The World Ringette Championships (WRC) is the premier international competition in ringette and is governed by the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Unlike most international competitions, all of the WRC's elite athletes are female rather than male, one of the sport's distinctive features. Competing nations include: Canada, Finland, United States, Sweden, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with Team Canada and Team Finland having emerged as the sport's top two competing nations. The 2023 World Ringette Championships were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and was the sport's 60th anniversary.
Competition consists of teams competing in one of four pools: the Senior Pool (Sam Jacks Series), the Under–21, U21 Pool (formerly called the Junior Pool) the President's Pool, and the new U18 International Development Festival which began in 2023.
The "Sam Jacks Series" is the name of the Senior Pool which is the tournament's elite competition between Team Canada Senior and Team Finland Senior with the Sam Jacks Trophy awarded to the team who wins the world senior title. The U21 Pool is now the tournament's elite competition between Team Canada U21 and Team Finland U21 with the Juuso Wahlsten Trophy awarded to the team who wins the world U21 title. The President's Pool is the tournament's competition between developing ringette nations with a smaller presence in the sport. Team Sweden Senior, Team USA Senior, and Team Czech Republic Senior compete in this pool and the President's Trophy is awarded to the winning team. National teams including Team Slovakia, Team Russia, and Team France, have also competed in the WRC past.
The nations of Canada and Finland form the most significant international rivalry at the world level which means the rivalry does not exist exclusively between North American teams. Nations like the United States, Sweden, and the Czech Republic have yet to produce top tier talent and these three countries form the international rivalry at a lower tier. One of the three countries are expected to eventually produce the first team to break the top two-team international barrier between Canada and Finland, though Slovakia, Russia and France have also competed. Neither Team Russia nor Team France have competed in the senior division at the World Ringette Championships since WRC 1996, and neither country has sent a junior, U21, or U19 national ringette team to compete since the 2012 World Junior Ringette Championships. Team Slovakia has not competed since WRC 2016 and has not created a junior, U19, or U21 national team.
The inaugural year for the WRC was in 1990 and the World Ringette Summit Series took place in Europe in 1998. The 2021 WRC was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several WRC competitions have been recorded and been made available for viewing online for free.
Unlike most international team sports tournaments, the World Ringette Championship competition consists entirely of elite female athletes due to the sport's dedication to providing girls and women with a sport of their own which has also allowed it to be free from the administrative responsibilities necessary to govern both a male and female category of the sport. This approach has also resulted in the ability to avoid male-to-female comparisons and has given the spotlight to elite female athletes.
History Between 1990–1996 and 2000–2004 the World Ringette Championships were arranged every other year. In 1998 no official World Championships were held but Finland and Canada played several exhibition games touring across Europe in what was called the Summit Series. The WRC's have been held every two or three years since the 2004 World Ringette Championships were hosted in Sweden.
The competition is organized by the international governing body for the sport, the International Ringette Federation (IRF), which was initially called the World Ringette Council. The council is believed to have eventually changed its name to the IRF to avoid confusion due to the fact that the acronym for the organization (WRC) was identical to the World Ringette Championship.
While the first World Ringette Championship began in 1990, the competition between individual nations technically began in 1996. Initially the tournament was exclusively contested between adult national ringette teams until 2013 when the junior division was added, having merged from a separate junior tournament, the World Junior Ringette Championships. For a time, a separate world ringette club competition also existed, the Ringette World Club Championship, but it too has since been discontinued.
In 2013 the IRF created a new and separate competition for the World Championship, naming the division the "President's Pool", which allows athletes and teams from countries with less ringette experience and a smaller presence in the sport new opportunities to compete. The presidents' Pool occasionally involves junior teams from Canada and Finland competing with the developing ringette countries.
With the exception of the 2022 World Ringette Championships, today both the senior and junior competitions for the world title typically involve a best of three playoff series between national Canadian and Finnish ringette teams in their respective age groups, with the senior competition now having been dubbed the "Sam Jacks Series". The WRC 2022 tournament scheduled a two-game series instead of a three-game series.
First World Ringette Championships The first World Ringette Championship was held in Gloucester, Ontario in 1990 where the first ever Sam Jacks Trophy was awarded to a representative Canadian team from Alberta, the sport's first World Ringette champions. Participating teams included six regional teams from Canada, national teams from Finland, and the United States. Team Alberta, the "Calgary Debs" won the inaugural championship, marking Canada's reputation as the leading country in the sport.
Competition format The competitive structure is divided into four separate competitions: the Senior Pool (called the "Sam Jacks Series"), the Junior Pool, and the President's Pool, and the U18 International Development Festival, which was newly introduced by the International Ringette Federation for the 2023 World Ringette Championships.
