CITY OF CHAMPION
Olympic bronze medallist to be inducted into Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame
Olympian Jen Kish talks with students Wednesday at W.P. Wagner High School, where she first started playing rugby. The city proclaimed Thursday Jen Kish Day in recognition of her achievements, including an Olympic bronze medal in 2016.
Jennifer Kish, when she was a teen, had a dream.
“I wanted to play in the Canadian Football League,” the W.P. Wagner High School alum confessed Wednesday. “I played football for four years including three years at the bantam level and one year in high school.
“I was the only girl on the team but I had this great big dream of one day playing in the CFL.
“I never had the dream of playing rugby for Canada. But my girlfriends convinced me to try rugby and then join them with the Edmonton Rockers girls rugby team in the summer,” said the former football safety, who switched sports and thus cleared the way for Neil King to have a full meal deal career at the position for the Eskimos.
“My football background put me well ahead of the other girls in rugby who didn’t practice tackling,” Kish said.
Instead of being the first woman to play professional football, Kish became one of the most recognizable women’s rugby players in the world.
The combination of her athleticism, playing about a foot taller than she stood, her body being covered with colourful tattoos, her social media following and ability to be a spokeswoman for her sport, made Kish a definite name in the game.
It took a long time, however, for her to be one of the most recognizable athletes in Edmonton.
“Rugby is continuing to grow and women in sport is continuing to grow, too,” Kish said.
“The recognition has been there in the sport but not in the public until the Olympics.
“I know I’ve been recognized for my tattoos but I also know I’ve been recognized for my play. I hope I’ll be remembered more for my play than my external look. I hope I’m remembered for my aggressiveness, my ability as an aerialist and my ability to turn over balls.”
It’s happening for her now, the retired captain of Canada’s bronze medal-winning rugby sevens team from the Rio Olympic Games.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 15 years, Kish returned to W.P. Wagner where she was celebrated by both the student body and Rugby Canada.
Mayor Don Iveson proclaimed Thursday as “Jen Kish Day” in Edmonton. Saturday evening, before a crowd expected to be between 12,000 and 15,000 to watch the Canadian men’s team play world fifth-ranked Scotland, she’ll be celebrated at halftime.
And Monday at the Winspear Centre, she’ll be inducted into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame.
The Olympic medal is the most precious. There’s a lot of weight behind that Olympic medal.
“This school meant so much to me and my rugby career,” said Kish as she surveyed the gym where she played basketball.
“W.P. Wagner was a big part of my journey. The school allowed me to go on tour when I started to get the opportunities. Just the fact they had a rugby program, I’ll be forever grateful because I’d never have joined rugby if they hadn’t.”
Kish figures she’ll go down as a pioneer.
“The Olympic medal is the most precious. There’s a lot of weight behind that Olympic medal. I think we can all see now what it did and what it helped us accomplish. It inspired a nation. I think they felt a pride that we had,” Kish said.
“A lot of people didn’t really know about our journey and it was at the Olympic Games that people came to comprehend how hard we worked and how we came to achieve a dream.”
It’s only since the Olympics that Kish is getting recognized away from a rugby venue.
“Now I’m getting double-takes all the time. Some people will just stare. Others will come up to me and say, ‘Are you Jen Kish?’ and I’ll say, ‘Yup, the one and only.’ ”
Just as she became a star, she had to walk away from the sport.
“I miss it, because I fell in love with it. But at the same time I knew it was time to walk away and from that point of view I’m at peace with it,” said the personal trainer who turns 30 in July.
Kish said she knew she was in extra time when it came to her body.
“I’d spent a great deal of my career struggling through injury. To me, I’m being forced to finish my career halfway through because of injury.
“I was the first one on the team to tear my MCL. I broke my kneecap. I broke my pelvis. I tore my labrum. I dislocated my finger in two places and broke a finger, too. I broke my nose. I hurt my neck and sprained a lot of things. After my bad neck, I played a year and broke my hip. But to come back from a neck injury and then the broken hip and experience that Olympic success with the girls (was worth it).”
She should have stuck with football. It’s hard to find a CFL player with that long or assorted list of injuries.