The National Ringette League (NRL), ''(french: Ligue Nationale de Ringuette, LNR)'', is the premier sports league for the sport of

ringette Ringette is a contact sport, non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using Ice skates#Ice hockey skates, ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a #Equipment, blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's national league for elite ringette players aged 18+. All of the NRL's elite athletes are women, one of ringette's distinctive features. The NRL is a semi-professional league which operates as a showcase league for the sport and is the first and only winter team sports league in North America whose entire elite athlete roster involves players who are women rather than men. The league's inaugural year was in November of 2004 and had completed seventeen seasons of play by the end of the 2021-22 season. Players are selected from the league to help form Canada's national ringette teams. The NRL functions as a committee under

Ringette Canada Ringette Canada is the national governing body for the sport of ringette in Canada and was founded in November of 1974 with June Tiessen as its first President. It is responsible for the organization and promotion of ringette on a nationwide ...

, a non-profit sports organization and the national governing body of ringette in Canada. All NRL players are unpaid and the majority of the players come from Canada with some originating from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and other countries. Because the NRL's players specialize in ringette, a sport created for female athletes, the NRL is not a feminized derivative of a more popular men's game or league like professional women's ice hockey. Teams compete in two conferences: the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference, with the Eastern Conference further divided into Eastern Conference Red, and Eastern Conference White. The NRL playoffs are held annually at the

Canadian Ringette Championships Canadian Ringette Championships, ''(french: Championnats Canadien d'Ringuette)'', sometimes abbreviated ''CRC'', is Canada's annual premiere national ringette tournament for the best ringette players and teams in the country. It encompasses three a ...

(CRC) where the winning National Ringette League team is awarded the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup, the league's championship trophy named after Canada's first female

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

, Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (née Benoît). The

National Ringette League playoffs The National Ringette League playoffs are the knockout match, round robin, and tournament for determining the champion for National Ringette League (NRL). The National Ringette League (NRL) playoffs began during the league's second season which wa ...

at the CRC's began in 2008 when it replaced the national championships for the Under-19 years and Open divisions. The NRL playoffs are the knockout match, round robin, and tournament for determining the champion for the league. The ringette league and the

Cambridge Turbos The Cambridge Turbos is a ringette team in Canada's National Ringette League (NRL) competing in the Eastern Conference in the Red division. Founded in 2003, the is team based in Cambridge, Ontario. The Turbos home arena is the Hespeler Memorial ...

were featured in an episode of Canada's '

Rick Mercer Report ''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by ...

' in 2009 called "Ringette Night In Canada". In 2013, Télé Québec broadcast a short behind the scenes documentary film in French called 'Tout le monde dehors - La ringuette' which features the Gatineau Fusion, an NRL team in

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

. The film also follows Yvon Brault, a man who devotes his life to the sport.

History

Ringette Ringette is a contact sport, non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using Ice skates#Ice hockey skates, ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a #Equipment, blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice ...

is a Canadian sport that was first introduced in 1963 in

North Bay, Ontario North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing. North Bay developed as a railroad centre, and its airport was an important military ...

. For ten years, play was confined to

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, however the sport spread quickly and is now played by over 30,000 players and involves over 50,000 participants across Canada. It was not until the success of the

2002 World Ringette Championships The 2002 World Ringette Championships (''2002 WRC'') was an international ringette tournament and the 6th edition (XI) of the World Ringette Championships organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). The tournament was contested in E ...

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

, when Canada won the gold medal that the desire to create, establish and organize the National Ringette League emerged. The first NRL season began in November 2004 with seventeen teams in three cross-country divisions. There was not a championship match after the first NRL season. Former Team Canada goaltender, Keely Brown, helped form the NRL in 2002 and 2003.

Competition

Background

Up to thirty different teams have competed in the NRL since it began in 2004, but not all teams have survived. The highest number of teams competing in the NRL in one season has been recorded to be 19. For the 2021-22 season, there were 12 teams playing in a hub format, down from 15 teams from the previous year, due to

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A National Ringette League team in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, the LMRL Thunder (Lower Mainland Thunder) is the only now defunct team in league history to have won a Canadian Ringette Championship title and gold medal in the NRL which took place in the 2011–12 season. Along with winning the title that season, the LMRL Thunder also claimed the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup, winning the trophy once in its team's history while the club was active.

League structure

All teams compete in one of either two Conferences: the ''Western Conference'' or the ''Eastern Conference''. The Eastern Conference is divided into two divisions: ''Red'' and ''White''. The Western Conference consists of teams from

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

and includes teams from the provinces of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. The Eastern Conference is divided separately into two different divisions, ''Red'' and ''White'', and includes teams from

, and

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

. The NRL played in a hub format for the 2021–2022 season due to

NRL general regulation

Characteristic of North American sports, the NRL is a closed league with no

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. There is an annual draft in between seasons, which is the main entry for new players in the league. The NRL runs four regional drafts; in 2011, there was one for the region of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

, another one for

, another for Southern

, and another for the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

region. Trading among teams is also common.

