The Canadian junior ringette team are packing up a gold medal from the World Ringette Championships in Helsinki, Finland, after defeating the Finns 10-9 in overtime on Sunday.
The girls were undefeated in round robin play and beat Finland two games in a best of three series.
The win is a dream come true for the team’s goalie consultant and Saint-Laurent resident, Claudia Jetté. This is her first year coaching the U21 goalies on Team Canada, though she has extensive experience with the sport, and coaching.
For the last 28 years, Jetté has been playing ringette, and her passion has never waned. “I love the speed, I love the game, being with the teammates, the environment . . . Goal tending in ringette—I love it. It’s fast, especially now that there are four periods, 15 minutes long, before it was two of 20,” she said.
The Canadian sport, that resembles hockey, was invented for women by an Ontario recreation director, in 1963.
Jetté started playing ringette in Lachine when she was 10-years-old, and has never stopped.
“I started as a player but I didn’t know how to skate much,” Jetté explained. When their goalie went on vacation, she was put in the net and she was asked to stay there after doing such a good job.
Jetté coached the Montreal Mission cadet ringette team and has worked with Sports-Études in the West Island before being asked to consult for the Canadian juniors this year.
“I retired [playing with] the Montreal Mission last year, and this has been a nice transition to coaching.”
Jetté is working with three goalies, including one from Québec. “It’s great at this level, it’s the level I like to coach. The girls are very motivated, they’re really driven.”
This isn’t the first time ringette has brought Jetté to Finland. She played in Helsinki in 2006 on a goalie exchange with the Finland team, for three months, “So I already knew a bit about the language, the food and culture.”
While Jetté admits coaching is different than being on the ice, it can still be stressful. “We had a three on two for two minutes and thirty seconds, and I was holding hands with the other coach,” she said.
Though she never worried about the women. “I have confidence in the girls, they’re a really solid team. Very confident, very driven. They know what they want.”
In the future, Jetté would like to continue coaching. “My plans are to help out the Montreal Mission with their goalies, to just be there for the team if I can.”
She’d also like to continue with the National Ringuette League, and will likely have coaching clinics in Saint-Laurent.
The next Canadian ringette championships will be held in Winnipeg in 2018.