Phyllis Sadoway
Ringette Builder - Inducted 2014
Phyllis coached ringette for 32 years, beginning in 1982 in Sherwood Park. She helped set up the women's ringette league in northern Alberta and further developed the sport in Alberta and Canada, and internationally with the development of Team USA. A Level-3 coach, she was an assistant coach for Team Alberta at the 1996 World Championships and an assistant coach for Team Canada in 2002. Both teams won gold. Phyllis was the head coach for the Edmonton WAM in the National Ringette League from 2007 to 2009. A technical course conductor, she also served in multiple roles with Ringette Alberta and Ringette Canada.
Phyllis devoted countless hours coaching at the rink and her teams won numerous championships at all levels. In the classroom, she taught coaches and players alike. She promoted the fair play nature of ringette and always offered a word of encouragement to help make the sport better. A technical course conductor at first and then a technical learning facilitator, she facilitated courses across Canada and helped develop the new stream of Ringette courses. She also set up the Ringette Alberta Cup program for Winter Games participants and served as Ringette Canada’s competitions coordinator.
Her commitment to the growth of the sport didn't stop here in Canada. The World Ringette Championships needed four teams in order to host a World Championship event. Canada, Finland, and Sweden had operating national team programs. Without Team USA, Ringette would not have been able to hold a World Championship every two years. Phyllis held training camps for Team USA in Smoky Lake and they played exhibition games against ringette teams around the Edmonton area. She was the head coach for Team USA in 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2013.
Phyllis is a great example of Ringette’s “Active for Life” slogan as she also continued to play goal at the age of 70 and hoped to play for 20 more years.
Phyllis received the 1989 Coach of the Year Award in Sherwood Park, the 1999 Alberta 3M Coaching Recognition Award, and awards from Ringette Alberta in 2003 and 2005. In her honour, Ringette Alberta named an award the Phyllis Sadoway Development Award. Phyllis was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame and in 2012, the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame. She was a recipient of the 2005 Alberta Centennial Salute for Sport and Recreation award and the Queen Elizabeth ll Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. In 2013, she received the Alberta Coach Developer Sport Recognition Award.
After Induction
2015 – June: Phyllis was named an assistant coach for Sherwood Park’s new U-14 AA ringette team.
2017 - Inducted into the Millenium Place Sports Wall of Recognition
2019 - Top national coaching award at Petro-Canada Sports Leadership Awards Gala
