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Sports tour an introduction to global culture (photo gallery)

If you want a child to develop global awareness, let him or her travel the globe. International travel is an incredible educational opportunity.
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The Red Deer ringette team poses on the steps of Senate Square in Helsinki.


Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

— Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad)

If you want a child to develop global awareness, let him or her travel the globe. International travel is an incredible educational opportunity.

Experiencing different cultures and learning how other people live has a tendency to broaden horizons and further intercultural understanding in a way that is difficult to achieve by any other means.

As young travellers search for common denominators with people of other backgrounds and become acquainted with unfamiliar sights and sounds, they develop a global perspective of our world.

In April, 16 members of the Central Alberta AA Sting Ringette team travelled to Sweden and Finland with coaches, parents, and other family members to participate in two Ringette tournaments.

Along the way, the girls visited historic sites, ate new foods, and interacted with people from different cultures. The youngest team participant was 14 and the oldest was 17 and for many of them, this trip was their first international travel experience.

Their journey began in Sweden, where they spent three days exploring and playing ringette in a tournament comprised mainly of Swedish and Finnish teams. After landing in Stockholm, they enjoyed a day tour of the old town part of the city and visited the palace of the King of Sweden to watch the Changing of the Royal Guard.

“We all enjoyed seeing the sites and the girls also did a lot of shopping,” said Chris Kelly, a team coach. “During their free time, some of the girls and coaches visited the Vasamuseum, a museum that houses an amazing warship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. It has since been restored and is housed in this interesting museum.”

During their time in Stockholm, the girls also enjoyed playing an exhibition game as part of a ringette tournament that was taking place in the city. It was at this tournament that they first met their Finnish hosts who were also taking part in the tournament.

Coach Kelly explained that ringette is a relatively new sport in Sweden, so the team the Sting team played against was comprised of other girls their own age as well as five older players who were members of the Swedish national team.

Despite the help of national team players, the score was rather one-sided and the Canadians won the game quite handily.

A ferry boat that was once a cruise ship took team members from Stockholm to Helsinki, Finland and along the way they came to know their Finnish hosts better.

“The ferry trip was one of my favourite parts of the trip to Europe,” said 16-year-old Meaghan Karas, of Lacombe. “It was like a floating resort with stores, lounges, a pool and a sauna. We spent a lot of time in the karaoke area with the Finnish team and we had a great time together.”

When they arrived in Helsinki, the group enjoyed a bus tour of the city and a visit to the nearby city of Poorvoo.

“Our tour guide explained that Sweden and Russia both fought for sovereignty over Finland and as a result the buildings in Helsinki are only a couple of hundred years old,” explained Coach Kelly. “Poorvoo is one of the medieval cities of Finland, dating to the 14th Century. Walking through the Old Town and seeing the old wooden houses and buildings and exploring the shops along the streets was really enjoyable.”

On another day, the group boarded a ferry and travelled across the Baltic Sea to visit Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia and the oldest standing medieval town in Europe.

“I really enjoyed the daytrip to Estonia,” said 16-year-old Cara Vandervlis, of Red Deer. “The Old Town area was fascinating. There is a huge castle with a moat, old churches, and interesting vendors that line the streets. It is really a neat city.”

Team Sting participated in a tournament in Finland during their visit to Finland and the team billeted with the families of players from the local Finnish team. Ringette is popular in Finland and the Finnish team are the reigning world champions in the sport. The Canadian team was very evenly matched during the tournament and the championship game was between the Canadians and their Finnish hosts. In the end the Canadians came out on top.

For many of the girls, the chance to enjoy a traditional Finnish Easter dinner with a local family was the highlight of the trip.

“We all enjoyed getting to know the Finnish players better by staying with them in their homes,” said 16-year-old Marie Taylor of Red Deer. “I learned so much just by billeting with my host family. I even had the chance to go to school for a day with the two girls who were hosting me. There were a lot of things that were similar to my school and some that were very different. Two of the things that were different included the free cafeteria lunch that is included for students and the fact that students remove their shoes when they enter the school and walk around in socks all day. It was fun to go to Finnish school and very interesting too.”

As the trip drew to a close, the players and coaches were sad to say goodbye to their new Finnish friends, but they knew they would always remember the time they spent in Sweden and Finland. “It was a great trip with many new friends and wonderful memories,” said Coach Kelly. “Words can’t express our gratitude for our Finnish hosts and all those who helped to sponsor the trip and otherwise make it a success. The girls learned a lot and had fun at the same time.”

More Info: If you would like to read more about the Sting AA Ringette team and their adventures in Europe, please visit the team blog at: http://sting-finland2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/sting-take-europe-day-1.html.

Debbie Olsen is a Lacombe-based freelance writer. If you have a travel story you would like to share or know someone with an interesting travel story that we might interview, please email: DOGO@telusplanet.net or write to: Debbie Olsen, c/o Red Deer Advocate, 2950 Bremner Ave., Red Deer, Alta., T4R 1M9.