NRL National Championship format

The 2010–11 season saw the introduction of a new ''NRL Championship Tournament'' which replaced the ''Championship qualifying rounds''. The tournament takes place in just one city. The format is intended to allow the league to create a media event and to hold attention. The top ten teams in the regular season of the league participate in the tournament which crowns the team champion of the league. Starting in 2011–12, eight teams played a full round robin to determine the champion which is also called Elite Eight.

Teams

Current teams

Calgary RATH

The Calgary RATH is a

team in the National Ringette League (NRL) and is based in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

. The team competes in the NRL Western Conference and was founded in 2007. The RATH consists of players from

and is one of the NRL's earliest teams to join the league. The team's home arena is in Calgary, Alberta. In 2013, the RATH won their first National Ringette League Playoff title and the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup. The team has competed in 13 National Championships (

) and holds three National Ringette League titles having won in 2013, 2019, and 2022.

Rive-Sud Révolution

The Rive-Sud Révolution, ("South Shore Revolution" in English), is a

team in the National Ringette League (NRL) and is based in

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. The ...

, the southwestern part of

. The Revolution competes in the NRL Eastern Conference in the White Division and was founded in 2004. The Revolution is one of the oldest teams in the NRL. The team's home arena is in Québec and its headquarters are located in South Shore,

. The South Shore is located within the Quebec administrative region of Montérégie. Its team affiliate is the U19 South Shore Revolution.

National Ringette League champions

National Ringette League (NRL) champions compete annually at the

at the end of the NRL season. The 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup winners

The table below provides a chronological list of Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup winners and the NRL's teams who won the gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Awards and honours

Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup

The final competition for the National Ringette League is held annually at the

. The Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the winning team in the National Ringette League. The trophy is named after the late Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (née Benoît), commonly known as

Jeanne Sauvé Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé (; April 26, 1922 – January 26, 1993) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as Governor General of Canada, the 23rd since Canadian Confederation. Sauvé was born in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan, and educate ...

, a former

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

who became the first female Governor General in the nation's history. Initially coined the "Jeanne Sauvé Cup", and initiated in December 1984, it was first presented at the 1985 Canadian Ringette Championships in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Québec. It is now called the ''Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup'' in memory of the late Governor General of Canada.

NRL Annual Award nominees

At the end of March, during the week break before the National Ringette League Championships, the League names its annuals Award Nominees. Award winners are announced at the closing banquet of the

. The awards program recognizes the performance of NRL athletes during regular season play with trophies for: * ''Rookie of the Year'' * ''Most Valuable Player'' * ''Top Forward'' * ''Top Centre'' * ''Top Defence'' * ''Top Goalkeeper'' There are also awards for: * ''Coaching Staff of the Year'' * ''NRL Top Scorer'' * ''NRL Scoring Champion''

National Ringette League seasons

2003–04

The 2003–04 NRL season marked the National Ringette League's inaugural year with 17 teams competing across Canada. The competition was referred to as the "Open Division" and took place in

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the c ...

2004–05

There wasn't an NRL championship for the 2004–05 NRL season but a competition took place at the

for the Open division.

2005–06

The 2005–06 season marked the NRL's second season with 19 teams competing (two new teams joined the league). These teams were distributed in four conferences: the West Conference - five teams, Central Conference – five teams, Ontario Conference - five teams, and Quebec Conference - four teams. The dominant teams were the

in the Ontario Conference,

Montreal Mission Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

in the Quebec Conference, in the Western Division the Edmonton WAM! and the champions of the Central Division, the APFG Sixers (Assiniboine Park/Fort Garry, an AA provincial team from Manitoba). At the end of the regular season were the qualifying rounds: eight teams participated in the

which crowned the team champion of the league. The 2005–06 NRL season finals took place at the 2006 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Longueuil, Quebec Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

. The championship match of the NRL/LNR took place in the

Centre Étienne Desmarteau The Centre Étienne Desmarteau is a multi-purpose complex with two ice rinks in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The centre is named in honour of Étienne Desmarteau, a Canadian Olympic athlete during the 1904 Summer Olympics. The arena hoste ...

, on April 1, 2006, and was won by the

. During the off-season three teams folded citing low attendance revenue.

2006–07

In 2006–07, the NRL entered its third season and consisted of 16 teams distributed in three conferences: the West Conference – seven teams, Ontario Conference – five teams, all in Ontario, and Quebec Conference – four teams. The Championship finale match took place in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, on April 10, 2007, won by the Edmonton WAM!.

