October 15, 2001

Ringette Canada announces National
Team staff and regional selection camps
Canada to host 2002 World Ringette Championships

Ottawa, Ontario - Ringette Canada is pleased to announce the team staff for its Women's National Team has been selected and the schedule for the regional selection camps has been finalized.

Joining the National Team staff are:
Lorrie Horne from Camrose, Alberta as head coach;
Phyllis Sadoway of Smoky Lake, Alberta and
Peter Semonick of Edmonton, Alberta as assistant coaches and
Kristin Albo from Winnipeg, Manitoba as manager.

The team staff will now undertake the task of uncovering Canada's top ringette players through three regional selection camps in: Spruce Grove, Alberta on October 19-21, 2001; Ottawa, Ontario on October 26-28, 2001; and Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 9-11, 2001.

"The National Team Program is an excellent way to promote our sport and give athletes across the country something to strive towards," said Lorrie Horne, head coach, Women's National Team. "We are looking forward to witnessing the talent across the country and choosing the athletes who will represent Canada in the next World Ringette Championships."

The overall objective of the Women's National Team Program is to promote and develop ringette at both the national and international levels. It provides an opportunity for ringette athletes, coaches, team staff, and officials to develop at the local, regional, provincial and national levels. By providing the forum to compete in national and international events, the Women's National Team Program is also an opportunity to demonstrate the skill and finesse of ringette.

Following the three regional selection camps, the team staff will select approximately 40 athletes - with a minimum of one player from each province and territory - to attend a final selection camp in May 2002. Athletes will be selected based on their ability to perform as part of a successful team as well as on their technical and tactical game skills. At the final selection camp, the team staff will name the Women's National Team and those athletes will go on to represent Canada at the 2002 World Ringette Championships being held in Edmonton, Alberta from November 25-30, 2002.

About Ringette
Ringette is a 38-year-old Canadian invention that has become one of the fastest team sports on ice. Ringette is played on ice with skates and sticks and has six players on each of two teams. The players' mission is to score goals by shooting a rubber ring into nets at either end of the rink during stop-time periods of play. There are currently over 24,000 players on more than 2,000 teams across the country with over 2,100 officials and 10,000 coaches. Internationally, it is played in half a dozen other countries around the world.

For more information, please refer to the Ringette Canada Web site at www.ringette.ca.

reprinted with permission