Laerz

Next up: the Laerz family. All 3 generations played ringette in their lives, as well as trained to be referees and coaches as well. There isn’t one thing about ringette that the Laerz family didn’t become involved in.

Thank you for your continued development of the sport! Currently Erik is retired as a referee, but continues to mentor referees, as well as Brie and Tona in their coaching careers. Brie coaches her daughter on the ice and also mentors her niece on the bench as a junior coach. Tona is actively involved in the ringette community, contributing so much of her time to the sport with her knowledge by evaluating, holding coaching clinics and mentoring other players and referees.

Laerz Family, we appreciate your commitment and passion towards the sport of ringette. It is families like yours that develops this sport throughout the years, on and off the ice!

Tona: “Through coaching the sport over the years, the philosophy of ringette is clear; athletes need to belong to perform. Once we understand the make-up of the female brain and facilitate our coaching style towards this, the athletes thrive. Ringette coaches are integral in the success of the game on-ice, by coaching with this philosophy in mind. The concept of a team – between the players, referees and parents – is integral to the ringette culture.”

Brie: “Ringette creates a strong community within the sport. It just brings good people together. Last year, when I was battling cancer, my team was amazing. They brought my family meals, cookies and other prizes when I was homebound after surgery. This meant the world to me, and they really supported me and my daughter. Although I was healing, and probably should have been in bed, my love for ringette drove me to support my team from the bench until I could get back on the ice.”

Well said, Brie and Tona, the community of ringette truly is a family! We wish your teams all the best during EGRT 2024 this year – see you at the rink!