2007–08

In 2007–08, seventeen teams competed in two conferences, the Western Conference which included seven teams and the Eastern Conference which included ten teams. The

won the NRL Championship by beating the

2–1 in overtime. The 2007–08 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2008 Canadian Ringette Championships in St. Albert, Alberta.

2008–09

In 2008–09, the NRL consisted of eighteen teams grouped in a Western Conference with six teams and an Eastern Conference with twelve teams. The 2008–09 NRL season final took place at the 2009 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Charlottetown, PEI Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in 1 ...

, with the Cambridge Turbos finishing in first place. Also in 2008, the first

Ringette World Club Championship The Ringette World Club Championship (RWCC) was an international ringette competition organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). It featured the top teams from Canada's National Ringette League (NRL), Finland's , and Sweden's Ringett ...

was held in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

. Four NRL teams faced two teams from the Finland's elite ringette league, , now known as "SM–Ringette". The

won the world title having overcome in the Finnish champion team, , in the final.

2009–10

In the 2009–10 season, the National Ringette League for its sixth season comprised eight teams grouped together in a Western Conference with six teams, and an Eastern Conference with twelve teams. The competition remained very intense and marked the return of the ascendancy of different western Canadian teams. The NRL playoffs took place in

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as t ...

, during the

. The Edmonton WAM! became the NRL champions again after being eclipsed for two years by the

. Edmonton beat Cambridge 2–0 in the NRL league division final.

2010–11

The 2010–11 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2011 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 Canadian census, 202 ...

between March 27, 2011, and April 2, 2011. In the final game of the NRL's league division, the Edmonton WAM! triumphed over the

2011–12

In the 2011–12 season, the NRL entered its eighth season with nineteen teams playing in two conferences. The 2011–12 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2012 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard Inl ...

. The NRL experienced a new expansion during the 2011–12 season, with the creation of two new teams, the Atlantic Attack (of

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

) and Lower Mainland Ringette League (LMRL Thunder of

). The 2011–12 regular season began on October 15, 2011, and concluded on March 18, 2012. All in all, thirty matches were contested by each of the teams during the regular season. Each of the teams only faced teams within their own conference. This structure allowed teams to reduce the costs of transport given the size of the Canadian territory covered by the league. At the end of the regular season, there is a break of a week when the various individual distinctions are awarded, then a National Ringette League Championship Tournament. This is the year the Elite Eight began.

2012–13

The 2012–13 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2013 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Fredericton, New Brunswick Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

2013–14

The 2013–14 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2014 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina () is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 C ...

2014–15

The 2014–15 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2015 Canadian Ringette Championships in Wood Buffalo, Alberta. The season's winners were the

, runners-up were the Richmond Hill Lightning, and the Edmonton WAM! finished in third.

2015–16

The 2015–16 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2016 Canadian Ringette Championships in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. The 2015–16 season's winners were the

, runners-up were the Gloucester Devils, and the Ottawa Ice finished in third.

2016–17

The 2016–17 NRL Championship finals were played at the 2017 Canadian Ringette Championships in

Leduc, Alberta Leduc ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and is part of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. History Leduc was established in 1891, when Robert Telford, a settler, who had bought ...

2017–18

The 2017–18 NRL season began on September 30, 2017, and ended on April 14, 2018. The 2018 Canadian Ringette Championships took place in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, from April 9 to April 14, 2018.

2018–19

The 2018–19 season's winners were the

Calgary RATH The National Ringette League (NRL), ''(french: Ligue Nationale de Ringuette, LNR)'', is the premier sports league for the sport of ringette in North America and Canada's national league for elite ringette players aged 18+. All of the NRL's el ...

, runners-up were the Atlantic Attack, and the

finished in third.

2019–20

The 2019–20 National Ringette League season was cancelled due to the

2020–21

The 2020–21 National Ringette League season was cancelled due to the

2021–22

The 2021–22 season saw the league begin playing in a hub-format due to the

. While the league previously played 15 teams, it was reduced to 12 for the season. 5 teams had withdrawn, including: BC Thunder, Bourassa Royal, Richmond Hill Lightning, Lac-Saint-Louis Adrenaline, and the Ottawa Ice. However, two new teams joined: the Nepean Ravens and the Saskatchewan Heat. The Manitoba Intact were renamed the Manitoba Herd. The season's winners were the

, runners-up were the Edmonton WAM!, and the

finished in third.

2022–23

Broadcasting

The National Ringette League championship final has usually been broadcast on

Rogers TV Rogers TV (stylized as Rogers tv) is a group of English-language community channels owned by Rogers Communications. Many of these channels share common programs. Rogers TV broadcasts in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and ...

Income and payment

In 2008, the budget of each NRL team varied between $15,000 and $20000. Le Fusion de Gatineau lance sa saison inaugurale
/ref> The teams and the league contribute to cover all the transport spending, accommodation and rent of arenas. The players must find their own financiers to pay for their equipment and personal spending and the players are not paid for play. The audience in the matches for several NRL teams is limited to hundreds of supporters.

