Home of Ringette to host the 2013 World Championship

Mayor Al McDonald Speaking on behalf of the city about the 2013 World Ringette Championships, to committee members (from the left) Dave Saad, Jeff Francom, and Bruce Jacks at the press conference held at Memorial Gardens Thursday afternoon. Photo By Devin Size

“We have passion!”

Is the line that sold Ringette Canada on giving North Bay the rights to host the 2013 World Ringette Championships, here, in the birth place of ringette. Chair of the North Bay Bid Committee, Jeff Francom, believes that the community is really where the thanks belong for this.

“We showed them that we had a full team, not just ringette players,” explains Francom. “We had great ringette people, and not saying they couldn’t get it done, but by having the entire community involved, that really speaks to our dedication to host this event.”

North Bay’s bid was based on a vision of bringing “the world home” back to its birthplace. During the presentation, Bruce Jacks, son of the late inventor of the sport, Sam Jacks, spoke about his father’s dream.

“My pitch was, about 50 years ago, my father gave the world a sport, ringette,” explains Jacks. “All we’re asking now is for the world to give this back to North Bay in December of 2013.”

This entire event is based around the 50th anniversary of the sport. President of Ringette Canada, Jane Casson, says it’s only fitting.

“In 2013, we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our sport, so we are thrilled to be able to host the World Ringette Championships in North Bay, the birthplace of our great sport.” Said Casson

This is the 10th World Championship, the first ever being held in being held in Gloucester, UK, in 1990. The event is to take place at the historical North Bay Memorial Gardens, adding to many unique and prestigious events to have been held there already. Mayor Al McDonald was present at today’s conference, and believes this is a great example of how sport tourism is a major industry in North Bay, named Canada’s 22nd greatest city to live in.

“It’s an opportunity to bring the world to North Bay,” explains McDonald. “It’s a classic example of what volunteers and passion can do, and we’re very proud of what they’ve done. We’ve seen senior staff from the city, cross sections from hotels and businesses. We want to grow this buzz in our city, and sports tourism is something we feel we need to be a part of.”

Above all else, one of the major selling points was a managing committee, headed by Dave Saad, who organized a staff with a proven track record in working with major events in our community. Saad expressed his love for this community and the local sports involved, and knew that would be the standpoint of most.

“Our uniqueness was obviously that the sport was invented here in 1963,” said Saad. “You want to celebrate something where it was invented, and we’re the only place in the world that could do that.”

When they analyzed their bids compared to others’, the mandatory conditions were basically the same for everyone’s bid.

“Every one of us could provide the same types of things. The only place in the world that could host as the birth place, was right here in North Bay. That was our strength, and we went forward with that.”

The committee members were all volunteers, and had little to no funds to support this cause. That’s where the city and community stepped in.

“The cost of this entire thing was around $1,500. The city came on board with some finances, the North East Region Ringette came forward with some finances. The biggest cost though is time and energy, and we’ve all done plenty of that, so we were able to cut the costs a little bit.”

Over 250 community based volunteers will be involved in hosting this event. Teams from all across the world, who adapted the sport that this city created, from the USA, France, to Finland, will all be reunited on Memorial Garden’s historical rink. Finland currently holds the title after defeating Canada at the 2010 World Ringette Championships, held in Tampere, Finland. Now it’s our chance to have the home ice advantage.

The next step for the birth place of ringette that has been discussed with Ringette Canada and the National Ringette League, is the creation of the Ringette Hall of Fame, that could be built nowhere other than the home of this great sport.