The Sweden Ringette Association, ( sv, Svenska Ringetteförbundet) sometimes abbreviated in English as the "SRA", is the national governing body 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 ...

in Sweden and was founded in 1994. The SRA is responsible for the promotion of ringette on a nationwide basis and organizes the country's elite national ringette competition, the

Ringette Dam-SM Ringette is a non-contact winter team sport played on ice hockey rinks using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. The sport is among a small number of organi ...

, which was also established in 1994. In 2003, the SRA was elected as an associate member of the

Swedish Sports Confederation The Swedish Sports Confederation ( sv, Riksidrottsförbundet, RF) is the umbrella organisation of the Swedish sports movement. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. The Confederation was formed on 31 May 1 ...

( sv, Riksidrottsförbundet, RF). Ringette was introduced to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the 1980s. Before the SRA was established, members of the Sweden ringette community helped the country become a member of the

International Ringette Federation The International Ringette Federation (IRF) is a non-profit amateur sports organization and the highest governing body for the sport of ringette. Today the member countries of the IRF Board includes four member nations: Canada, Finland, Sweden, a ...

in 1986, which at the time was known as the "World Ringette Council". The SRA is also responsible for scouting ringette talent in Sweden in order to create the Sweden national ringette team who then compete at the

World Ringette Championships The World Ringette Championships (WRC) is the premier international competition in ringette and is governed by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Unlike most international competitions, all of the WRC's elite athletes are female rather ...

(WRC). The SRA organized the WRC in

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and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Historically, while Team Sweden Senior has competed regularly since the 1992 World Ringette Championships, Team Sweden Junior has only competed occasionally, making their first world appearance at the 2016 World Ringette Championships. Team Sweden senior now competes in the Senior Pool, while Team Sweden Junior competes in the Junior Pool.

History

Ringette was introduced to

in the 1980s. The first ringette club was Ulriksdals SK Ringette (USK Ringette) ( sv, Ulriksdals sportklubb ringette), formed in 1980 in

Solna Solna Municipality ( sv, Solna kommun or , ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna is one of t ...

, with most Swedish ringette associations located in the surrounding Mälardalen region. There are programs of

twin town A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

s between the Sweden Ringette Association and Canadian associations for the development of the sport within the Swedish population. In Sweden more than 6,000 girls are registered to play ringette each year.

Development

} , - align="Left" , align="left", 1986 , Sweden becomes a member of the "World Ringette Council", now known as the International Ringette Federation (IRF) ,

' , - align="Left" bgcolor="#eeeeee" , align="left", 1992 , Team Sweden ''(now Team Sweden Senior)'' makes its world debut at the

, 1992 World Ringette Championships , - align="Left" , align="left", 1994 , Established Sweden's national ringette organization , Sweden Ringette Association
) , - align="Left" bgcolor="#eeeeee" , align="left" , 1994 , Established Sweden's elite national ringette championships ,

, - align="Left" , align="left" , 2003 , Elected as an associate member of Sweden's national amateur sports association ,

, RF) , - align="Left" bgcolor="#eeeeee" , align="left", 2016 , Team Sweden Junior makes its world debut at the World Ringette Championships , 2016 World Ringette Championships

Semi-professional league

, Sweden's elite national ringette championships, were established in 1994. and was established the same year the Swedish Ringette Association was formed. SM stands for, "Swedish Championship", ( sv, svenska mästerskapet). Several junior teams and numerous amateur teams are connected with its 7 semi-pro clubs. The league groups together seven semi-professional women's clubs: * Ulriksdals SK Ringette * Kista Hockey * IFK Salem * IK Huge * * Segeltorps IF * Sollentuna HC Ulriksdals SK Ringette also competed in the

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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Turku, Finland Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 16 ...

, finishing in sixth place.

National teams

The Sweden national ringette team, "Team Sweden", first competed at the second

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...

, from March 4 to 8, at the 1992 World Ringette Championships. The team now represents the nations elite senior level in the sport and has competed in every world championship since. A junior tournament did not exist until the

2009 World Junior Ringette Championships The 2009 World Junior Ringette Championships, (''2009 WJRC'') also known as the ''U19 2009 World Championships'', was an international ringette tournament and the first World Junior Ringette Championships organized by the International Ringette ...

, but the tournament then merged with the senior tournament in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. It wasn't until the 2016 World Ringette Championships that Team Sweden Junior made its world debut. However, Team Sweden Junior does not compete internationally on a regular basis.

References

External links

{{Women's sports