University of Minnesota Athletics
Sue Ring-Jarvi - M Club Hall of Fame
Sue Ring-Jarvi
Women’s Club Hockey, 1974-80
HOF Class of 2003
Sue Ring-Jarvi, who in 1974 founded the women’s hockey club team at the University of Minnesota, is credited igniting the popularity explosion in women’s hockey throughout the state.
A graduate of Macalester College, she came to the U of M to do postgraduate work in physical education. Here, she became captain of the new hockey club program, club president from 1974 to 1976, and a club advisor from 1977 to 1979. Ring-Jarvi personally recruited more than 40 women to join the hockey club. Considered the team’s best player, she scored 115 points with 65 goals and 50 assists in 38 games during the 1978-79 season.
In the Twin Cities, she enlisted teammates to hold clinics for women and girls interested in the sport. In 1977 she formed the Women’s Hockey Association of Minnesota (WHAM) and in 1980, the Minnesota Blue J’s team, which became a Midwestern powerhouse.
Ring-Jarvi organized many tournaments, notably the Women’s Hockey Invitational Tournament and the Dream Team Tournament. She received coach certification from the University in 1994, and in 1999 attained first level referee status. She also served as head coach of the girl’s hockey team at Mounds View High School from 1995 to 1998.