PL2016 - Week 12

Here is week 12 in my project life album. This week centered around ringette. The girls had played in a huge game on Sunday, and won. Had we lost Sunday's game, we would have had to play and win one, maybe two more games to get to the cities. Because we won on Sunday, it meant we automatically went to the city championship game.

Talk about exciting. This whole season has been exciting. Back in September, I never expected we would head into the city championship game with no losses in league played games.

The last game was tough... The team we played against quite literally wanted to take us down. But they didn't! We came away city champs! Such an accomplishment. Best year playing ringette ever.

Win or lose this final game, we'd qualified for Provincials in Medicine Hat. So, after school on St. Patrick's Day, we loaded up our vehicle and headed to the Hat. Out of the 13 girls on the team, 12 of us were able to make provincials work. 

Again, what a special experience to be a part of. This was our first year in U12, and our first time qualifying to make it to provincials. Will that happen every year? I don't know. Maybe it does. Again, this team never lost a game in the regular season. We had one tie, and the rest were wins. [We did lose a few games in the tourneys, but they don't count in the standings]

Friday morning we played our first game against the Spruce Grove Rage. We lost 1-4, but it was a closer game than the score leads you to believe.  And those northern Alberta teams, they are GOOD.

We won our second game against Red Deer Elite, which was a feather in our cap for sure. In a tourney in January, we lost by one goal. We also lost to them in the gold medal game of the Golden Ring, again by one goal.  To say our girls were pumped up over this win, was an understatement. The parents were pretty pumped up too. 

Friday night, there was an opening ceremony that the girls all got to be a part of. It felt like it was kind of a big deal. The girls all got matching ball camps, and got to wear their practice jerseys onto the ice, carrying the banner with our team name on it. 

Friday night was full of a lot of laughs, have I mentioned these parents are awesome? We may have got asked to pipe down, on several occasions. The girls and the parents had a blast Friday night.

Then, Saturday morning, at exactly 5:23, Miss Madelyn jumped out of bed, flew down the hall to the bathroom, and threw up. Poor little peanut. She was sick for the entire day. It was heartbreaking when she finally realized that she wouldn't be able to play ringette. She was in tears and so upset, the last thing she wanted to do, she told me, was let her team down...

The girls all made her a 'get well soon' card, and played 'for Maddy' and subsequently won the next 3 games. [5-2 win against the Ice Fury, 3-1 win against the Leduc Jaguars, and 2-0 against Brooks]

They had a game first thing Sunday morning at 7:45am, which suddenly Mad bounced out of bed at 6:00am, and said "Let's go". Once she was up however, she realized how weak she was. There was no way she'd get on the ice. So, we went and watched the game. The girls on the team were so thrilled to see her, and they all greeted her so warmly. They lost that game against Lacombe Edge, 1-7. It was a hard game to watch. The girls definitely got a little down, but keep in mind, this was the team that ended up winning the gold medal. They were good. There was a bit of speculation that they were too good to be playing in this tier. Considering all their games were total blowouts, I tend to agree.

We played the Bronze Medal game, against the Spruce Grove Rage, we lost, the final score was 0-4. The most important thing about this game was, Madelyn played. I still am in disbelief that she did it. She was absolutely determined to be there, and be apart of it, and she did. Which was so awesome.

In the dressing room, there were lots of tears. Not because they lost, but because that was their final game. The season was over. They're done. These girls really bonded. It was our best season ever. 

So there you have it. An amazing accomplishment, especially to be the only southern Alberta team to make it to and play in the medal games. We called this weekend, the 'icing' to our amazing year. Wish I had some Tsunami Mommy photos to add.

The following Sahlin Studio Product was used: 

Compositison - Elements: http://the-lilypad.com/store/composition-elements.html

Composition - Journal Cards: http://the-lilypad.com/store/composition-journal-cards.html