The Tournament Committee is pleased to welcome you to the 12th Annual Michelle Vandale Memorial Spirit of Winter Ringette Tournament! The Schedule, Tournament/Tiebreaking Rules, Scores, and Program Guide can all be found on our tournament website: www.fvringette.com/fvra-tournament/ In continuing with tradition, along with the Spirit of Winter, we celebrate the Spirit of Ringette in all of our activities. The tournament committee has been and continues to be hard at work to provide a weekend of fun and excitement for everyone! In doing so, there are a few changes and additions for this year’s tournament. Here is a synopsis of the weekend’s events:
SPIRIT OF FUN CARNIVAL
This drop-in event from 2-6 pm on FRIDAY, Dec 1st at George Preston Rec Centre (Multi-Purpose Room A), with a new Carnival atmosphere provides off-ice games, face painting, popcorn and cotton candy as well as old favorites…cookie decorating and a special visitor from the North Pole. The activities cater to the U12 and younger participants but all are
welcome. The Carnival will be followed by the tournament Welcome Ceremony, Banner Skate, and Frisbee Toss.
WELCOME CEREMONY
All teams and spectators are invited to George Preston Rec Centre from 6-7:15pm on Friday, Dec. 1st for the Welcome Ceremony. NEW this year…there will be a DJ for added energy and excitement as well as a Frisbee Toss featuring THREE great prizes to be won…Frisbees will be sold at George Preston for $5 each or 3 for $10 from 4-6pm on Friday. Also on the evening’s schedule are a brief welcoming address, the banner skate, national anthem, and a feature NRL game.
BANNER CELEBRATION SKATE
Teams! All age groups! All divisions! Let your arts and crafts skills shine! Come out and show off your team banner with pride at our Banner Celebration Skate on Friday, Dec. 1st during the Welcome Ceremony. One team will win a great prize for participating! For more info or to sign your team up, email sonia.lars@icloud.com
NRL
We will again be showcasing National Ringette League (NRL) games throughout our tournament. BC Thunder will be playing against Edmonton Black Gold Rush at the tournament venues during the weekend with the feature game being held on Friday, Dec. 1st at 7:30pm (following the Welcome Ceremony & Spirit of Fun) at the George Preston Rec Centre. We hope that your team will plan to watch one (or all four) of this weekend’s exciting, fast-paced NRL games!
BOOSTER JUICE
NEW this year…Booster Juice will be on site at George Preston Rec. Centre on Friday and Saturday with their delicious smoothies available for purchase.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Along with the annual Michelle Vandale Memorial Scholarship (provided by the Bettles family and awarded to a grade 12 participant of the tournament), there are TWO NEW Annual Scholarships this year…the Bill Bettles Memorial Volunteerism Scholarship (to be awarded to a current grade 12 or 1st year post-secondary student) and the Fraser Valley Ringette Member Scholarship (to be awarded to a FVRA member currently in grade 12 or up to 3rd year post-secondary school/program). More details about the scholarships can be found on-line at https://www.fvringette.com/scholarship/ The scholarships will be presented at approx. 3:30 pm (immediately following the U19A Gold Medal Game) on Sunday
PIN SWAP
Players will be provided the opportunity to trade pins or buttons from their team or home association with those of their opponents at the start of each game.
TEAM SPIRIT AWARD
The team (players and fans) with best show of sportsmanship, cheers and team spirit throughout the tournament will receive the Team Spirit Award. Be creative to earn extra points…use face paint, team or association walkout wear, funny hats, etc. to help demonstrate your team’s spirit.
RAFFLES & 50/50
The tournament ‘s amazing raffle baskets will be at two venues this year…Walnut Grove Sportsplex AND George Preston Rec Centre. Make sure to check them out and get tickets at both locations! Tickets for the annual FVRA Raffle will also be available at the basket raffle tables for a chance to win $1000 (1st prize) $700 (2nd prize) or $300 (3rd prize). Volunteers will be selling 50/50 tickets throughout the weekend providing chances to win some cash.
VENDORS
Esquires will be on location at Walnut Grove Sportsplex and Real Hip will be set up at George Preston Rec Centre during the tournament. Each of these vendors features a wide and different variety of Ringette themed t-shirts, hoodies, sweat pants, and pyjama pants, available for purchase. In addition, AAA Photography will be photographing players during the games throughout the weekend and thus providing numerous great action photos for sale. AAA’s viewing and purchasing station will be set up at Walnut Grove Sportsplex.
PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
The committee is currently working with one of Fraser Valley’s U19 athletes on the possibility of creating a tournament promotional video. Once the details are finalized, this young lady could be recording the various activities throughout the weekend and creating a professional quality video that would be used to promote the Michelle Vandale Memorial Spirit of Winter Ringette Tournament in future. Once completed, the final product will be uploaded to the FV Ringette website and perhaps distributed to other associations to promote the tournament. Thus, please be aware of the possibility that your team’s athletes may be shown in the video. If someone on your team prefers that they are not filmed by our committee members for any purpose, please ensure that you let the committee know via email to: tournaments@fvringette.com prior to Saturday, December 2nd, 2017. Please note that the MVM SOW Tournament nor the FVRA is not responsible for individuals who choose to post to their social media outlets.
NEW TOURNAMENT LOGO SOUVENIR HOODIES
This year, the Tournament Committee and Real Hip Clothing are offering a pre-order opportunity for souvenir hoodies. The design can be viewed at https://realhipclothing.com/collections/spirit-of-winter-ringette-tournament Please see a representative of Real Hip at George Preston Rec. Centre to pick up your order.
PROGRAM GUIDE
The tournament on-line program guide for participants and spectators alike can be found on our tournament website https://www.fvringette.com/fvra-tournament/ It has schedules, team info, sponsors, and more…check it out! In closing, we would like to thank the tournament committee members for their dedication to making this a great tournament and of course our sponsors for their generous contributions and continued support! We hope you have a great weekend and we wish “good luck” to all participants!
Regards,
Jeaneen Briner and Nicole Borges
FVRA Tournament Co-Directors