During my first week of school here, I had a meeting with my advisor, Andrew, that was scheduled for one of my free periods. We walked all around the campus and he showed me some interesting areas. One spot that stood out to me the most was the frog pond. The frog pond is a square pond that freezes over completely in the winter. He told me about a game that he loves to play with students on this pond, called Ringette. Ringette is kind of like hockey, just a little different. Instead of skates, you walk on the ice which makes moving a lot harder. You use a long stick to push and shoot a ring into the goal, which is the gap between a bench. After this meeting, I mostly forgot about Ringette, due to the fact that so many other things were going on. 

However, just this past Tuesday, Andrew and another student decided to host a game. I was very excited, as it sounded very fun when Andrew explained it to me during our meeting. Myself, along with around twenty other students walked over to the frog pond to play Ringette. We got our sticks and helmets and divided ourselves into teams of seven. The first game was tough; we all struggled to move on the ice and control the ring. The game ended 1-0 due to a mistake from the goalie. However, once the second game started, I really got the hang of it. Within seconds of the game starting, I got the ring and ran it all the way up the line where I passed it to my open teammate in the middle who scored. The rest of the game was a hard fought battle, until we had a minute left in the game. It was looking like the other team was about to score, but our goalie saved the ring and passed it out to me. I saw an opening in the other team’s defense, and I slipped between until I was right in front of the goal. I shot the ring into the goal and scored, ending the game. 

I didn’t expect to like Ringette as much as I did, but I enjoyed it so much. I had a great time collaborating with my friends to win the game. I hope to play Ringette right up until the ice starts to melt.

Jack Carey, McCall-Donnelly High School, McCall, ID