[Leica] A father's admiration! :-) ringette answer.

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Dave Mason asked:
Subject: Re: [Leica] A father's admiration! :-)


> This Southern US boy does have a couple questions though...
>>1) why is synchro. swimming a Winter Sport? <<<

Good question. I could give you a some what flippant answer like..... "The 
Northern Canadians want to show how they swim with attitude when they fall 
through the ice on the lake;-)

It was put in the Games as the athletes come from each of the Provinces with 
many junior swimmers who've not competed in a big sport event. So this is a 
way to give them experince at a large competion.

>>2) what exactly is the game with the little donut and sticks?<<<<
The game is "Ringette" played similarly to ice hockey only with a ring you 
see in the pictures. And straight sticks.

It's played on ice and Gym floor or church hall floor. Both boys and girls 
play.
======================================

Some extra information from Ringette Canada.
Ringette is a sport in which primarily girls and women of all ages compete 
at all levels of physical activity using their strength, intellect and 
spirit to obtain measurable results. The game provides numerous 
opportunities for players to develop their skills on and off the ice, to 
compete competitively and make new friends.

The sport was invented in 1963 in Ontario by the late Sam Jacks. It was to 
be a winter team sport played on ice with skates for girls as an 
alternative, somewhere between figure skating and ice hockey. Today it has 
been adapted to gym ringette and in-line ringette. This summer there are 
clinics happening throughout Alberta where communities are learning the new 
variations!

Players use straight sticks to pass, carry and shoot a rubber ring. For the 
gym and in-line version, a larger, harder ring is used which slides on any 
surface. The objective is to control the ring while moving it down the ice 
to score goals in opposing team's net.

There are over 35,000 people playing ringette across Canada. Since it's 
inception, registration has increased each year. Ringette is played in all 
provinces and the NWT. Over the course of the average season there are more 
than 125 sanctioned tournaments from coast to coast. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<,



ted