By Lisa Brown

Have you ever noticed that some ringette players are ring magnets?

They always have the ring, and everyone wants to give them the ring.

To be a ringette ring magnet, you must be a smart player. You must learn little known tricks to keep the ring even in tough circumstances. When you demonstrate a superior ability to KEEP the ring no matter what, your teammates will give it to you constantly!

Check out this clip of a ringette player demonstrating how to get away from pressure.

Notice the following:

1. As soon as she picks up the ring, she starts moving her feet immediately. Most players slow down or stop when they get the ring in a trap zone like the boards.
2. She peels around the net, using it to get away from the player who is chasing her. This is because she knows that the girl chasing her will have to drop behind her (or risk skating right into the net!). This is a clever way to the net as a teammate.
3. The ring carrier splits the checkers. What I mean by this is that she skates in between the two checkers rather than try to avoid them both by skating into the corner of the ice. Splitting checkers is a nifty way of avoiding pressure, because when you split checkers, you make them attack you 1 vs. 1 instead of them attacking you together. But remember: if you split checkers, you must be skating at top speed!

Your friend,
Lisa B.