Ginger Catherwood may not be the most famous athlete in her family, but she was a star nonetheless

It is astonishing to see the heights the Catherwood family reached in women’s sports in the 1920s. Ethel Catherwood is perhaps the name most people remember from the family, a member of the Matchless Six, a group of six famous Canadian women who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. The women won three gold medals, four silver and seven bronze, including the gold medal in the high jump, won by world record holder Ethel Catherwood, who was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.

In hockey, however, it was Genevra ‘Ginger’ Cartwood who was the star of the family, ‘accompanying’ her sister to the Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

The University of Saskatchewan was a notable team in the 1920s. They won the 1923 intercollegiate championship, defeating the University of Manitoba, the University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia.

In a 2020 article describing her hockey career, Saskatoon resident Bill Waiser, who wrote a column titled “History Matters” for the Star-Phoenix, wrote that Ginger Catherwood was “Canada’s best female hockey player.”

Catherwood entered the University of Saskatchewan in 1919 and quickly showed the western provinces that few could play and score at her pace. In 1920–21, Catherwood scored eight goals in a 9–1 win over Manitoba, followed by a six-goal performance in a 7–1 win over Alberta.

As The Sheaf described Catherwood’s play during that February 1921 game against the University of Manitoba: “The visiting centre was the best skater and player on the ice, and belonged to the class of the average female hockey players…”

“Because she could skate faster and shoot better, she was able to outrun Manitoba’s defense and score time and time again.”

The following season, Catherwood became the target of opposing teams who wanted to take her out of the game. In a February 16, 1922 report, The Sheaf described Catherwood’s attempts to evade the attacks, writing: “”Ginger” Catherwood managed to break through the barrage of severed sticks aimed at her and counted the first goal for Saskatchewan, but shortly afterward she stumbled and fell heavily to the ice, and injured her head so that she was unable to take any further part in the game.” The post-game headline called it “Contest Marred by Disgraceful Cutting.”

The University of Alberta was suspended after the game, but Saskatchewan continued its season and next played the University of Manitoba, who sent a letter to the school offering further cooperation and friendship between the teams and institutions. When they met the following week, Ginger Catherwood was back on the Saskatchewan blue line, along with her colleague Olive Leitch.

“For Saskatchewan, Genevra Catherwood and Olive Leitch were the backbone of the team in defence, and in addition to their excellent defensive work, they were the standouts in attack,” The Sheaf wrote after the match, which resulted in a 2-2 draw that could not be decided by two overtime periods.

After three years at school, Catherwood graduated with an art degree in 1922 and later became a teacher. She moved to Toronto with her sister Ethel in 1928 to train for the upcoming Summer Olympics, before traveling to Amsterdam that summer. While in Toronto, Ginger also took secretarial courses. When Ethel left Canada shortly afterward amid a media scandal, Ginger was well known in Toronto in the early 1930s, where she married a man named Charles Mitchell.

Unfortunately, Genevra Catherwood did not play out her hockey career, her greatness on the ice only lasted for a brief period in the early 1920s. Her sister Ethel remained the only woman in Canadian history to win an individual Olympic gold medal in track and field until 2024 when Camryn Rogers won gold at the Paris Olympics in the hammer throw.