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Season in full swing for AA ringette teams

The 2019-20 season is shaping up to be another positive campaign for Zone 2 Ringette.

Formed in 2015, Zone 2 Ringette provides AA-calibre teams for local players in U14, U16 and U19. The three rosters are comprised of high-level athletes from Cochrane, Airdrie, Strathmore, Langdon and Water Valley, who try out for the select squads after excelling within their local associations.

“It’s the highest level they can play at before they get into…National Ringette League (NRL) teams, like the Calgary Rath,” said Andy Teskey, treasurer for Zone 2 Ringette and father to two players. “You tend to find that every NRL player has played at the AA level.”

Aidrie is the most represented community among Zone 2 teams, according to Teskey, with 17 players hailing from the city.

All three teams recently enjoyed success at the Woods Ringette Tournament in Edmonton Nov. 22 to 24, with each squad ending the weekend unbeaten – the U14 and U16 crews skated to the gold medal, while the U19s earned bronze.

“The U19AA team had three wins and two tied games, and they beat Winnipeg’s BVRA Angels in the [bronze-medal final], 4-3,” Teskey said. “The U14s had five wins, and they beat Buffalo Plains in the final 7-5 to get gold. And the U16s had five wins, beating the Calgary Force 9-5 in the final, to get gold.”

The triumphs in Edmonton continued a medal-filled season for Zone 2 teams, which already earned a host of hardware at the St. Albert Turkey Ring Oct. 12 to 14, the Regina Elite AA Tournament Nov. 1 to 3 and the Sherwood Park Platinum Ring tournament Nov. 8 to 10. 

Playing for Zone 2 is a serious commitment, according to Teskey, as the teams train up to three times a week, on top of regular-season play in regional AA leagues and occasional tournaments across Canada.

“There is a lot more opportunity to go to high-level tournaments [in AA],” he said. “If you look at the three Zone 2 teams, they’re travelling to Guelph, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Regina [this season].”

For Zone 2 players, simply making it to practices can be a challenge. Because the association’s teams are comprised of players from multiple municipalities, Teskey said, Zone 2 squads hold practices in locations throughout the catchment area. That means players can travel from Strathmore to Cochrane, or vice-versa, for a single on-ice session.

“We’ve practiced in the new Royal Oak YMCA, Chestermere, Airdrie, Strathmore and Cochrane,” he said. “We get ice wherever we can find it, because we don’t have our own home arena.”

The three teams’ ambition is to win their respective 2020 provincial AA championships in March, according to Teskey. If they can do that, they’ll advance to either the national AA ringette championships for U16 and U19, or the western Canadian championships for U14.

It’s a stage Zone 2 teams have become accustomed to ­– the U14s won provincials and westerns last year, while the U16s finished third at provincials, earning the squad a berth at nationals, where it won five out of seven games.

“A lot of the girls on the U16 team now were on the successful U14 team last year, who were the provincial and also western champions,” Teskey said.

Next up for Zone 2 Ringette will be the Erika Driesen Memorial AA Tournament in Lacombe, Alta., Dec. 13 to 15.

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