Medicine Hat U14 Mayhem goaltender Jacqueline LeBlanc celebrates at the final buzzer of the Mayhem's 6-3 gold-medal win Dec. 3, 2023 at the Moose Rec Centre over Calgary South at the Ed Horvath Invitational. The Medicine Hat Ringette Association announced Wednesday a uniform name for all teams heading into next season - the Medicine Hat Mustangs.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Local ringette players will now represent Medicine Hat under one banner and be known as Mustangs after members of the Medicine Hat Ringette Association voted for a unified name.
Since the ringette association was established in 1985, teams in each of the five age divisions were able to choose a team name for that season. In an effort to grow membership and celebrate the all-female sport, the MHRA voted to adopt the name “Medicine Hat Mustangs” during its AGM Wednesday night.
That means next season the Mustangs will be charging into tournaments to face off against the likes of the Lethbridge Rattlers, Strathmore Ice and Cochrane Rockies.
Coach and board member Rebecca Jackiw says the MHRA received three submissions for the name “Mustangs” after asking the community for suggestions in January.
“We really liked what the three submissions entailed and thought that it really spoke to female empowerment and the herd mentality,” explains Jackiw. “And really spoke to our Western culture in Alberta and Medicine Hat.”
With all Medicine Hat players now competing under one name, the MHRA hopes the change will grow the ringette community and inspire new girls to lace up and give the sport a try.
“We’re hoping that it will help drum up some extra support from past players or older players,” says Jackiw. “Then really have those younger players aspiring to be like the big Mustangs and the older girls.
“I think it will be so wonderful when you go to a tournament, you’re going to see from U10 to U19 all wearing Medicine Hat Mustang Ringette.”
Jackiwsays the MHRA is in the final stages of finalizing a logo and has two designs in mind that they plan to share on social media shortly.
“We’re pretty excited about what they look like,” says Jackiw. “We got some interesting feedback from some of the members, young and old.”
The Mustangs will hit the ice this fall with early-bird registration beginning June 1. Evaluations are set to run in September and the first week of action will start at the beginning of October.
Jackiw says the MHRA is excited to welcome some of its alumni players to host a summer training camp. She encourages new players to join the MHRA and says they are committed to growing the all-female sport.
“I’m not knocking female hockey, but ringette is a female dominated sport.” adds Jackiw. “And I think it’s important that we have female coaches as a mandatory thing on our bench. We have female refs, it’s a female positive energy.”
For more information visit mhringette.com
Editors note: A previous version of the story misspelled Rebecca Jackiw’s name.
