The entire arena at Mosaic Place paused for a moment before the afternoon draw on Feb. 16 for an emotional tribute to Saskatoon curler Aly Jenkins, a moment that touched each person in the crowd.
Jenkins died on Oct. 20 after complications giving birth to her third child, and the Scotties honoured her memory with a video tribute and a presentation of honorary Team Saskatchewan jackets to Jenkins’ three children, with her husband Scott present.
Also there for the presentation were three former teammates who played with Jenkins, skip Sherry Anderson, third Nancy Martin, and second Meagan Frerichs.
“I just kept thinking about Aly and how much she always would show us snaps of the kids and how they just loved life so much,” said Martin.
It was a tough moment for husband and father Scott, as Curling Canada presented the kids Brady, Avery, and Sydney with jackets emblazoned with “Jenkins” on the back.
“You could see at the end, (Brady) also understood what was happening and that his dad was very sad. You could see it in his face too, that just hit him. So I mean, it's hard at that age, for them,” said Martin.
Frerichs spoke about how tough it has been in the wake of Jenkins’ death, and how the support from the curling community really helped both the team and the family.
“You see pictures, have those memories always and they come back in full force most of the time, so that's still tough. We're coping as best as we can and moving forward,” said Frerichs. “It's been unbelievable, the way that everybody has just supported everybody through it. We're such a tight-knit community, it's been amazing.”
“People get behind people, especially in Saskatchewan and especially because of the very tragic way that it happened,” added Anderson.
The Robyn Silvernagle rink watches the video tribute to fellow Saskatchewan curler Aly Jenkins.“We're all teammates at the end of the day,” said Martin. “You switch teams (over the years) and so we all end up being teammates and I think that's what connects us. There's a lot of moms out there, a lot of moms to be, they feel for how tragic this is.”
Skip Rachel Homan for Team Ontario was on the road when she heard the tragic news and as a new mother herself, the loss was emotional in more than one way.
“It just really hits home and we've been in touch with the family and have been able to give as much support as we could,” said Homan.
Saskatchewan skip Robyn Silvernagle was too emotional to offer a comment to media about Jenkins, displaying the feeling that every curler in the community is feeling this week.
In honour of Jenkins, the Ontario team is keeping the late player in mind, ensuring that she gets to be on the ice here at the Scotties like she should have been.
“I know that it was her goal to be here, I know she would've been. So she's on our brooms this week and she's in our hearts when we're out there,” said Homan.
Story written with files from Randy Palmer, Moose Jaw Today.
