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Local ringette player, Belle Paisley, was named to the Junior National Ringette Team in May.
Her team has been training all summer and they are going to compete in Finland at the World Ringette Championships.
They have been attending a training camp once a month since May where they meet in different provinces across the country.
“We've been just practicing, playing exhibition games, working out as a team, and getting ready to compete,” she says. “It's been a lot of fun and I'm really excited.”
She has loved her experience so far and says it’s a privilege to be able to train with high-performance athletes.
“It's really helped me to push myself like harder than I ever have before. And meeting all these girls from across the country has been such a cool experience and I've made so many good friends.”
She is a little nervous about the long flight and jet lag since she has never traveled this far before.
“I've never been overseas before, so this is definitely going to be an adjustment for me.”
She says that ringette is normally only played in Canada, so it's a cool experience to be able to play the sport in a different country.
“It's not really common to play ringette across the world. Ringette is a super-fast and fun sport, and I just think that it needs some more recognition across the world," she says. "It's awesome seeing other countries starting to play it and become more popular.”
She’ll be in Finland for 12 days, and she plans to make the most of it.
“I'm just going to try and leave my distractions at home, like school and stuff like that. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I just want to try and enjoy it and take it all in while I'm there."
She is excited to spend time with her teammates and is also looking forward to having her family come along to support her.
“They've always supported me through my ringette career and I'm really happy that they're coming along to be with me.”
The World Ringette Championships are scheduled for Oct. 31- Nov. 6, 2022.