March is going to be an exhausting, travel-packed month for Jocelyn Atkinson and Abby McLeod with three ringette championship tournaments on their schedule.
For the first time in their lengthy careers, they are teammates on three different rep teams and that’s many days away from their Prince George homes. Since last May, they’ve racked up 21 weekend road trips.
Their championship call of duty starts March 3 in Port Coquitlam when they join their Northern Lights club team at the B.C. under-16 provincials. The two 15-year-olds will then skate with their Zone 8 teammates, representing the northeastern region of the province at the B.C. Winter Games in Vernon, March 23-26.
That's the warmup for the Canadian ringette championships in Regina, April 9-15.
Atkinson is captain of the provincial team and played on the U-16 team last year, while McLeod was an affiliated player. They ended up 14th at the U-16 nationals in Calgary.
“Hopefully we’ll get a medal at provincials and nationals. If we bring it, we could,” said Atkinson said.
The B.C. U-16s have been to three tournaments this season and they attend regular training camps in the Lower Mainland. They also played the B.C. under-19 team in several exhibition games.
“I really like the competitiveness on the team, there’s a standard you have to meet and we get to travel to big places and see lots of really good ringette,” said McLeod. “It’s a lot traveling and that’s hard, I’m missing a lot of school (at Duchess Park) but I’m getting high B’s.”
Atkinson and McLeod started playing ringette when they were four. Atkinson plays centre and is the playmaker, while McLeod is more of shooter patrolling the wing. They’ve played with or against each other for 11 years and that chemistry shows when they get into games as linemates on all three teams.
Atkinson also plays competitive volleyball at Prince George Secondary School and in the Prince George Youth Volleyball Club and she says she owes her strength and coordination to ringette.
“It got me athletic, doing something I love,” said Atkinson.
That love for the game is strong in both families
Devin Atkinson and Hugo McLeod have coached each of their daughters at various times since the start of their careers and their wives, Brenda Atkinson and Deanna McLeod, have been active for years as executives in the Prince George Ringette Association.
The girls each had an older sister to emulate who played the game at a high level. Paige Shaw is four years older than her sister Abby, while Jocelyn’s sister Taryn is also four years her senior.
“We both have either coached with or against each other since they were four years old and we also did that with the other girls,” said Hugo McLeod, a former president of the PGRA.
“There are so many similarities between Paige and Taryn and Abby and Jocelyn, to the point where they actually copy one of Paige and Taryn’s plays, which is a back-pass behind the net which is very effective. They’ve probably scored 10 or 12 goals this year on that play alone.”
The fact Jocelyn and Abby are playing on three rep teams this year is an obvious source of pride for both dads. That’s never happened before in either family.
“I’ve been watching them grow up year after year and now they’re starting to peak in their abilities so it’s just fun watching them now,” said Devin Atkinson, coach of the Zone 8 team. “It’s a lot of fun because they are very gifted in ringette. They’ve worked hard for it."
The Zone 8 team has played in tournaments in Prince George, Kelowna and Richmond. There aren’t enough players to form a league in the region so the Northern Lights take on the under-19 team in Prince George for added competition.
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