The Buffalo Plains Impact and Regina Rattlers will head to Finland, Sweden, and Czechia in April to play ringette against some of the best in the world.
“I’m most excited to give all these girls this opportunity. Girls don’t get the opportunity in sports that boys do. So for me to be able to take these 13 young ladies over that play the sport they love in some different countries, it’s a privilege of mine,” said Regina Rattlers head coach, Tania Orr, teary eyed.
Orr’s daughter, Falon Wilker, is a member of the Rattlers’ team.
“I’m excited for the competition but I’m also excited to travel with my team because we are really close and I think it’s going to be a good experience for all of us together,” said Wilker.
Buffalo Plains head coach, Jeff Paterson, travelled with one of the last teams from Saskatchewan to compete overseas in the sport back in 2018.
“The experience and travel with the team, the lifelong friends. Get ready for some fun times, travel, and great ringette,” said Paterson on how he has been preparing this team for the big trip this time around.
Paterson was not a coach for the Regina Ice, the local team that travelled last time. However, he has taken over as head coach this time around as his daughter, Jetta, is a member of the Impact.
“I think it’s going to be an experience like no other and just really cool to be in a different country playing a sport that I love, with the people I love,” said Olivia Moroz, a member of the Impact.
The teams, who consist of players born in 2006-2008, are travelling just one day apart. They noted they are some of the fiercest rivals on the ice here in Saskatchewan given the smaller ringette community, but they will not actually face each other once they are in Europe due to different schedules.
“As much as we are rivals, I think it’s so cool that they get the opportunity as well,” said Regina Rattler, Bree Schulz.
“I think it’s cool because we play them a lot here and so I think going to Europe and just having friendly, familiar faces while we’re there will be cool. But the fact we don’t get to play them and get to play other teams will be good,” said Kate Elder, a member of the Buffalo Plains Impact.
Download the CTV News app to get local alerts sent to your device
“I thought about it, ‘Imagine if we saw them there?’ Which we might, I have no idea but imagine just seeing a small town Regina team playing in Europe. That’s awesome,” exclaimed Elder’s teammate, Malaea Bonnell.
The teams will be the first from Saskatchewan to play ringette in Czechia.
“I’m so excited! I’m so proud that we get to represent Saskatchewan as a team and go together,” said Camryn Wiebe, who plays defence for the Rattlers.
“It’s cool, especially the fact that we’re going to the first teams. It’s a really cool opportunity, it’s quite amazing actually,” said Elder.
“We have such a good group of girls. We’re all super competitive. We all have such a huge passion for the sport. I think we’re the perfect group to go across the world and show them how much we love the sport,” exclaimed Schulz.
They will have exhibition games against Czechia as well as Sweden but will be competing in a tournament in Finland. The players were all adamant that they believe Finland will be the spot where they face their toughest competition in the sport.
“From what I’ve been told, Finland is probably going to be tough. They’re big on ringette there, they know what they’re doing,” said Wilker.
“I know they’re really good, especially Finland, they’ve won Worlds and stuff. So I think the competition there will be a big change,” said Elder.
It is a significant trip for the athletes who have never travelled further than Alberta to compete in the sport.
“I’ve never been on a plane before,” laughed Wiebe. “I’m most excited to see what the competition is like. I know we have lots of things that we have planned. Some museums and lots of sites so we do have some free time to spend roaming the cities in Europe.”
“I’ve never travelled that long so I guess I’ll figure it out along the way. I’ve heard that Prague is really beautiful so I’m excited to go there,” stated Schulz.
“[I’m most excited for the] museums, I like history. I like learning about everything and getting to see a new country and their perspective on everything,” said Bonnell.
The Regina Ringette Association plans to incorporate a European travel team into its program for players every other year.
