Ringette

 ( Games And Sports Introduced In 1963 ) 

Ringette is a winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female competitors, it has expanded to now include participants of all gender identities. Although ringette is similar to ice hockey and is played on ice hockey rinks, the sport has its own lines and markings, and its offensive and defensive play bear a closer resemblance to lacrosse or basketball.

The sport was created in Canada in 1963 by Sam Jacks from West Ferris, Ontario, and Red McCarthy from Espanola, Ontario. Since then, it has gained popularity to the point where, in 2018, more than 50,000 individuals, including coaches, officials, volunteers, and over 30,000 players, registered to take part in the sport in Canada alone. The sport has continued to grow and has spread to other countries including the United Arab Emirates. Two different floor variants of ringette are also played: in-line skating ringette, and gym ringette.

Ringette is especially popular in Canada and Ringette Finland, having come to prominence as national pastimes in both countries. The premier international competition for ringette is the World Ringette Championships (WRC) which is organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). On the international stage, Canadian teams and Finnish teams have proved to be the most successful and are regularly at the top of the rankings. Several other countries currently organize and compete in the sport including Sweden, the United States, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, all of whom have national ringette teams though Slovakia has not competed since the 2016 World Ringette Championships. National organizations for the sport include Ringette Canada, Ringette Finland, the Sweden Ringette Association, USA Ringette, the Czech Ringette Association, and the Slovakia Ringette Association.

The sport is also played at the semi-professional level in Canada (National Ringette League), in Finland (SM–Ringette), and in Sweden (Ringette Dam-SM), as well as the university and college level. In Canada, the sport is a part of the Canada Winter Games programme and the annual Canadian Ringette Championships serves as the country's premier competition for the sport's elite amateur athletes. The sport's first international tournament was hosted in Finland in 1986.

Intentional body contact is not allowed in ringette, though incidental contact may occur. Body checking and boarding are penalized and fighting is strictly forbidden by a zero-tolerance policy. The only type of checks allowed are stick checks, which involve using the stick in an upward sweeping motion to knock the ring away from the ring carrier or by raising the ring carrier's stick upwards by lifting or knocking it, followed immediately by an attempt to steal the ring. Sticks may not be raised above shoulder height and high-sticking is penalized.

In ringette, teams during play are divided into two units of six players: one centre, two forwards, two defenders, and one goaltender. The players take up specific formations and roles when defending or attacking. The goal of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ring into the opposing team's net. Goal nets used in ringette are identical to those used in ice hockey (). Ringette goaltenders are the only players allowed to play the ring with their hands but must do so from within their goal crease which only they can enter. After stopping a shot on the net or receiving a pass, they have five seconds to throw, push or pass the ring to another player.

In comparison to ice hockey, the rules of ringette differ in several ways. There are no offsides, or icing. Ringette games are typically played on ice surfaces used for playing ice hockey but use different lines and markings; a ringette rink is augmented with lines and markings specific to ringette instead. Ice hockey rink markings such as hash marks and face-off dots are not used in ringette. In addition, a ringette rink uses extra lines and markings such as the "free play line" the "extended zone line".

When attempting to gain possession of the ring, ringette's blue line rule prohibits players from carrying the ring over either of the blue lines bisecting the ice surface and players are thus required to pass the ring over each line to another teammate to advance the play. In addition, only the goaltender may enter the goaltender's crease, and before each play a free pass is taken in which no one but the player taking the free pass is allowed inside the free pass circle. Once the free pass has been taken and the ring is completely outside of the circle, the other players are allowed to enter the area again.

Recreationally, ringette is a game played over two 24-minute intervals. At the sport's top levels, specifically the National Ringette League and World Ringette Championships, the game is divided into four quarters, with each quarter lasting 13 minutes. A 30-second shot clock is used to prevent players from running out the clock, improve the flow of the game and increase the speed of play. The rule was first introduced in Canada in 2002 and went into effect for age groups which used to be known as the junior, belle, and open divisions. The 30-second shot clock is now used almost universally in all age groups as well as internationally (including the World Ringette Championships) with the exception of very young players and some of the lower divisions. If the shot clock goes off during the play, the goaltender gets the ring.

