A Life in Rugby - Jenny Vincent, 1968—2010

Posted by Martin Silverstone | Date created 2010-01-26 09:00:57

By Martin Silverstone with help from Cindy, Gill, Steve, Janet and Lee

A Ste-Anne alumni who went on to become a renowned rugby player, coach, manager and volunteer, dies at 41.

She started here, not unlike many girls who still do. She and a couple of good friends, Steph Izzard and Debbie Elvidge, joined the club after Abbott. I'd love to tell you she first bumped into her husband-to-be up at a party at the old farmhouse, but for the life of me I can't remember exactly how they got together. I am certain, however, that they met here, probably at practice, probably not that different from how Winter met High School, to draw a not-so-fictional comparison.

From the day she began, until the day she died, rugby flowed through her life and by all accounts brought her great happiness and personal satisfaction. In Ste-Annes, she played with some big names and some big players. Lucie Corbett, Cathy Jaynes, Karen Richardson, Cindy Cantin, Janet Pashleigh, Bettina Hoffman and Lee Bieber. But she was only a tiny little thing. Full of bright energy, she ran always on her toes, like the wind. Her Facebook memorial refers to her characteristic running style, describing her as the Queen of Tippy Toe Rugby. Less known is that it was more than a habit, she was said to have short calf muscles. This made her walk and run on her toes and it gave the appearance she was almost floating on air.

She was a great player. Jenny Vincent went to Nationals with Quebec in 1987—the first year Canada had a true National Women's Rugby Championship. She was selected from that tournament for the Canada Team on the wing. She earned more caps in 1988 and 1991.

She enjoyed club life, playing and participating in road trips and was very active from 1987 to 1991. It was a good time to be a woman's player in Ste-Anne's. During this period, it wasn't rare to see 5 or more players on the Canadian national side from SABRFC. She moved out west but kept playing, eventually contributing further to the development of women's rugby through coaching, managing and selecting.

Like so many SABRFC members who have left and gone on to bigger and better things, Jenny's rugby career only began here and continued to flourish elsewhere. She went out west with husband Jim Nield, a classic style hooker who played Ste-Annes and Quebec Junior. There, she captained a young University of Victoria Valkyries team to a BC Division 1 club championship in '94. Jenny retired from playing in '95 but went on to a successful coaching career with the Valkyries, where she saw the program grow to include both a Division 1 and Division 2 side, and to see many young Valkyries make the step up to representative rugby.

Jenny was a selector for the BC senior women's team and a coach and selector for the Crimson Tide Women's Side. She was manager of the Canadian Women's 7-a-side team, which competed in the first ever Hong Kong Women's Rugby Sevens International Tournament. She and Jim moved to Calgary in '99 and she stayed in rugby working with the Saints (!) Rugby Club, starting their women's team and coaching the Alberta U19 women's team.

Aside from her days here, which were filled with great rugby, good friends and memorable times (a picture not included here shows her having a wild time on a road trip to see the U.S. play Ireland in New York City, with teammates Tara, Cathy Jaynes and Janet Pashleigh). Those memories will always be special to us here in Ste-Anne's, however, the Rugby world will also remember her as a pioneer in the women’s game in Canada.

She was involved in many firsts in the sport. A player in the first senior women’s national championship tournament, Vincent was selected to the 1987 senior national team—the first national women's team Rugby Canada put on the pitch. As a coach, she led the University of Victoria Vikes in the inaugural season of Canadian Interuniversity Sport rugby play.

Jenny was the driving force behind obtaining varsity status for the University of Calgary Dinos women’s rugby program, culminating in their first season in Canada West last fall. She joined the program when it was a competitive club in the late 1990s and worked tirelessly to meet the necessary standards to elevate the program to the varsity level.

In 2000, she coached the Alberta U19 team to a gold medal at the first national junior championships, then added a silver at the U17 national championships a few years later—again, the first tournament of its kind. Most recently she helped coach the Alberta provincial U23 team to a gold medal performance at the inaugural national tournament for that age group.

She graduated from Lindsay Place High School, where she also played rugby. After Cegep, Vincent obtained her BSc from Bishop’s University in 1991 and her MSc from the University of Victoria in 1994. She was pursuing a Ph.D. in sport technology at the University of Calgary and was a key member of the team that designed and implemented a major project for Own the Podium 2010—a database which brought together results of Canadian winter athletes from past Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, World Cup events, World Championships, and other international competitions.

I may not remember how Jen and Jim met, but I do remember that it was magic. Once they got together, neither ever looked back. It was a long time ago, but they sure made an impression as a couple.

She was an only child and very close to her parents. They eventually moved out to Calgary to be near her, Jim and their grandchildren Tyler (10) and Isaac (8). Cindy Cantin (Starzenski) saw her in Calgary a few times a year when she lived there. She also stayed with her when Jim and Jenny lived on Vancouver Island.

Jenny was always active and involved in sports. When she was on Vancouver Island she started to play Lacrosse. She loved horses and (despite Jim's half-hearted protests!) continued to ride in BC and in Alberta. When Cindy last saw her (about 6 years ago) she and Jim had a really cute house in a hip area of Calgary. She loved her boys and was very active with them. They had a black lab, Tucker, for most of their marriage.

She had a huge heart. Her house was always open to friends. And she never forgot her connection to Ste-Annes. When Gillian Florence and Heather Baillie went out to play for the Valkryies at UVic, Jenny coached them. They also stayed with Jenny and Jim and reminisced about everyone in Ste Anne's. Flo updated her on everyone that she knew. Gill remembers how, although she hadn't met her before then, because she and Heather were from Ste Anne's, they were already like family, with an automatic understanding and connection. She considered and took care of them like "one of her own."

Cindy and Flo were lucky to know her after she left Ste-Annes, but the rest of us will always remember a young girl who was vibrant, energetic, bubbly and always positive. You just don't expect such an energetic, happy soul to ever slow down. She will be missed by many. She touched a lot of lives.

Vincent, who was diagnosed in December 2009 with gall bladder cancer, passed away Sunday morning, January 24, 2010. She was 41. Our thoughts go out to her parents and to Jim and their children, as well as the rest of her family and friends.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 2:30 p.m. at Parkdale United Church (2919 - 8 Ave. NW). To honour her memory, Jenny’s family has established the Jenny Vincent Coaching Endowment for Women’s Rugby, which will support future coaches of the Dinos women’s rugby program. Donations can be made by contacting Kristine Williamson at (403) 220-3651 or kristine.williamson@ucalgary.ca.

In Spring, a tree will be planted in her memory in the Morgan Arboretum close to Sandy's. They would have known each other, briefly, here on earth.

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