It’s pretty much the ultimate Christmas present for 20 Vernon ringette players.
Exhibition play in Sweden followed by the Finland Lions Cup in Helsinki and tickets to some of the World Junior Hockey Championships. And some of the girls and their families started the trip of a lifetime touring London and Paris.
“As soon as the e-mails came out last year about the trip, everybody was in,” smiled Wynter Vanderdeen, a 15-year-old, Grade 10 Seaton student. “We’re super excited about what will be a cool experience. We should do quite well; we have a really fun team.”
Tournament games go Saturday through Monday with five different B.C. teams competing. There are Under 19 and U16 entries featuring 13 Vernon girls, 21 from Kelowna and seven from the Vancouver region. The Lions Cup is part of the Ringette Winter Festival.
Kelowna will also be represented by a U14 team with one local player in their lineup, while Vernon and Kelowna have six players apiece on the U12 team. Prince George, Calgary and Whitby, Ont. also have entries in Helsinki.
Exhibition games ended today in Stockholm with teams then taking a ferry to Helsinki. Several girls and their families are taking in the New Year’s Eve showdown between Canada and Sweden and the medal games at the world junior tournament.
Players will also attend some of the World Ringette Championships in Helsinki, starting New Year’s Day with the Canada U21s versus Finland U20s and Canada against Finland (Open Division).
Vanderveen, who plays locally for Blair Campbell’s U16s, plays defence and centre. She said the Vernon girls did some bagging at Superstore and ran some bottle drives to help fundraise.
Joining Vanderveen on the U16A squad are Vernon’s Courtney Bacon, Hailey Quiring, Maddie Powls, Bryn Taylor-Hawes and Madi Fox. Vernon’s Paige Powls, president of Vernon Ringette, and Ian Hawes are the coaches.
Quiring received an iPhone6 as an early Christmas gift, but realizes the Euro experience is the big-time present from her folks. Expectations for the Grade 9 VSS athlete are certainly realistic.
“I hope there’s good competition and I get to meet lots of new people,” said Quiring, a 14-year-old forward.
“I started playing ringette when I was four. I just stood there and watched at first. My dad (Darcy, coach of U12 team for Finland) coached me in Novice when I was better. “I set a lot of people up but I also like scoring.”
Alyssa Racine, a multi-sport star who turns 16 on Jan. 28, said team parents helped in fundraising efforts by holding a pub/auction night. The Grade 10 Seaton student expects tough tests in Finland as she skates with the B.C. U19 Fusion.
“I think they’re going to be all better teams over there,” said Racine, who plays volleyball, soccer and Midget rec hockey. “I’m excited to be playing with my sister, Kendra, a 19-year-old overager. We used to fight, but now that she’s moved out (studying nursing at UBCO), we get along fine.”
Emily Williams, Emma and Aly Carter and Bailey and Abby Williamson team up with the Racine sisters on the U19 roster. Warren Carter and Ron Racine of Vernon are on the coaching staff.
Makenna Jackson, a 10-year-old centre in Grade 5 at Beairsto, wasn’t sure if any other Christmas surprises were coming her way.
Jackson has been playing the sport for five years and loves filling the net.
“I prefer scoring, but if I get three goals, I like to pass it around. The highlight will be seeing a different country and how their skills are different from ours.”
Hilary Quiring, a Grade 5 BX student, will join Jackson, Mackenzie Gilman, Rhys Taylor Hawes, Kaila Summerfeld and Kristin Francks as Vernon products on the U12 team. Vernon’s Jordan Tung will play for the Kelowna U14s.
“I’m excited to be playing with my team and playing against the Finland girls,” said Quiring, noting she’s primarily a playmaker. “We also get to see Canada play in the world junior hockey tournament.”
In exhibition play, jetlag did not affect the U16 Fusion as they downed a spirited Northwest Calgary squad 5-3 at the Husby Ishall in Stockholm Tuesday afternoon.
Backed by strong performances from Georgia Gregory and Hannah Skwarcynski, who shared netminding duty, the Fusion got an early goal from Hailey Quiring, followed by singles from Chelsea Statham and Bacon and a pair from Nicole Amaral. The next time the girls hit the ice will be in Helsinki,
GTA (Greater Toronto Area) iced the Fusion 2 (from Vernon and Fraser Valley) 7-2 in other exhibition play.
BC goal scorers were Emma Carter, with a deuce (one off a pretty passing play with linemates Racine and Delayney Gregory of Kelowna, and another sneaking a shot just inside the post in tight), Gregory finished a beauty of a cross-crease pass from Emma Carter).
In U12 play, the Vernon-Kelowna entry shut down Sweden 7-0 behind a hat trick from Jackson, a pair from Francks and singles from Gilman and Marin Wong.
Vernon area Platinum sponsors behind the trek are: Sutco Contracting (based in Salmo but haul chips and lumber, all around B.C., including Vernon, and Ron Racine’s chips in Merritt); Gold sponsors are Vernon’s DCT Chambers and Bronze sponsors from Vernon are Parnell’s Appliances, Cookson Idealease and Telus.
