Background

The Ringette BC's 2019-2023 Strategic Plan seeks to achieve Ringette BC’s Vision, Mission and Values. As part of the implementation and road map for the next five years of the Strategic Plan, Ringette BC has released the Athlete Experience Pathways report, which provides background and explains the changes to the competition framework and athlete pathways.

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As part of the Strategic Plan, 7 Zone teams were formed in the U14, U16 and U19 divisions. 

These teams take the place of the AA division in the Lower Mainland and other regions in the province.

Club (or sometimes referred to as Community) Teams are still in operation in these divisions as well. 

CMRA and PCRMRA combine to make Zone 1.

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Why the change?

Drop-out rates for athletes, especially female athletes, is high at U14. Ringette BC loses 40% of its athletes between those moving into U14 and those moving into U16. The previous high-performance entry model at U14 was not sustainable and may, in fact, have be contributing to the dropout rate by streaming athletes out of competitive play too early while limiting access to development opportunities. Too few athletes have access to high performance competition and training opportunities under the previous model.

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Club or Community Teams

The Club Pathway is focused on long-term athlete development, sport for life, and building friendships.

Key Characteristics:

• Community-based “Club” teams will be formed around skill and ability, friendships and age groups

• All teams are eligible to participate in Provincial Championships

• Competition is primarily regional with optional travel

• Teams will have two team events per week

• Additional development opportunities may be provided

• Teams in the same age division within each Club Association will be balanced to create more opportunities for meaningful competition under the competition structure:

  • Teams are formed using evaluation criteria and Coach input OR by player draft between Head Coaches.

  • If there are not enough players to form a CMRA or PCRMRA division, players will be merged into one team.

  • If a merged team is formed, CMRA and PCRMRA will determine which Association will be the home for the team to practice out of

• Ringette BC will introduce a new, more flexible Player Pick Up policy for league play, tournaments and Provincial Championships to allow teams that wish to play and more an opportunity to do so, and to provide additional development opportunities to those players that are volunteering for extra games:

  • Players can now be picked up to play in five leagues games and one tournament

  • Teams may participate with 50% plus one rostered players provided that the players picked-up have similar ordinals to the players unable to attend.

• Community teams play with the goal of competing at the Ringette BC Provincial Championships and may attend tournaments at the discretion of the team.

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Zone Representative Division

Zone teams merge together A and AA into geographically-representative Zone teams. CMRA and PCRMRA are Zone 1.

Key Characteristics:

• For athletes who are seeking to play at a higher level and are in the late stages of the Train to Train stage of the Long-Term Athlete Development model

• All Zone teams will compete at the Provincial Championships.

• All Zone teams in the province will compete against each other throughout the season

  • Teams will be required to attend a minimum of one tournament in each league that hosts a Zone team

  • Out of province travel is optional

• Teams will train and practice within their Zone

  • practices and games will be allocated proportionately based on where players are from - For example, if 45% of players come from Club Association A and 55% from Club Association B, each Club Association would allocate ice for practices and games following these proportions.

• Teams will be female only or male only (except U19 for the 2023-24 season)

  • Vision is that BC will have male only teams to compete with each other at Western Canadian Championships

• Teams will have 2-3 team events per week

  • Individual training sessions (dryland or multi-sport training) are also encouraged

• Team costs that are not covered by registration fees are estimated at $1,200 - $1,500 per player.

  • A season budget will be prepared by the Team Staff

  • Budget will include items such as the cost of inter-league tournament registration and team apparel.

• Teams are required to give Ringette BC a deposit of $5000 at the beginning of the season

  • The deposit is to ensure that the competition requirements of the program are met

  • It will be refunded back to the team once the team has fulfilled its competition requirements that include attending a minimum of one tournament in each of the leagues hosting a Zone team and Provincial Championships

• Refer to https://www.ringettebc.ca/strategic-plan/athlete-experience/4842-2/ for more detail​

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How does a player tryout for a Zone Team?

Players in the U14 to U19 divisions can choose to evaluate for placement on a Zone Division Team or be placed on a Community Division team.

Find the current evaluation process on Ringette BC's website. 

For the team formation, the Head Zone Coach, in consultation with the League, will make the final player selection decisions for each Zone Representative team. Final player selection should reflect player ordinals with only minor variation.

U14 Zone Division Guidelines

U16 & U19 Zone Division Guidelines

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*NEW for 2023-24 - U14 TeamBC

Players wanting to compete at Western Canadian Championships will be able to tryout for that team through Ringette BC's U14 Train to Excel Program.  Visit their website for more info.

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For questions about Player Development email playerdev@coqmoodyringette.com