Gold medal win in ringette for Dawson student at Canada Games
Playing ringette at a high level helps Laurence St-Denis give her best to everything in life, including her studies at Dawson College in the Law, Society and Justice profile within the Social Science Program.
Last Friday, Feb. 22, Laurence gave her very best along with her Team Quebec teammates and they won the Gold Medal ringette game at the Canada Games in Red Deer, Alberta.
The Canada Games blog described the gold medal game: “The ringette finals …did not disappoint today, with athletes leaving it all on the ice. Quebec claimed its first ever Canada Winter Games gold, defeating Ontario 4-3 in overtime. Gatineau’s Julie Vandal dumped in the overtime winner.”
“I felt such a release,” after they won, Laurence said. “We have been training for the past four years. Every six months, we had to try out to stay on the team or get cut. Three of my friends and I made the final cut together. I wanted to make my coaches proud, including my coaches in my high school sport-study program, and my parents. There were days I did not feel like practicing, but I love to win and training motivates me to be better.”
The defence player encourages all students to try sports. “It is good for your body and your mind, and the camaraderie is great,” she said.
Laurence has been playing ringette since she was three and a half years old, which is not surprising when one finds out that her whole family is involved in ringette. She is number two in a family of four girls and they have all played the sport. In addition, her father currently coaches AA junior level and her mother has coached in the past.
“Everybody thinks it’s easy for me,” she says. “I am short though, and defence players are usually taller. I have always had to work hard to be better. When the coach told me I was short, I just persevered.”
Laurence decided to come to Dawson and found it hard at first because she was leaving her friends behind in Ste-Marthe-sur-le-lac and going to school in a new language. “I was alone, in a new language at a new school. However, the benefit of not having too many friends is that it gave me the opportunity to work and to be 100% focused.”
While at Dawson, Laurence continues to play with her Laurentide team of AA ringette and with Phys. Ed. Teacher Marcela Donoso’s new Ringette Club at Dawson. They have played at Westmount arena and at John Abbott College in a friendly game.
Laurence also coaches Sec. 1 and 2 ringette and plans to try out for the National Ringette League (NRL, the top-level ringette league in Canada) draft next year.
Her study plans are to apply to law in 2020 at the bilingual University of Ottawa in a program that covers both civil and common law.
