About 180 kids and parents from Lower Mainland Ringette teams, including players from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, performed a surprise flash mob during the National Ringette league’s game between Edmonton WAM! and Lower Mainland Ringette Thunder on Saturday.

All the participants wore bright yellow T-shirts during the flash mob to Gangnam Style by PSY and Beyonce’s Put a Ring On It.

“We came together in a united effort to showcase our love for the sport of ringette,” said Sharon Smit, a coach and referee in the Fraser Valley and the main organizer of Saturday’s event. “It was such a moving experience to see all these kids who normally play against each other come together in such a united and fun way.”

“It was incredible, we were so surprised,” said national Lower Mainland Ringette League Thunder player Mel Thomas, who has played ringette for 21 years. “They showed so much energy and passion for the sport of ringette.”

Keely Brown from the national team Edmonton WAM!, who has played ringette for 30 years, said putting the flash mob in social media is a good way to market the sport of ringette.

“The key is to get people to come and watch their first ringette game at our level... to see our speed and how amazing a sport it is. That’s how we’ll get more players to our sport. Ringette is still growing, it’s such a great team sport.”

“We were excited at this opportunity to try to make what is a lesser-known sport more known,” said Jeaneen Briner, president, Fraser Valley Ringette Association.

“Our plan is to immediately edit the video footage from tonight and post it in social media with the hopes that everyone in ringette will share it so that it becomes viral … we think social media is the new way to introduce new players to our sport.”

Girls and boys who play ringette often do so for many years. They can start as early as age four and continue right through to the national level in their 20s and 30s. There are also many open recreational teams for adults in communities across Canada.

Flash mobs are popular, seemingly spontaneous events, which are coordinated through social media. Often, they involve large groups of people meeting in public to take part in a random event, like a coordinated dance or song.