Curling fans wear green to honour Schmirler, remember Jenkins at Scotties

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This article was published 16/02/2020 (2422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MOOSE JAW — This was the official day at the 2020 Scotties for fans to wear green, though here in the heart of Saskatchewan curling country, they do that for most draws anyway. It was the day that curlers worked phones to fundraise in memory of one of their own, the late, great Sandra Schmirler, who died 20 years ago. 

And it was the day that, in the minutes before the afternoon games started, everyone at Mosaic Place stood still and the arena fell silent. In the hush, four thousand thoughts turned to Aly Jenkins, a Saskatchewan curler who lost her life while giving birth in October, leaving behind her husband, Scott, and three young children.

Here, she was remembered. On the big screen, Curling Canada played a video tribute to Jenkins, who played lead for veteran skip Sherry Anderson; on the floor, Scott Jenkins, Anderson and teammates Nancy Martin and Meaghan Frerichs stood holding the kids. They were presented honourary 2020 Scotties jackets, each labelled “Jenkins.” 

Aly never got to reach the Scotties, in her life. But she is here, at the heart of it, now after her life’s end. 

“It was a pretty amazing moment,” Martin said. “Everyone got to think about Aly for a minute, and everything that she meant to her family, and our team, and to all the competitors out there, because we’re all teammates at the end of the day… I think that’s what connects us.

“There are a lot of moms out there, a lot of moms-to-be. They feel how tragic this is,” Martin continued. “It could have been anyone, right? And I think that’s what makes it so real for everyone.” 

There’s no doubt it was real, for curlers most of all. Team Canada’s Chelsea Carey later said that, while she stood for the ceremony prior to her game against Saskatchewan’s Robyn Silvernagle, she had to force herself not to cry. After the match (Canada won 9-6 in a tight one), Silvernagle still found it too emotional to talk about. 

“They’re both heroes, in their own way. Both tremendous women curlers. And they were just normal people that everybody loved to curl against them. Great people that changed the game of curling.”– Sheila Kavanagh

In short, it was a day to remember that what unfolds on and around the sheet is far more than a game. Curling is a community above all else, and its bonds run deep, especially in the close-knit Saskatchewan scene. But it would be like that anywhere that people care this much about each other, Anderson pointed out. 

“It’s been marvellous,” Anderson said, as her voice caught in her throat. “People get behind people, especially in Saskatchewan, and especially because of the very tragic way that it happened. I don’t imagine it would make any difference whether we were curlers, or hockey players, or volleyball players. It would have been the same.”

The Jenkins family has found that embrace here. All week, curlers have shared their support, in public or private. On Saturday, Ontario champion Rachel Homan brought her eight-month old son, Ryatt, to meet Scott Jenkins and little Sydney; the Ontario team added the family’s “Aly” logo sticker to their brooms. 

That the formal ceremony happened on the same day as the annual Sandra Schmirler Foundation telethon felt right. 

When Schmirler died of cancer at age 36, her two daughters were just eight months and two years old; Jenkins left behind four-year-old Brady, 22-month-old Avery and infant Sydney, now four months old. Sydney survived thanks to time in the NICU; the Schmirler Foundation raises money for life-saving NICU equipment. 

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It is more than that. The common thread between them is the love of the game, and through it the friendships and connections they made. Upstairs, at the telethon phone bank, Sheila Kavanagh sat answering phones in her 1986 Saskatchewan champion sweater, from the year she went to Scotties as lead with skip Lori McGeary.

Kavanagh knew Schmirler, back in those days, because everyone who curled in this province did; Team McGeary played against her often. She knew Jenkins too, as they both curled out of Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon. The mood around the arena, she said, was “very sad,” but that only shows the legacy of both women. 

“They’re both heroes, in their own way,” she said. “Both tremendous women curlers. And they were just normal people that everybody loved to curl against them. Great people that changed the game of curling.”

After the ceremony was over, Scott Jenkins and the kids went to the telethon phone bank, set high above the arena in the level reserved for VIP box seats, to meet some of the volunteers and teams helping out on the fundraiser. 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.