The Rotary Spirit Centre was filled Saturday night as hundreds were on hand to take in a National Ringette League matchup between the Edmonton Wam! and the Edmonton Black Gold Rush.
The teams travelled from Edmonton to play the regular season matchup which was hosted by the Pembina Ringette Association. The event served as a fundraiser for the organization, but also as an opportunity to showcase elite ringette to the community.
“It’s really exciting for all of us at Pembina and I’m hoping it’s a pretty exciting thing for Westlock,” said Pembina Ringette Association president Kyla George.
“I’m hoping it’s getting ringette a lot of good publicity.”
In the end it was the Rush that skated to a 7-1 victory, but the real winners were the young players who got to watch the game and meet and greet with their new idols.
U-12 player Mackenzie Wilcox, 11, said she was impressed at just how good the players were.
“They have really good passing, better than our passing,” Wilcox said. “I got a lot of inspiration from the goalie, because I’m a goalie.”
For the Wam! and the Rush, these small town games aren’t unfamiliar as they often play in rural communities with the goal of showcasing and growing the sport.
“When we do come out to do these showcase games all the young girls that play ringette come out and are very excited,” said the Rush’s leading scorer Danielle Pronovost.
“They cheer loud and get us pumped.”
Pronovost said it’s important now that she’s made it to the NRL to give back and hopefully inspire the next generation of ringette stars.
“I definitely did look up to girls that played in this league and I also looked up to girls that played on Team Canada and I wanted to be like those girls when I grew up,” Pronovost said.
“It’s very important that now that I’m at this level that I can hopefully inspire some younger girls.”
Izzy Calliou, who suits up for the U-14 team said she was pleased to see so many people take interest in the game she loves.
“I’m really excited because it shows interest in ringette. You always see hockey and not ringette,” Calliou said, adding that she was blown away by how good the players were.
“It’s awesome to see how they can play … they’re really good.”
The Wam’s Dani Holliday said it’s key for her and her organization to serve as ambassadors for the sport.
“It’s pretty exciting, it’s a lot of promotion out here. This is the highest level you can play at for ringette, so it’s pretty cool getting out here and showing them that one day they can get up to this level,” Holliday said.
“Coming here and showing them this high level will hopefully get them to stick with the sport and not switch over to hockey.
“It’s always a good atmosphere.”
