CHARLOTTETOWN, PEI - Ringette PEI, in conjunction with Ringette Canada, announced today that the 2009 Canadian Ringette Championships will be hosted in the Charlottetown/Cornwall area from April 6-11, 2009. It’s the first time in the history of the event, which began in 1979, that Prince Edward Island will host the championships.

Approximately 600 elite athletes, which represent provincial champions from across the country, will descend upon the region to compete for national titles in three divisions - junior – under age 16, belle – under age 19, and open - ages 19 and over. The event will also see another 500-1000 coaches, team officials, parents and fans in attendance. This influx represents an economic impact in excess of $1,000,000 for the Island during the one-week period of the Championships.

As part of its Annual General Meeting, which took place last weekend in Kelowna, B.C., “Ringette Canada’s Board of Directors selected Ringette PEI from among several highly competitive and well-presented bids,” stated Jim Dawson, incoming president of Ringette Canada. John Francis, President of the Bid Committee stated, “I am very pleased the ringette community across Canada has considered PEI worthy of being awarded this honour for the first time. Those of us involved with the bid are anxious to get started on the detailed organization and look forward to raising the profile of ringette in PEI and the anticipated expansion of this wonderful ice-sport throughout the Island.

I wish to thank the members of the Bid Committee, the Province, the City of Charlottetown, the Town of Cornwall and Ringette PEI for their support and look forward with anticipation to their continued support.”

The Championships will take place at the Capital Area Recreation Inc. Complex – MacLaughlan Arenas, Charlottetown Civic Centre and APM Centre. It is expected that over 250 volunteers will be involved in the event. The 2007 Canadian Ringette Championships will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from April 9 to 14, 2007 and the event will take place in St. Albert, Alberta in 2008.

About Ringette

Ringette is a Canadian sport that was invented in 1963 in North Bay, Ontario by the late Sam Jacks. There are currently over 25,000 players on nearly 2,000 teams across Canada with over 1,800 officials and 5,000 coaches. Internationally, it is played in half a dozen other countries around the world. For more information, please refer to the Ringette Canada Web site at www.ringette.ca