Rower’s spirit lives on
E.L. Crossley, South Niagara rowing crews christen two shells in Emily Brettell’s memory
“It started out with just an emotional idea.”
Kerry Brettell stood in front of a packed house at Welland International Flatwater Centre and delivered a heartfelt speech to commemorate her daughter Emily.
Emily Brettell was a daughter, a sister, a friend and an avid rower. She considered her crews at the South Niagara Rowing Club and E.L. Crossley Secondary School a second family.
When her mother spoke to a tearful crowd before a boat-christening ceremony Friday, Emily’s presence could be felt.
Last August, at just 17 years old, Emily suffered a fatal heart attack. Friday would have been her 18th birthday.
Less than a year later, the rowing community stood together to unveil two shells in Emily’s honour. A double Forever My Bow and a quad
Emily Rows will debut in the water this coming season.
“Hopefully, the boats are going to embody her spirit,” Brettell said. “She was the hardest worker. She was not always the fastest, but she worked the hardest. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“The rowing families have been more than family. These kids train for so long and for so many hours that they want to come together. I never thought that months later these people would still be supporting us.”
John Ruscitti, head coach of the rowing team at E.L Crossley, was the catalyst in obtaining and christening the shells for the rowing clubs. He delivered a speech and served as master of ceremonies for the christening.
“This not only represents a celebration and an honouring of Emily’s life and legacy, but it also represents the community coming together to make something good come out of something so sad,” Ruscitti said. “We just feel Emily’s presence even more because of what’s gone on to get to this point.”
Ruscitti is also responsible for instituting a scholarship in Emily’s name. The unnamed award will be handed out every year to one male and female graduating student from E.L. Crossley who best embody Emily’s traits.
“We want it to be a scholarship that represents the qualities that Emily epitomized: hard-working, overcoming obstacles and challenges and being persistent and consistent,” Ruscitti said.
Dominic Aiello of CC’s Dugout in Welland and Debbie Pine of Royal LePage were also recognized for their contributions and helped christen the rowing shells with champagne. Both had a hand in organizing a charity hockey game for Emily in December. A part of the proceeds from the game were used to purchase the shells.
Emily’s former teacher and rowing coach at the Pelham school, Kim Yallup, remembered Emily for her drive and inspiring nature. Yallup said that Emily found rowing at a time when she was still searching for her purpose.
“Rowing was something that really turned her life around,” Yallup said. “When she came to high school and started rowing, this was her passion, her pride.”
“The essence of her life was that ‘I’m going to make the dream and I’m going to achieve the dream at all costs.’”
“To have a loss like that is just devastating to the rowing community.”
The shells are an opportunity for the community to heal and make next season on the water all the more successful. Sophia Buzzell, Emily’s friend, classmate and coxswain, said Emily had her back in life and in rowing. Buzzell will be part of the first group to use the shells in the competition.
“We all miss her every day,” Buzzell said. “The rowing community is obscenely supportive. It’s like the world’s largest family. From the first day, you’re in it.”
“Having a piece of her with us with every race, it means a lot. It doesn’t feel as hard when you know you have her boat in the race.”
More than $40,000 was needed to purchase and launch the new shells. The hockey game was just one of the events utilized in raising the money. Donations were collected at Emily’s funeral and another donation was made by the Crossley rowing team’s annual spaghetti dinner.
Ruscitti said the manufacturers sold the shells at a discount as their contribution to the cause.