The ringette rink uses five free pass circles, each of which has a bisecting line. The start of every quarter begins with a free pass from the free pass circle at centre ice. During the rest of the game, free pass circles are used for restarting the game after a goal or a violation. At such times, players may not enter the circle unless they are the player making the free pass. If a player is making a free pass, they have five seconds after the whistle blows to either pass the ring to another teammate or take a shot at the opposing team's goal, but they must not exit the circle or cross the bisecting line before doing so.

The sport uses a "free play zone" (alternatively known as the "extended zone") which exists in each of the rink's two end zones and consists of the area between the end boards and the free play line (or "ringette line"). The ringette line is a thin red line bisecting the rink which is placed atop the free pass circles in the end zone. Only three players from each team are allowed in these zones at one time or a "four in" call is made and play is stopped with a free pass awarded to the non-offending team. The remaining players must remain behind the ringette line. There is one exception which can be made in higher divisions whereby the defending team is serving a penalty: in such a case, the opposing team may Extra attacker, meaning four of its players are allowed into the zone without penalty.

Ringette rings have three designs: the official ice ring designed for use on ice, a practice ring, also designed for use on ice known as a "Turbo ring", and the gym ring, designed for use on dry floors for gym ringette.

The ring used for the ice game is a blue, rubber pneumatic torus. The gym ringette ring is an orange torus made of a sponge-like material and unlike the ice ring, is not hollow. The ringette "practice ring" ( "turbo ring") is not a torus, but a small open disk (a toroid) used on ice to help ringette players develop and hone pass receiving skills and is typically either orange or blue. First designed in Canada in 1997, the Turbo ring is safe to use when shooting on goalies, doesn't break, and slides like an official ice ring but is half the size. Practice rings don't collect snow and come in different high-optic colours for easy visibility.

The equipment players wear is similar to that used by ice hockey players but involves a few differences. Required equipment for ringette players includes the following:

• ringette stick (or goal stick for goaltenders)
• ice hockey skates (or ice hockey goalie skates for goaltenders)
• shin pads (or goalie pads)
• protective girdle (or hockey shorts for goaltenders)
• pelvic protector (a Jockstrap)
• ankle-length ringette pants
• ringette or ice hockey gloves
• elbow pads
• jersey
• helmet with ringette facemask (must meet specific regulations)
• neck guard (must meet specific regulations)
• shoulder pads - mandatory for most players up to the junior level (14–15), then the players can decide whether they wish to wear them or not

Ringette sticks are straight and have tapered ends with metal or plastic drag-tips designed with grooves to increase the lift and velocity of the wrist shot. Sticks must conform to specific rules including those which determine the acceptable measurements for the taper and face of the stick. The stick and the tip must also meet the minimum width measurements.⁣ Sticks are reinforced to withstand the body weight of a player – a ring carrier leans heavily on the stick to prevent opposing players from removing the ring.

Ringette facemasks are designed to meet ringette's specific safety requirements and are available in different styles for both goaltenders and other players. In the case of the traditional wire cage ringette masks in North America, the bars are shaped like triangles rather than squares and are designed so that the end of a ringette stick cannot enter the mask. Similar North American designs exist but must meet certain safety specifications required by the CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association or "CSA"). European ringette cage and bar styles may differ. Some players wear clear plastic shields but half-visors are illegal. Some masks are a combination of a shield and tightly spaced wires or similar. At all levels, ringette players must wear a pelvic protector.

On the free hand, also known as the glove side, a glove known as a "catcher" or simply a "glove" is worn. For their glove side, goaltenders may use an ice hockey trapper, an ice hockey blocker, a glove like a player's glove or lacrosse glove, or a ringette goalie trapper "Keely glove", named after a Keely Brown, a former goalie of Canada's national ringette team who helped create the sport's first design. A custom prosthetic Keely glove design has been developed for a one-handed goalie.

(Women's Premier League) is the second-highest series level of Finnish Ringette, which operates under Ringette Finland ([[Ringette Finland]]), formerly known as the Finnish Ringette Association.