Senior Pool The Senior Pool is typically played in a best-of-three playoff format between Canada's Senior national team, and Finland's Senior national team, but the 2022 World Ringette Championships scheduled a two-game series instead. The winning Senior team is awarded with the world title, gold medals, and the championship trophy called the Sam Jacks Trophy, named after Sam Jacks.
Each Senior Pool game is played in a 4 x 15-minute quarter format. The Senior Pool did not exist until 2013 and was created when the junior program was added to the world program that same year. Prior to that point there was only a single event for adults and young adults.
Junior Pool The Junior Pool competition is now called the U21 Pool (includes players under 21 years of age). At times it involved teams with players who were under 19 years of age (U19). The winning team in this pool is awarded with the world title for this age division, gold medals, and the Juuso Wahlsten Trophy, named after Juhani Wahlsten.
The pool is typically played in a best-of-three playoff format between Canada's U21 national team, and Finland's U21 national team, however, the 2022 World Ringette Championships scheduled a two-game series instead. Each game in this pool is played in a 4 x 15-minute quarter format.
Prior to the 2013 World Ringette Championships the junior program was held as a separate event in 2009 and 2012. It has since changed to include either players who were exclusively under 19 years of age or exclusively under 21.
President's Pool The President's Pool is a competition between developing ringette nations. Each President's Pool game is played in a 4 x 15-minute quarter format. The winning team is awarded with the President's Pool world title, gold medals, and the President's Trophy. Occasionally, teams in this pool have competed against the junior teams from Canada and Finland.
U18 International Development Festival The International Ringette Federation (IRF) unveiled a new feature for the 2023 World Ringette Championships: the U18 International Development Festival, where young players from around the world can showcase their skills and passion for the sport.
Trophies Senior Pool Trophy The Sam Jacks Trophy is awarded to the winning national senior level ringette team. The trophy was named after Canada's Sam Jacks in his honour since Jacks is considered the main inventor of the sport. The trophy was donated by the family of Sam Jacks.
The first Sam Jacks Trophy was awarded in Gloucester, Ontario during the 1990 World Ringette Championships. The trophy was designed by a woman from Gloucester, Ontario, and was made of oak and bronze and was roughly 3 feet tall, but had to be rolled out onto the ice on a table because it was too heavy for the winning team from Canada to lift. In 1996 the trophy was replaced with a new design which has been awarded during every World Ringette Championship year since, while the initial trophy now resides in the Ringette Canada office.
Junior Pool Trophy
The Juuso Wahlsten Trophy was introduced during the 2019 World Ringette Championships in Burnaby, Alberta, Canada. It was the first time the World Ringette Junior Champions were with presented with the new trophy. The trophy is named after Juhani "Juuso" Wahlsten, the "Father of Ringette" in Finland. The trophy was donated by Finland's Sini Forsblom, a former Team Finland athlete and also former President of the International Ringette Federation.
Wahlsten is the only member of the International Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in history to have had an international ringette trophy named in his honour.
President's Pool Trophy The winner of the President's Pool Division is awarded the President's Trophy which was first introduced during the 2013 World Ringette Championships. The presidents' Pool involves a competition between developing ringette countries. Occasionally junior teams from Canada and Finland have competed against the nations who compete in this pool.
World Ringette Championships results The first time the World Ringette Championships involved Senior teams representing individual nations exclusively was during the 1996 World Ringette Championships. The first time the World Ringette Championships involved Junior teams representing individual nations exclusively was during the 2013 World Ringette Championships.
Senior + Senior champions YearLocation Gold Silver Bronze 1990 Details Gloucester Team Alberta(Calgary Debs) Team Ontario Team Quebec 1992 Details Helsinki Canada West(Team Alberta "AAA") Canada East Finland 1994 Details Saint Paul Finland Canada East Canada West 1996 Details Stockholm Canada Finland USA 1998 Details Turku Gothenburg Osnabrück Colmar 1998 Summit Series between Canada and Finland Finland won the Ringette 1998 Summit Series 3-2 2000 Details Espoo and Lahti Finland Canada USA 2002 Details Edmonton Canada Finland USA 2004 Details Stockholm Finland Canada USA 2007 Details Ottawa Finland Canada Sweden 2010 Details Tampere Finland Canada USA "Sam Jacks Series" begins Team Canada Senior Team Finland Senior YearLocation Gold Silver Bronze 2013 Details North Bay Finland Canada USA 2016 Details Helsinki Finland Canada Sweden 2017 Details Mississauga Finland Canada Sweden 2019 Details Burnaby Finland Canada Sweden 2021 Details Helsinkicancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2022 Details Espoo Finland Canada USA 2023 Details Postponed until 2025 Postponed until 2025 Postponed until 2025 Postponed until 2025 2025 Details Lahti Finland Canada
Junior The junior age division is now called the U21 division (players under 21 years of age).