The National Ringette League (NRL) (French: Ligue Nationale de Ringuette, LNR) is the premier league for the sport of ringette in North America and Canada's national league for elite ringette players aged 18 and up. The NRL is not a women's variant of a more well-known men's league or sport like professional women's ice hockey or bandy; one of ringette's distinctive features is that all of its players are girls and women. As such, the NRL is the continent's first and only winter team sports league whose entire athlete roster is made up of women.
A 2018 game between the Atlantic Attack and Richmond Hill Lightning.
A Montreal Mission player taking a free pass
Atlantic Attack players: 2018
Atlantic Attack: 2016 NRL Playoffs
Ringette is a non-contact winter team sport played on an ice rink using ice hockey skates, straight sticks with drag-tips, and a blue, rubber, pneumatic ring designed for use on ice surfaces. While the sport was originally created exclusively for female competitors, it has expanded to now include participants of all gender identities. Although ringette looks ice hockey-like and is played on ice hockey rinks, the sport has its own lines and markings, and its offensive and defensive play bear a closer resemblance to lacrosse or basketball.
Women playing ringette in Canada's National Ringette League (NRL)
Ringette goalie using a ringette goalie trapper a.k.a. "Keely glove"
Ice hockey goaltender skate with guard
Bourassa Royal playing against the Montréal Mission during the 2011–2012 NRL season