P.E.I. welcomes 100s of athletes for Canadian Ringette Championship

Young athletes from across Canada are hitting the ice at Island arenas for the Canadian Ringette Championships.

Forty-fiveteams from nine provinces are facing off for the national title this week at arenas in Charlottetown, Summerside, Cornwall and Pownal.

We're just trying to grow the sport in every capacity refereeing, officiating, whatever it takes. Mike James

"I think they really look forward to it, it's something they've tried to achieve all their lives," said MikeJames, the tournament co-chair and coach for P.E.I.'s U19 team.

'A little special'

Players have been preparing for months and the tournament gives them a chanceto showcase their skills on a national stage, he said.

"I'm hoping this year is a little special with it being in Prince Edward Island," James said.

The tournament will opens doors to the national league for many of the athletes and university leagues, he said.

Hosting the championship also helps boost interest in the sport and gets more young athletes onto the ice.

"In 2009 when we had it, we had a 30 per cent increase from one year to the next, so we're hoping to do the same," James said.

"We're just trying to grow the sport in every capacity refereeing, officiating, whatever it takes to grow the sport. It needs to grow everywhere so this is great exposure for it."

Excited to host high-level competition

Nearly 1,000 athletesare competingin this year'stournament.

Ringette Canada says it sees new players to the sport every year, including on P.E.I.

Players from P.E.I.'steams say they're excited to hostsuch a high-level competition here at home.

"They're all great teams that are here. It's good to be able to play them, just because we're from a little province we don't really get that opportunity to play with these higher-level teams," said Abby James, who plays for the P.E.I. U19 team.

Her teammateCarley Mathesonsaid she's also glad to be able to play in front of so many of her friends and family.

"It's a great group of girls, we've been working together for probably a year and a half ,and it's just great to have our friends and family here supporting us and cheering us on."

"It's fun to win, but as long as you're having funthat's all that matters," she added.

Games streamed online

The tournament runsApril 7-13 and the championship games will beheldFriday and Saturday.

James said each of the tournament's 185gameswill be live streamed on the tournament's website.

For those interested in attending a game, tickets can be purchased at any of the participating arenas.

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