old centre. “We were kind of a little lost last year on things we needed to do and the teams we were playing because we were playing teams we hadn’t played yet. Now we understand what to expect and we just have to focus on our game.”

Nationals were an eye-opener for the players.

“It was harder than I thought it would be. It was 10 games in five days so we always had to be ready. Cardio was a really big thing because (the schedule) was really crowded and crammed but it was a really fun experience too,” said Shigeta, a 15-year-old centre.

Performing on the provincial stage at home is a big plus for the Mission in their quest to wear the Team Alberta colours at nationals.

“It will be good to play at home and because of that I feel we’re already prepared with what we have to do,” said Sanders, a Grade 10 Bellerose Composite High School student.

“It’s really exciting. We hope a lot of people will come and watch,” added Shigeta, a Grade 10 Paul Kane High School student. “It’s going to be really good for us. We can sleep well. We’re close to the rink. There will be lots of team bonding. It’s going to be a really good experience.”

ICE CHIPS: Friday in pool A the Mission plays Calgary Pursuit at 9 a.m. at Kinex Arena and the Elite at 1:30 p.m. at Mark Messier Arena.

Visit www.ringettealberta.com or www.stalbertringette.com for the schedule and results.