Are you or one of your family members a ringette player, coach, or official in Ontario? If so, Ringette Ontario’s harmful plan for next season WILL affect you, no matter what level of play!

A. Why we love ringette:

Ringette is a niche sport and nowhere near as popular as hockey, but its members are in love with it for so many reasons, including: the collaborative nature of the game, the smaller community feeling, the welcoming and inclusive nature, the support of athletes at all levels, building friendships and continuing to play with friends as you grow, the development opportunities, etc. Watch this promotional video from Ringette Ontario to get a better sense of why we care so deeply about this amazing sport: www.ringetteontario.com/article/91291 

B. Ringette Ontario’s misguided plan:

How ironic that Ringette Ontario is quietly and non-transparently rolling out a new plan under the guise of increasing competitiveness at the national level, which in reality, will drastically cut competitive opportunities for Ontario’s athletes, particularly in Ottawa (when compared to those in Southern Ontario). 

#WeAreRingette? More like #EveryoneButOttawaAreRingette! 

Ringette Ontario’s exceptionally misguided and underdeveloped plan will amalgamate Ontario’s 53 ringette associations into 7 “Zones”, with only 1 (or perhaps 2, but only at Ringette Ontario’s discretion) AA team per Zone and a max of 1 A team per association. 

And if you think this is only a “proposal”, check out this website set up for this year’s U19AA pilot program, whereby Ringette Ontario forced an amalgamation of Ottawa area associations’ U19AA teams into only 2 Zone-wide teams. https://easternontarioaaringette.ca/ This new “Eastern Ontario Ringette Association” is now recruiting Board members and it’s only a matter of time before Zone 6’s U14AA and U16AA teams are added here. At the bottom of the home page, all nine of the associations in Zone 6 are listed. 

C. The numbers:

To put this into perspective, the Ottawa area currently consists of 9 associations, 4 of which have a U14AA and a U16AA team, and 1 of which has 2 amalgamated U19AA teams for the 2024-2025 season. Ringette Ontario is proposing that all 9 associations, along with Kingston, will form Zone 6. This will ultimately cut AA teams in the Ottawa region from 10 to 3, forcing the vast majority of Ottawa’s AA players to move down to A, resulting in A players falling to B, and B players to C. 

AA teams in Ontario, 2024-25 season:

9x U14AA teams (4 or 44% are in Zone 6)
11x U16AA teams (4 or 36% are in Zone 6)
8x U19AA teams (2 or 25% are in Zone 6)

AA teams in Ontario, 2025-26 season:

10x U14AA teams (1-2 per Zone)
8x U16AA teams (1-2 per Zone)
8x U19AA teams (1-2 per Zone)

These numbers show that Ringette Ontario will add a U14AA team somewhere in the province, while cutting the longstanding Ottawa AA teams.

Also, Ringette Ontario plans to only allow a maximum of 1 A team per association next year! This (coupled with all the AA players who won’t make the limited AA teams) will make it impossible for all A-level players to find a spot on an A team, let alone continue to play with friends they’ve played with for years. And what about the B and C players? Many will be pushed farther down in level, fighting to find a spot on a team.

Where’s the inclusivity? Where are the development opportunities? Where’s the fun if you can’t continue to play with friends? 

D. Lack of player development opportunities and retention of ringette athletes: 

Reducing the number of AA teams DOES NOT encourage growth or increase player develop opportunities; instead, it stifles potential and goes against the very purpose and spirit of a sports organization. 

I personally know many families of young athletes on competitive ringette teams who are already looking into hockey opportunities for next year. So much for Ringette Ontario’s 2023-2028 strategic objectives that include the following: “increase member retention”, “deliberately grow the sport”, “transparent processes”, “provide pathways that allow athletes to participate at the level they can achieve”, etc.

E. Accountability:

Here are some very important unanswered questions for Ringette Ontario:

1. How does drastically reducing the number of AA teams and capping the number of A teams enhance competitive player development or set our athletes up for future success at these competitive levels?
2. How does forcing our athletes into levels below their skills, capabilities, and competitiveness align with Ringette Ontario’s strategic objective to “provide pathways that allow athletes to participate at the level they can achieve”?
3. In the Ottawa area, there are 9 associations with a total of 25 AA/A teams, accounting for 36% of Ontario’s AA teams and 25% of Ontario’s A teams. Why is Ringette Ontario disadvantaging Ottawa’s rich talent pool by amalgamating all Ottawa and surrounding area associations into only one Zone? As a comparison, there are 6 ringette associations in the Greater Toronto Area with a total of 13 AA/A teams, which will be split into 3 Zones (along with other association across Southern Ontario).
4. Why would any reputable and competent provincial sports organization remove or withhold development opportunities for 96.2% of their athletes to gamble on the 3.8% high-performance athletes being more competitive at the national level*?
5. Following Ringette Ontario’s decision to remove the competitive stream at the U12 level a few years ago, which prevented the development of competitive-minded athletes by forcing the balancing of teams (a strategy that Ringette Ontario claimed would bring more young athletes to the competitive stream), why is Ringette Ontario now slashing the number of young athletes in the competitive stream? How do you justify this 180 degree change in philosophy and strategy?
6. Why hasn’t Ringette Ontario consulted with players, families, coaches, and officials to at least try to gather feedback and insight before rushing the implementation of such a drastic change, and how does this align with Ringette Ontario’s core value “Integrity – We govern our sport with transparency and fairness”? And what will Ringette Ontario do to regain the trust of the thousands this decision will affect?
7. Why wouldn’t Ringette Ontario learn from other sports models, such as hockey’s AAA that originally started with a few off-season select teams, and was then rolled out years later for the regular season once enough numbers and interest were attained, all without cutting the number of AA or A teams?
8. Does Ringette Ontario truly believe that the sport of ringette in Ontario is strong enough to survive the shock and betrayal of the provincial organization turning its back on hundreds of AA and A level players who will be forced out of the competitive stream?
9. Is there a contingency plan to recruit athletes back to ringette who will inevitably quit this sport for the significantly more stable structure of youth hockey in Ontario?  

* According to Ringette Ontario, there are 9,500 registered ringette players in Ontario. Next year, Ringette Ontario will cap the number of AA teams at 26 (10x U14AA, 8x U16AA, and 8x U19AA). With a minimum of 12 players and 2 goalies required per team, that’s a total of 364 AA players, or 3.8% of registered ringette players in Ontario.

F. Plea to Ringette Ontario:

We urgently request that Ringette Ontario reconsider their proposed changes and timelines, and to keep the interests of all athletes, at every level, at the heart of their decision-making. Ringette Ontario should focus on policies that promote competitive development in younger age groups leading up to the competitive stream, as well as policies that ensure growth, equitable opportunities, and athlete development, true to their mission. Let us ensure that generations of future athletes can enjoy this incredible sport and participate at their highest achievable level!

Please sign this petition to stand with our young athletes, families, coaches, and officials and prevent Ringette Ontario from rolling out their detrimental team formation plan.