The City of Burnaby has been named as the host city for the 2012 Canadian Ringette Championships. This month delegates at the Ringette Canada Annual General Meeting in Regina chose Burnaby as the host city over Fredericton. The 2012 championships are expected to be the largest ever Canadian Ringette Championships, with more than 40 teams from all 10 provinces and the Northwest Territories attending.

The 2012 championship is expected to bring in approximately 800 visitors for a week to the City of Burnaby, the epicentre of Metro Vancouver. This means approximately 2,640 total room night bookings and an increase in traffic for local restaurants and shopping centres. The total economic impact of this event is forecast to bring in more than $1.1 million to the City of Burnaby, according to the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance.

“We’re all very excited about the opportunities this event will bring to the City of Burnaby,” says Mike Romas, sales and marketing manager for Tourism Burnaby. “We really focused on the athlete experience in composing our bid proposal. Burnaby offers an attractive line-up of sporting facilities, such as 8 Rinks and Bill Copeland Arena, which we knew would help our chances of becoming the 2012 host city.”

The Burnaby New West Ringette Association worked closely with Tourism Burnaby to create a strong host proposal. “It has been 12 years since the Canadian championships have been held in British Columbia,” says Eric Holmberg, member of the board of directors for Burnaby New West Ringette Association Executive Committee. “Winning this bid will raise the profile for the Ringette sport among British Columbians and in doing so, get more youth active and excited about the sport.”

The tournament is designed to determine the Canadian champions in the Junior (15 years old and under), Belle (18 years old and under) and Open (19 years old and over) categories. The Canadian Ringette Championships have taken place annually since 1979 and serves as a dynamic forum of competition for more than 600 players.

The 2012 championship will take place in Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena and Canlan 8 Rinks on April 8-14.

More information on Burnaby’s sporting events can be found at www.sportburnaby.com

Contact Info:

Melissa Orozco
Peak Communicators
604 689 5559
morozco@peakco.com