Improper shin pads can result in injury in ringette from stick checking but also just from losing balance and falling on the ice, in ringette we’re not blocking pucks like in hockey so the shin pads don’t need to be excessively large, wide or cushioned, but it is important that the length is proper to prevent injury.

Sizing:

Have your athlete sit on a chair with their knees at a 90 degree angle while wearing their skates tied up. Measure from the center of their kneecap to the top of the skate laces.

Are all shinpads the same?

As is the same with skates different brands fit differently, and even the same brand will have different fitting models, like:

• Bauer Vapor = Narrower ankle
• Bauer Nexus = Wider ankle

Length:

Ringette sticks are significantly shorter than hockey sticks, in hockey the longer sticks are needed for more power because you’re putting so much pressure down on the ice to force the stick to bend and that whipping action propels the puck. In ringette it’s the ring itself that flexes and bends mostly although the stick also does to an extent but there isn’t the pressure against the ice that’s putting power into the shot.

For sizing your athlete’s stick, when they are wearing their skates the stick can’t be any longer than their armpits. In excessive cases of older higher end players there are some players with sticks that are around their belly buttons. In the younger years while your athlete is developing it’s recommended to have the sticks at their armpits.

Types of sticks:

Wood, Fibreglass, or Composite? Sticks used to all be wood of course and as technology increases it’s getting harder and harder to find a wood stick, as you can imagine a wood stick will be more stiff and not have much flex. Fibreglass have more flex than wood but are less durable than composite. Composite sticks are the high end of sticks, they’re lightweight, have a wippyness that improves shooting and are durable against breakage.

In the beginning years especially if your athlete needs to lean on their stick to skate or turn then don’t worry so much about spending top dollar on a composite stick if you don’t want.

Types of tips:

Ringette sticks have a plastic ribbed tip on the end of them, the ribs are what grips the rings for shooting/passing, the tips are replaceable and need to be over time once you see it getting rounded over from use, a round tip or flattened down ribs will not allow raising of the ring or accuracy. In a temporary pinch these tips can be ‘sharpened’ with a pocketknife but isn’t a permanent fix long-term.

There are 2 different sizes of tips depending on the brand of stick you get, there are short tips that are stocky looking and more durable, these are usually used for defensive Defense that are leaning on their sticks a lot wrestling rings away from attackers in front of the net or against the boards. NAMI is a brand that has this short tip, the sticks are also less flexible and more stiff.

The longer tips are more common and more popular for shooting/passing, the longer tips have more ribs as a whole to grip the ring but aren’t as durable as the short version tip and can snap off if leaned on too much.

Depending on the type of stick you purchase, most have replaceable tips, but not all tips can be used in all sticks, some are brand specific.

Sit your athlete in a chair so their knee is at a 90 degree angle and measure from the center of their ankle bone to the center of their kneecap. This will give you the measurement that you see goalie pads sized at and written on the side of the pads:

• Youth: 19” – 23”
• Junior: 24” – 30”
• Intermediate: 29” – 32”
• Senior: 32” – 38”

Ultimately it’s up to what is comfortable to each athlete, different pads have different features, softer, harder, tighter grip on the knee, buckles, Velcro, etc. but when wearing the pad it’s important to have the kneecap in the right spot of the pad.

Toe ties can be Velcro or laces to tie, with the pad flat on the ground and athlete sitting on the bench the toe ties are tight to the skate below the toes but above the blade of the skate.

Thigh rise is the height of the pad above your knee, some of the larger pads look like the pad is tall enough to be at their hips. While some goalies like this feature to cover the space between their legs when they go down in the butterfly, it’s important in the younger years to make sure the pads aren’t so over-sized that the athlete has difficulty moving or getting back up off the ice.

Do goalies need different skates than those who “play out”? Initially, when trying the goalie position, goalies can get by with regular hockey skates but if they decide to commit full-time to a life in net, there are some key differences for goalie vs player skates:

More armored toes:

This is a feature from hockey to prevent injury from a pick hitting the goalie’s toes, BUT ringette rings aren’t as hard and damaging so the injury by getting shot in the toes while wearing player skates isn’t a worry.

The blade angle:

This is the big difference that needs to be thought of, player skates have rounded fronts and backs of the blades to help acceleration, tight turns, crossovers, etc.

Goalie skates have a flatter profile to have more blade on the ice for stability, shuffling side to side, staying square. These blades make movement in the crease much more comfortable for goalies for control and fluid movements.

When you take your skates to get sharpened they will ask you ‘What radius do you want?’ The easiest answer you want to say is ‘The same as last time’. The radius of your athlete’s skates depends on skill level but also their size and weight on the blades.

For ringette our game is more tight turns than end to end, so a smaller radius is more likely for your player, as you’re just starting out it would be a recommended to start at a ½” radius and can adjust from there, try it for 6 icetimes and if your skater wants more grip while turning then maybe try a 3/8” radius for the next 6 icetimes.

