Ringette Canada is proud to announce four new inductees into our Hall of Fame

Angie Milbury, President of Ringette Canada, announced today that four individuals have been inducted into the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame in the Official and Builder Categories. 

“The Ringette Hall of Fame is proud to welcome these incredible individuals,” said Milbury. “Their contributions to the sport of ringette are well documented and their induction to the Hall of Fame is richly deserved.”

The Ringette Canada Hall of Fame recognizes outstanding contributions to the development of the sport of ringette and the outstanding achievements of ringette athletes, coaches, officials and administrators across Canada.

In the Officials Category, one individual was elected.

Sue Blacklock, Sue began her officiating career in the early 1980’s in Guelph, Ontario and remains active 40 years later.  She was quick to climb the officiating ladder and found herself at her first of many Provincial Championships in 1985.  Sue furthered her impressive career by attending her first Canadian Ringette Championships in 1990, where she would make consecutive appearances for the next 16 years.  Accumulating more officiating accomplishments, she attended four Canada Winter Games 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003.  Additionally, in 1994 and 2004, she was selected to officiate at the World Ringette Championships where she was assigned the gold medal game at each event.

In addition to her on-ice success, Sue was also a member of the Ringette Canada Officiating Development Committee contributing to the development of the NOCP program throughout the country.

Sue continues to enjoy the challenges that the sport of ringette has to offer and can still be seen on-ice at tournaments throughout the season.

In the Builder Category, 3 individuals were elected.

 

A retired RCMP police officer since 2012, Yvon Brault began his involvement with ringette when his youngest daughter started playing in 1997. He then joined the Gatineau Ringette Association (ARG) as an assistant coach and eventually a head coach, as well as on the board of directors by combining different functions: scheduler, director of development and tournament director. Five years later, he became president of the association and held this position until 2018. 

Mr. Brault spearheaded several initiatives aimed at promoting and protecting young people.  In 2004, Mr. Brault’s U16 A team became the spokespeople for the RCMP’s Choix.org program. This national program aimed to promote healthy lifestyles as well as the promotion of drug-free youth.   In 2007, he founded a franchise in the National Ringette League (NRL) under the name of Fusion de Gatineau. As the leader of the Fusion, Mr. Brault established many important partnerships, and in its first year of inception the Fusion of Gatineau was named franchise of the year by the National Ringette League.  Over the next several years, many other NRL teams looked to Yvon for guidance as they looked to model the successes of the Fusion across the country.  Yvon contributed to the success of the league beyond his team with his participation on several national committees aimed at enhancing and growing the league. He’s also been a learning facilitator with the NCCP for many years.  

In 2010, he set up a Sport-Études ringette program at Polyvalente Nicolas-Gatineau to allow athletes to combine studies and sport. Because the athletes of the program could not find a place to train, he opened and financed a non-profit gym to accommodate them. The fast-growing demand forced him to increase the surface of his facility from 2000 sq/ft to 14,000 sq/ft. The gym had all the equipment needed for athletes of all levels including Olympic athletes.

He started as a humble volunteer, but the growing success of ringette is largely linked to his human approach, his generosity, and his incredible passion for the sport.  As he would tell you, none of his accomplishments could have been realized without the help of hundreds of volunteers that helped him become Mr ringette.   

‘Now 24 years later, a new challenge awaits him: he is teaching his two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to skate and who knows, in the near future we may find him again behind a bench as a coach’.  – Elodie Brault

 

Terry McAdam was introduced to ringette when his oldest daughter started playing. He coached both of his daughters throughout their ringette careers, and even after they both ended their careers, Terry continued to coach. He has coached at every level in Saskatoon, and eventually helped establish the Saskatoon Wild of the National Ringette League (NRL).  Along with Dwayne Andreen, he created the Wild, organized it, promoted it and even funded it on many occasions. He spent countless hours on conference calls making schedules, booking travel, and marketing the NRL. 

Terry’s involvement goes well beyond coaching. He has been involved with many local tournaments, highlighted by the 2009 Western Canadian Championships and the 2010 Canadian Ringette Championships. He has sat on countless committees and was involved with Saskatoon Ringette andRingette Saskatchewan as board president from 2003-2007, where he also served as provincial representative on the Ringette Canada Board. After his tenure as a provincial representative, Terry served as a director on the Ringette Canada board from 2008 to 2012.

One of Terry’s most lasting legacies will always be the number of athletes that he has coached that are now giving back to the sport through coaching and sport administration at both the local and provincial levels. 

‘Terry is such a well-known figure in the ringette committee. You would be hard pressed to find someone that doesn’t love Terry. He treats everyone equally and always shows respect for his players, fellow coaches, opponents, volunteers, and referees. He is the epitome of what ringette represents.’

• Erin Cumpstone

 

Alayne Martell, from St. Peter’s, Nova Scotia. Alayne Martell worked tirelessly to ensure that ringette stories were told. As the head of Media and Public Relations for Ringette Canada, Alayne did this for all levels of ringette across the breadth and depth of this country for more than 22 years. She built the foundations to enhance the branding of the sport. She boldly promoted ringette within the sport and outside of it, introducing an audience to the game who would otherwise miss the opportunity to share the passion and dedication she had for this sport.

Through her work with Ringette Canada, Alayne developed and carried out targeted communications strategies in support of the organization’s objectives. She carried out on-site media relations support at the Canadian Ringette Championships since 1999 and served as the national media representative and webmaster for the National Ringette League since its inception in 2004. Since 2000, she was heavily involved in the promotion of Team Canada and the World Ringette Championship and conducted media training with the Team Canada athletes to prepare them for their interactions with the media. She acted as the Sport Information Officer for ringette at the Canada Winter Games since 2003, which included providing onsite media and communications support at the event. 

As a communications professional for ringette, Alayne was a builder in an area where few have such skills and expertise. She excelled in a space where many would not even attempt to dabble in and brought ringette to the forefront of present-day mainstream media on a local, national and international level.

In November 2020, Ringette Canada was dealt a massive blow with the passing of our beautiful friend Alayne Martell.  A true professional. A devoted mother. A proud Cape Bretoner. We miss you terribly Alayne and we are so proud to honour you.

‘It is impossible to put into words the light that has been lost for the world of ringette and for those who were fortunate enough to know Alayne.’

– Laura Watson