(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS women’s rugby team are playing their 2022 season with heavy hearts.
Late last April, veteran team member Mary Cronin (BScGGE’22), who’d just graduated from UNB’s Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering program, passed away at the age of 23.
“The news of her passing was unexpected and heartbreaking for all of us,” said Katharine Maxwell, another veteran member of the REDS. “As a teammate, Mary was always asking questions, trying to learn as much as she could about the sport. She was very competitive, which showed through her commitment to the team and her fierceness during games. As a friend, she was loyal, honest and the life of the party. She was one of those people you could talk to about anything, no matter how well you knew her.”
In remembrance of their teammate and friend, the REDS will host the first Mary Cronin Memorial Game on Thursday, October 6th, at 5:00pm, at College Field. The REDS will face the St. Thomas Tommies.
“It’s important that we honour her memory and honour the spirit and determination that she brought to this team,” said Bailey Andrews, who played with Cronin and is now a member of the REDS’ coaching staff. “It’s important to recognize the loss that our team and our community has gone through and that we honour Mary, celebrate her life, and come together as a team and community to lift each other up, lean on our support and remember all the happy memories that we were fortunate enough to share.”
“We want to honour Mary with this game and show our respect to her family,” said Maxwell. “We want to remember her as a great student-athlete and an even greater friend. We want to embrace the Cronin family and celebrate the short but amazing life that Mary lived.”
In lieu of admission, the team will be accepting donations to UNB’s Mary Cronin Women In Engineering Bursary. The Cronin family would also be happy to see donations made to the soccer scholarship fund at Fredericton High School or the women’s soccer team at St. Thomas.
“She brought so much energy to the team,” said Maxwell. “But her legacy will be the friendships she made and the love she had for the sport. She seamlessly bridged the gap between older and younger players and fostered a welcoming team environment.”
That the REDS will face their cross-campus rivals in the game is hardly a coincidence.
Cronin attended St. Thomas University before transferring to UNB and was a keeper on the Tommies’ women’s soccer team for a number of seasons.
Her varied experience was something her REDS teammates relied upon and remember fondly.
“During one game with particularly high stakes, we were losing by a few and everyone was getting stressed,” said Maxwell. “Mary took notice and before one of the scrums, I don’t remember exactly what she said, but with a few quick words she calmed us down and helped us get our heads back in the game. She comforted me and reminded me that we were all in that game together.”
While it’s been almost six months since Cronin’s sudden passing, Andrews and others are still struggling with her absence.
“All we can do is take it day by day and be there for each other,” she said. “The realization of not having Mary around is hard but sharing the memories we have and leaning on those we have around us has been important. I really believe that having these people around has been very beneficial to those struggling with this loss. Every day, every game, every practice is different.”
STORY BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTO BY: Evan Richtsfeld/UNB Athletics