Shallower radius is easier to glide on the ice with less push but is harder to grip in corners, a deeper radius digs in the ice and slows you down because of more contact with the ice unless you’re really pushing.

Also player size and strength is a factor, a 50lb player may turn on a 5/8″ edge just fine and there’s lots of grip, but a 150lb player needs a deeper radius to dig deeper in the ice otherwise even with a freshly sharpened 5/8″ skate they will still slip sideways

Once your athlete gets comfortable in skating, gets faster, can crossover etc, an average of 5-6 icetimes is what most players use for a gauge to get their next sharpening. Although you should plan it out based on what kinds of ice you’re on and whether you may want to bump it up to maybe a sharpening after 3 icetimes if you’re at the Kinsmen a couple of times before you’re about to go to a tournament.

In the younger ages when they’re trying to maintain balance, get up after falling down and whatnot, you should be able to extend the frequency of sharpenings a bit but it’s recommended to still get the skates sharpened a max of 8-10 icetimes on good ice. If your athlete is trying to get confident being on skates it won’t help them if they have dull skates that won’t dig in the ice.

Boot sizing:

In general the choice of your skate sizing will determine whether you need to tie the laces tighter or not. The best way to get the best sized skate is to get them properly sized from a business that uses the proper tools to give your athlete the best fit. Western Cycle is a good choice for this fitting try and avoid the big box stores where the salespeople aren’t trained specifically in this. Some players have skates that are too wide and so prefer skates to be tied as tight as possible because their feet have too much space, some players have their skates too narrow so don’t want them tight at all.

Especially in newer skaters it can be difficult to get accurate information whether the skates feel comfortable or not, they’re not flip flops, they’re stiff, form fitting, designed to not allow too much free space, and new skates need a break-in time to move better with your foot/ankle so they probably won’t feel comfortable for the first handful of icetimes.

Skate sizing isn’t just based on the length and how much space your toes have, a big factor that can be missed is the width of the skate boot. Every manufacturer has different models to allow for a wider boot of the same style skate.

Wax laces vs non-waxed:

The difference between these laces are that waxed laces don’t loosen easily, so if your athlete wants their skates tighter then waxed might be the way to go, when you pull on the laces then let off the pressure waxed laces won’t let off as much as non-waxed laces will.

The laces are too long, I’ll just wrap them around the ankle:

There are professional hockey players that you will see that wrap their laces around their ankle, but that doesn’t mean your player should, those pros mostly don’t use the top couple eyelets of their skates and entire skate is generally pretty loosely tied because the boot itself is so form-fitted to their foot (Very expensive skates).

Tying skates tight then wrapping the extra laces around the boot restricts ankle movement for turning, acceleration and skating in general. Ever wonder why your kid isn’t ‘bending their knees’ while skating? You try doing a standing squat without flexing your ankle forward.

Pants and Shirt:

Something light, thin, and tighter fitting like tights or yoga outfit is most comfortable for players under equipment, even in a cold rink you need to remember that the players are warmer moving around than you are sitting and watching.

Socks:

Light, thin and long are the best socks to use here, you just want enough fabric to allow the foot to move in the boot. If the sock is too thick it can bunch up during the icetime, cause blisters by having too much cushion and foot moving around too much in the boot. There is also a mindset in a cold rink that players want warmer socks, but when a thicker sock is compressed in a tight skate it can actually have the opposite effect and cause the foot to get colder faster, while also not allowing your foot to be properly fitted in the skate.

Special socks for skates are sold at all sports stores, they are thin, breathable, usually knee-high so that they grip your whole lower leg and prevents slipping down and bunching up in the skate. For the thickness they are also very durable.

Ankle socks are discouraged to use because the skate will rub on your ankle, cause blisters, irritate skin and a lot of discomfort.

Hair:

The helmet needs to fit properly on your athlete’s head for proper protection, ponytails with hair-ties and scrunchies can be used but needs to be tied low on their heads to be below the helmet and can come undone over the icetime, bangs can also fall in front of players eyes.

A head buff is commonly used by players to keep their hair tight to their head and keep hair out of their eyes.

Does your goalie need a keely?

In general, no but they are nicer for the goalie to use and RRA has FREE keelys that we will loan to goalies each season.

A Keely goalie glove was designed by National goaltender Keely Brown to catch shots but also have full the ability to grab the ring and have full control of picking up the ring and throwing it out on goalie ring plays.

There are high performance goaltenders that use catching gloves that are used in hockey but have strength and coordination to then grab the stick with their catcher glove and use their blocker to throw the ring.

In the Fundamental divisions the shots aren’t coming in hard enough to need extra protection and can use their regular players gloves. Once your player wants to play goalie full-time in U12 and older you need to look at better protection and better equipment for your athlete and upgrade the equipment to a proper blocker and catcher/Keely.