Coaches and teammates remember Storm legend Edwards

SEATTLE — Simone Edwards has been dubbed the “Jamaican Hurricane,” and it was an apt title.

After the Storm legend passed away at the age of 49 after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer, her former coaches and teammates remember her as a “force of nature” on and off the pitch.

“It’s really unreal right now. She will be missed by people in many states and many countries,” said Jill Gallagher, a lifelong friend.

Gallagher had a front row seat the entire time Simone Edwards experience.

She has been a Storm season ticket holder since the franchise began and has been a friend of Edwards’s throughout.

She was there when Edwards became the first Jamaican player in the WNBA in 2000, and she was there to see Edwards and Seattle win the 2004 WNBA championship.

“It was so much fun,” she said. “This woman would go on the court and just be the most energetic and magnetic person on the court.”

Former Storm coach Jenny Boucek has similar memories of Edwards.

“Her spirit was the heart and soul of our team,” she said.

Boucek was the Forward’s head coach and assistant to the team from 2015–17 when Edwards was there.

She said her enthusiasm is contagious.

“From dancing with (mascot) Doppler at every game, to passing to Doppler while she was in the game, to all her towel waving, it was who she was,” Boucek said.

Gallagher, meanwhile, said she first met Edwards at a dinner hosted by her foundation.

The two friends eventually made a trip to Edwards’ hometown in Jamaica to do community service.

Gallagher said this trip put her impact into perspective.

“She’s revered in her hometown,” she said. “We raised a lot of money. We had barrels and barrels of school supplies. We gave out backpacks. We built a school in Kingston… After we did it all together, we were like sisters.”

“Sisters” is exactly what Vanessa Gidden also describes Edwards.

“The pride that Simi has for Jamaica in general is out of this world,” Gidden said.

Gidden and Edwards were former teammates for the Jamaica national team.

Gidden said Edwards paved the way for her WNBA career.

“Simi was the first and she made sure she wasn’t the last,” she said.

For Edwards, it’s her legacy that will live on in Seattle and beyond.

“That impact will be far-reaching and it will last,” Gidden said.

EDITORS’ NOTE: The following video is from September 2021