Two Comox Valley ringette players are packing their bags and heading to Helsinki, Finland for the 2016 world championships.
Helen Oliphant and Haley Hill will be playing for Team USA in the seven-team Presidents’ Pool at the Dec. 27 to Jan. 4 tournament, with their first game Dec. 27 against Team Sweden.
The duo would prefer to be playing for Team Canada, but the popularity of the game in Canada as opposed to its lack of popularity in the U.S. means making the Canadian team is a tall order.
Oliphant notes the U.S. expanded the eligibility for the team to be able to find enough players. “It’s not only for American citizens. If you are living or working full time in the U.S., or if your parents or grandparents are American citizens, they’ve had to expand it so they can get enough players.”
Hill notes ringette is hugely popular in Canada, but not so much so in the U.S. “We never would have made the Canadian team, there’s just too many people who play it.”
Hill has family in the U.S., so when Oliphant saw a posting on Facebook that Team USA was looking for players to complete their 18-player roster, the two members of the local ringette women’s team signed up.
“We say we’re playing for Team U.S., Eh,” Oliphant laughed. “Ninety-five per cent of the team is Canadian – we’re just going to pretend it’s Canada’s third team at the tourney,” Hill added. (Along with a U21 team, Canada has a junior team competing for the Sam Jacks Trophy).
Team USA will play the other six teams in their pool once, with 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 meeting in the semifinals. “At the 2013 world championships in Ontario Team USA got bronze, and we’re kind of hoping to come home with some hardware,” said Hill, adding Canada and Finland are traditional rivals for the gold medal.
And speaking of gold, the Helsinki trip is costing them each $4,000. “Our biggest issue is because it’s a small sport in the States there’s no sponsorship,” Oliphant stated. “We have to pay for all our expenses – our flights, hotels, gear, team jackets and jerseys.”
They held a recent fundraiser which went well, and anyone wishing to help out can go to Hill’s Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/az4ybx9w She can also be reached on her cell at 250-334-6632.
Their main goal at Helsinki is to enjoy the experience of a lifetime. “Obviously we’re two of the oldest people going. Three of the teams we’re playing are Under 21. Every kid on those teams (Canada U21, Sweden U20 and Finland U20) will be below 20 years old – half our age and twice our speed.”
The duo has not attended Team USA training camps due to cost (they were held in Ontario and Michigan). They have stayed sharp through their weekly training sessions with the Comox Valley Ringette Association, which Hill founded eight years ago.
“We went to a tournament a few weeks ago, and we’re going to another one three days after we get back from Helskinki – if we’re vertical,” they laughed.
For more information on the 2016 world ringette championships, visit http://www.wrc2015.fi/en/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wrc2016 or Twitter:https://twitter.com/2016wrc.
