When it comes to the sport of ringette, it really is all about the love of the game. As three local players who have given up most of their weekends and put themselves through a demanding routine to get where they are, they know there’s no future in their sport.
“It can’t really go anywhere,” says 16-year-old Brittany Burge, “except the NRL (National Ringette League).”
“You can’t get scholarships and it’s not the Olympics,” adds Jasmine El Gazzar, also 16.
Burge and El Gazzar, along with 19-year-old Erika Lipsett, will be part of the Team BC squad competing at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax in February.
Getting a spot on the team was a rigorous two-year process which started June 2009. There were 120 girls competing for 16 spots on the team. They went through several ID camps, practices, tournaments, fitness testing, mental training and nutrition seminars.
At 19, Lipsett is one of the oldest and most experienced players and this is her second time going to the Games. When she took part in 2007 she was one of youngest.
“In 2007 we placed fifth. We had the potential to do better but it didn’t work out, so now it’s going to be different. I know what to expect and it will be easier to keep focused,” says Lipsett, who will be one the team’s three captains.
“It’s pretty exciting, as a captain you need to be a leader and fun so the girls can look up to you and be comfortable with showing by example how to improve yourself.”
Lipsett used to play a variety of sports from gymnastics to baseball but ringette is her longstanding favourite.
“I started playing when I was four, I’ve been playing for 15 years,” says Lipsett. “I just like the environment at ringette, it’s a lot of fun.”
El Gazzar says she’s “really nervous” about the upcoming Games.
“More nervous knowing we’re the youngest,” says Burge. “Some of them are turning 20 soon and it’s a four-year difference. They’ve been playing four years longer and you’re matched up to them.”
Although El Gazzar has been playing for seven years, in comparison she’s the new girl on the block as Burge is going into her 10th year.
El Gazzar, the team’s goalie, says when she started she wasn’t very good at the game but she “started liking it.”
A lot has changed in seven years. Cathy Lipsett, who is the team’s assistant coach as well as mother to Erika, says El Gazzar is “the top goalie” who reads the play well and has great agility in the net.
“Jasmine goes to a lot of camps and she does really good mental prep at her game. She really prepares well. She’s versatile in her movement in the net, she gets from side to side.”
Burge, who plays forward, says for years she played both hockey and ringette and eventually quit the juggling to focus on her favourite.
“Ringette is faster and more competitive.”
Cathy Lipsett has nothing but praise for Burge’s abilities.
“Brittany is the top checker. She’s come leaps and bounds in strength on the ice, she’s really improved. She’s a Tazmanian devil.”
But as assistant coach, Lipsett says it’s more difficult to comment on Erika’s play, not only because Erika is her daughter but also because Erika doesn’t like to be in the limelight.
“Erika is the top player from the team. She has the scoring – the whole package. She’s quite modest and doesn’t like to be the centre of attention.”
The whole package refers to Lipsett’s versatility as well as her experience and something that comes from within.
“I have a lot of passion for the game,” says Lipsett, “I just love the sport – everything about it… I can play any position, the coach has me all over the place right now. Because I’m versatile I can see the game and it helps me create smart plays.”
The Games are the culmination of all the extensive training these three have been putting in for the past two years. Although it makes a social life beyond the rink non-existent, not one of the three seem to begrudge it. As Burge explains, it’s all about the game.
“When you start young, you get to love the sport and you just play it because you love it, the team and the speed. Put it all together and that’s why you love it.”
