Thinking about skiing and snowboarding in last week’s post also made me think about other winter sports. While my brothers all played hockey growing up, I chose to play ringette!

For those of you who don’t know what ringette is, it’s a sport developed by a Canadian named Sam Jacks. While ringette is similar to hockey (i.e., players using sticks while skating), the big difference is that the sticks in ringette don’t have a blade, and instead of a puck, there’s a ring. You actually put the stick into the ring to control it! Ringette is mostly played by women, but there are also men who enjoy the sport too.

I started playing ringette in the winter of 2001, and since that time, I’ve been a player, referee and coach! I like being a player best, but there’s also something about watching players grow and develop as a coach that is also really rewarding. There have definitely been both highs and lows in my experiences with ringette, but I don’t think I would be the person I am today without the life lessons I learned through sport. Did you (or do you) play any sports? Do you feel like you learned anything through that?

For me, sports has never really been about winning or losing. I think part of that is because I’ve never reached that level of elite athletics where success is paramount, but I almost feel like it allowed me to enjoy what I was doing more. After all, there are important lessons to be learned from losing and failure too!

It’s been almost exactly a year since my last game, and I’m not sure when I’ll get to play again, but I look forward to getting back on the ice with my teammates and just having a good time.

Until next time, happy crafting!