Player development

The NRL maintains a collaboration with the lower Ringette leagues in regards to the development of the young female players, therefore several teams of the NRL have affiliated development teams for Under 19 years old and Under 16 years old. The

for U16 and U19 (usually taking place in April every year) takes place in the same place as the NRL playoff tournament elimination. It is this tournament which allows the tracers and talent scouts for the NRL teams to identify emerging young athletes as potential future NRL players.

Team history

By the 2021-22 season, the league historically had thirty teams competing during different periods of the league's existence. The first NRL season began in November 2004 with 17 teams. During the second NRL season in 2005–06, two new teams joined the league bringing the league total to nineteen. The teams were then divided into four conferences. However, during the off season, three teams folded, citing low attendance revenue. While the Manitoba Jets and Manitoba Prairie Fire teams folded, a new team was later created in the province in their stead, the Manitoba Intact, which competed in the NRL Western Conference. For the 2021–22, the Intact were renamed the "Manitoba Herd". For the 2021–22 season, the National Ringette League had a number of teams withdraw from the league for various reasons, primarily due to

. For the prior 2020-21 season, the NRL had fifteen teams competing, with the BC Thunder failing to put forward a team and withdrawing. In 2021–2022 a new team was formed in Ontario, the Nepean Ravens, and the NRL returned to Saskatchewan with a new team, the Saskatchewan Heat. For the 2022-23 season, the BC Thunder rejoined the league.

Regular season team records

Initial record was from 2007–08 season. ''Stats updated as of end of 2017–18 season.'' Teams in ''italics'' no longer compete in the National Ringette League as of the 2021-22 season.

Pandemic

Due to the

, the NRL trophy was not awarded during the 2019–20 season nor the 2020–21 season. The 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021–22 season saw the league change its competitive structure due to COVID-19 by adopting a new "hub format" and the usual 15 team league became a league of 12 teams. The same season saw the BC Thunder discontinue its participation in the NRL, with Bourassa Royal, Lac-Saint-Louis Adrenaline, the Richmond Hill Lightning and the Ottawa Ice also withdrawing, but saw two new teams join: the Nepean Ravens and the Saskatchewan Heat. Meanwhile, the Manitoba Intact were renamed the "Manitoba Herd". For the 2022–23 season, the BC Thunder returned to the league. The 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons were cancelled due to the

. The 2021–22 season saw the league begin playing in a hub-format instead. While the league previously played 15 teams, it was reduced to 12 for the 2021–22 season. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2018–19 season included fifteen National Ringette League teams in Canada. In October 2021, despite having announced team tryouts for September 2021, the BC Thunder, an NRL Western Conference team, announced on social media that they would not be putting a team forward in the NRL for the 2021–22 season. In total five teams withdrew for the 2021–22 season while two new teams were created. The five teams which withdrew included the BC Thunder, Bourassa Royal, Richmond Hill Lightning, Lac-Saint-Louis Adrenaline, and the Ottawa Ice. The two new teams formed in 2021–22 included the Nepean Ravens in Ontario and the Saskatchewan Heat in Saskatchewan.

Notable people

Terry McAdam

Terry McAdam from

was inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in 2021. McAdam was instrumental in helping begin the development of the National Ringette League as well as one of its first teams, the Saskatoon Wild. During its time in the NRL, the Wild had also acquired Erin Cumpstone. Cumpston was a member of Canada's 2010 National Ringette Team during the

2010 World Ringette Championships The 2010 World Ringette Championships (''2010 WRC'') was an international ringette tournament and the 9th (IX) World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Tampere, ...

and had played ringette at the 1999

Canada Winter Games Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

. Cumpston was also a highly accomplished

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player and played for Canada's women's national softball team which finished in 5th place at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Keely Brown

Former Team Canada goaltender, Keely Brown, helped form the NRL in 2002 and 2003.

Gallery

File:20190413-170923-IMG 5478.jpg, 2019 NRL Silver: Atlantic Attack File:Atlantic Attack Ringette Team.jpg, Atlantic Attack players: 2018 File:Atlantic Attack 2016 Playoffs.jpg, Atlantic Attack: 2016 NRL Playoffs File:National Ringette League 01.jpg,

player: 2012 File:Montreal Mission 12 février 2012 098.jpg,

: 2012 File:Bourassa Royal 12 février 2012 022.jpg, Bourassa Royal vs

: 2012

Notes and references

External links

National Ringette League Website

Ringette Canada

NRL team logos from 2009
{{Major women's sport leagues in North America Ringette Ringette competitions ! Women

Semi-professional sports leagues History of women's sports Women's sports governing bodies in Canada