Jenny Kyle, Pioneer of Canadian Women's Field Lacrosse, Passes Away

Ottawa, Ontario - February 22, 2021 - Jenny Kyle passed away on February 21, 2021, but she will be remembered by the lacrosse community as a humble, lighthearted, dependable and committed contributor who led by example and helped spur on a generation of young women’s field lacrosse leaders throughout Canada and beyond.

For those players who have had the opportunity to compete for the Canadian Junior Women’s Field Lacrosse Championship, you may have known the name Jenny Kyle because it appeared on the Championship Trophy, but you may not have known her story.

When Canada sent a women’s field lacrosse team to the inaugural World Championship in Nottingham, England in 1982, it lit the spark for the growth of the women’s game in Canada. The torch run began across Canada by two of our finest women’s lacrosse ambassadors. At the heart of so much of the groundbreaking activity after 1982 were Carol Patterson and Jenny Kyle.

It wasn’t just one thing that set Jenny and Carol apart, but the sheer determination to do as much as possible made their presence felt in all aspects of the growth of the game in Canada.

Together they travelled the country, not simply to help players learn the game, but to help organizations build their foundation by advising on the recruitment of coaches and administrators. Of course, an assist goes to Jenny’s husband Ferg, an Air Canada pilot, who helped make it easier to keep Jenny in motion.

The amount of effort taken to cover the country at that time cannot be underestimated. The return was monumental. From 1985 to 1987, the National Championships saw the greatest numbers of teams participating, unmatched still to this date. British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec were joined by first-time provincial squads from Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland.

The contributions that Jenny made so selflessly over the years were no doubt influenced by her own life’s journey and personal struggles.

Born in Hong Kong, the daughter of a British soldier, Jenny, along with her mother, sister and brother fled to the Philippines, but were taken captive at the Los Baños prison camp when the Japanese took control. For three years (from the age of 3-6), they lived in cramped quarters with only meager rations of rice to eat, and guards who became increasingly brutal and would eventually make plans to kill them. They were released when the war ended. The family eventually settled in England and it was there that she learned to play lacrosse as a schoolgirl. She passed her love of the game on to her daughter, Liz, and her involvement grew as she travelled throughout Ontario to watch Liz play.