The ringette teams representing Terrace at the Ringette BC Provincial Championship from March 22 - 24 in the lower mainland brought home two golds and a silver.
The U-14 team consisting of 13 players from Terrace and 3 from Houston played three round robin games against Vernon, Richmond and Shuswap and won all of them. The team coached by Shelly Potter was then declared the winner of the championship after defeating Richmond 8-1 in the semi finals and Coquitlam 5-4 in the final game.
Meanwhile, the U-16 team with 10 athletes from Terrace and 4 from Houston and coached by Lisa Smith tied Chilliwack 4-4, beat Prince George/Quesnel 10-3, lost to Richmond 3-0, and beat Delta 3-2 in round robin. The team then beat Vancouver 2-1 in the semi-finals. However, the team came up short 3-0 against Burnaby in the final game, bringing home a silver.
The U19 team consisted of 13 players from Terrace, 1 from Victoria, and 1 from Comox and was coached by Terrace Ringette Association president Raeanne Vandenbroek and her husband Jeremy.
Though walking in a little blind into the competition, Vandenbroek said they knew they would be facing Burnaby, their biggest rival for the past three seasons. Their goal was simple — beat Burnaby and win the provincial title.
Round robin play saw them beat Port Coquitlam 5-4, West Kelowna 7-4, and losing to Burnaby 5-3 before winning the final round robin against Surrey 10-3 to enter the semi finals.
“We played Vancouver in the semi finals and absolutely shot the lights out, winning 8-3, which advanced us into the gold medal game — against Burnaby,” said Vandenbroek.
“The kids knew this was it — do or die as this was their chance to finally beat them and bring home gold.”
In the final game, both teams scored one after another for a 3-3 tie, but then Terrace scored two goals for a 5-3 lead. Burnaby scored once more but the victory went to Terrace for a final 5-4 score.
“We had never in our history of playing that team had been up by two goals,” she said. “Finally, after years of trying, we brought back home provincial gold.”
The gold medal win was even more significant for the Vandenbroeks as it was their final coaching season after working with the players since they were on the U12 team.
Terrace previously won a gold at the ringette provincials in 2019.