Western claims AAA Ringette North Bay Challenge Cup

The first of three Ontario Ringette Association (ORA) AAA challenge cups wrapped up Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gardens in North Bay with the North Bay final between team Western and team Northwestern.

The game was a close match with team Western coming out victorious with a 4-2 win, avenging their previous loss to Northwestern in round robin play where Northwestern went undefeated, while Western’s only loss (a 3-2 loss) was to Northwestern by 1 goal.

Other teams that took part during this weekend’s AAA Challenge Cup were Eastern, Central, Southern, and NorthEastern. The AAA teams are made up of the best U19 ringette players from their respective regions in Ontario.

Locally, the West Ferris Ringette Association had 6 players participating on the Northeast team, (Frederique Belanger, Lindsay Leboeuf, Brianne O’Rourke, Samantha Odorizzi, Brittany Coughlin, and Alexandra Parker) with other players in our region (Sault Ste Marie, Greater Sudbury, and Iroquois Falls).

“There are 3 Challenge Cup events in Ontario during the 2009/2010 ringette season, and we were very fortunate to be hosting one in North Bay,” WFRA event coordinator Jeff Francom explained. “In conjunction with the Challenge Cup, all minor aged house league players in the WFRA played games either before or after a AAA game, in order to allow all the players and their families to the exposure and to experience elite ringette.”

The AAA teams will play each other again in another AAA Challenge Cup event in St. Mary’s Nov. 27-29 and in Kingston Feb 12-14 and in the 2010 Ontario Winter Games in March.

TVCogeco (Cable 12) will broadcast final game between Western and Northwestern at a later date.

Submitted to BayToday.ca