Mary Kaiser began her Ringette career as the co-founder of the Dorchester Ringette Association, also acting as their first President. From there, her involvement skyrocketed. For 19 years, she was the director of the Western Region Ringette Association. Mary stayed active with Western Region Ringette for over 35 years. She has been instrumental in the addition of new associations, new leagues and has improved overall membership growth within the Western Region Ringette Association, making it the largest region in Ontario. At the provincial sport level, she has served as a Board Member, sat on the Appeals and Complaint Committee and chaired the annual awards banquet. Upon retiring as Western Region Chair and as a Provincial Board Member Mary returned to the region as Elite Coordinator and then returned to the Provincial Level for 2 additional years as Chair of the Provincial Elite Committee. Mary was recognized as a Provincial Builder in 2006 and granted a place in the Ringette Ontario Hall of Fame.
Keith Kaiser contributed to the sport of Ringette through his leadership, organizational skills, and ability as the Ringette Ontario’s webmaster. Keith began volunteering with Ringette in 1985 as a tournament co-chair for Dorchester Ringette’s first tournament. From this beginning Keith went on to become G&T Coordinator for Western Region, G&T Chair for the Provincial Committee, VP Administration on the Ringette Ontario Board, Chair of the 2003 Canadian Ringette Championships and returned to the board for a two-year period as President of Ontario Ringette and a member on the Ringette Canada Board. Keith founded, in 1998, the Western Region Web Page and has been its sole webmaster for over 23 years. His personal favourite achievement was serving as Chair of the Western Regionals for 28 years. Keith was recognized as a Provincial Builder in 2007 and granted a place in the Ringette Ontario Hall of Fame.
Through their passion to the sport and dedication to volunteering in either formal governance roles or providing helping hands when needed, Mary and Keith’s contributions have been instrumental in the development of many Western Region Ringette Association athletes. This scholarship award supports those who will continue their post-secondary academic pursuits who have demonstrated a similar passion for volunteering in Western Region Ringette.
The Western Region Ringette Association (WRRA) has allocated in the 2021 AGM $6000 to fund the scholarship out of existing reserves. WRRA executives, WRRA directors and WRRA members will have to determine future methods of funding the scholarship over the next 24 months. Ideally, the scholarship will be able to find future funding through a donation(s) or through association contributions to permit the scholarship program to continue on after the initial $6000 is awarded.
The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage academic excellence and the pursuit of higher education among members of the Western Region Ringette Association. To provide annually a scholarship of $500.00 each (five hundred dollars) towards post-secondary education for ringette players who have demonstrated a passion of volunteering commitment and participation in the sport of Ringette. Recipients will also receive a scholarship award certificate recognizing their achievements.
Application for a Scholarship Award may be made by: