TMC: A Secret Love

In my search for great hockey stories that came from the world of the AAGPBL, I stumbled across a story that really sets itself apart from most other stories. While there have been great performances documented both on the diamond and on the ice, I don't know if two women gave performances as well as Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel did in the Netflix documentary A Secret Love, a movie directed by Chris Bolan and produced in 2020. Terry and Pat's story is one that has moments of sadness, one of celebration, and one of an incredible life shared by two women who just happened to play baseball and hockey. The fact that we get 2023 HBIC Summer Project article that crosses over with a Teebz's Movie Club entry is a bonus for me, but I feel that A Secret Love is a film that should be seen to understand what these two women went through in their journey through life and sports while hiding their relationship.

It should be noted that only Terry Donahue played in the AAGPBL, but both women were were born in Saskatchewan. Terry was the older of the two ladies as she was born on August 22, 1925 in Melaval, Saskatchewan, a tiny town approximately two hours southwest of Regina. Pat Henschel was born on September 27, 1928 in Cabri, Saskatchewan, a town approximately 40 minutes northwest of Swift Current. Terry and Pat grew up approximately 2 hours from one another, but they'd find one another at a hockey rink in Moose Jaw in 1947. That was the start of a life navigated together, and it's one that Terry and Pat can tell you themselves!

There aren't a lot of places where one can watch the documentary, but A Secret Love is still available on Netflix if you have a subscription. Of course, some don't, but that shouldn't limit you from seeing this incredible film. You may want to try clicking here, for example, or maybe here if you want to watch it. I'm not saying you should, but you should have options if the mood strikes you. You should have an ad blocker and your antivirus should be up to date when it comes to non-authorized sites. Don't say you weren't warned.

Donahue grew up on a farm with her brother who was an exceptional ball player. Because Terry was the only available player at any given time, her brother practiced with Terry which turned her into an exceptional player in her own right. That would lead her to playing softball for the Moose Jaw Royals, a senior women's team, by the age of 17 before she earned a permanent spot on the team in 1943 where they downed the Saskatoon Pats in the Saskatchewan senior women's softball championship for her first championship on the diamond!

The script flipped in 1944 as the Pats defeated the Royals, but Donahue showed her skills by pitching a two-hitter in a Game Three win while playing catcher for the other games of the series. Donahue continued to impress with the bat and in the field in 1945 before a scout noticed her abilities and invited her to tryouts in 1946 for the AAGPBL at Wrigley Field in Chicago!

As Terry states in the documentary, she had a solid camp and it looked like she may be picked for one of the teams in the allocation. Name after name was called and Terry's name wasn't mentioned, but it was finally announced that she would be heading to Peoria, Illinois to join the Redwings in the AAGPBL! At 20 years of age, Terry Donahue was a professional baseball player!

That 1946 season didn't go so well for the Redwings as they finished dead-last in the eight-team circuit, posting a record of 33-79. Wearing #13, Terry caught for most of the season, but she played all over the infield as a utility player and was a fan favourite for her hustle. She hit .153 in 1946 as she posted 42 hits in 274 at-bats which included one triple, but she stole 28 bases, she walked 32 times, and she struck out just 38 time while driving in 14 runs. Overall, it wasn't a statistically impressive season, but the fans in Peoria liked the woman doing the catching for their team and it prompted Donahue to return the following season as the Redwings wanted their catcher back in the lineup. Would 1947 see the Redwings and Donahue break out of their funk?

The 1947 season did see the Redwings improve their standing as they battled their way to a 55-57 record for a fifth-place finish in the AAGPBL. Terry played in half as many games as she did in 1946, suiting up for just 47 games. She recorded 19 hits in 115 at-bats for a .165 average that included one double, but her totals dropped dramatically as she stole just three bases, walked just 11 times, and struck out ten times while driving in just four runs. Clearly, it wasn't the best of summers on the diamond statistically for Donahue, but, as stated above, the winter would offer a new view on her future!

Donahue would return to Moose Jaw in the winter as she had always done, and she hit the ice as part of the local Wildcats team. The quick-moving forward caught the eye of another player in Wildcats defender Pat Henschel, and it wouldn't be long before the two women were inseparable. While their bond was always described as being "just friends" or as "cousins", Terry and Pat were madly in love as shown in the film A Secret Love. After their first winter together, Donahue would head back to Peoria for the 1948 baseball season!

The AAGPBL expanded to ten teams in 1948 as the league split into two divisions. Peoria was placed in the Western Division along with Racine, Rockford, Kenosha, and Springfield, and they'd improve their overall record once again this year, finishing with a 70-55 record for third-place in the division. Terry was more of a utility player in the 1948 season as she appeared in 71 games while wearing #18 for the Redwings and playing some of her time in the outfield. She'd record 17 hits in 174 at-bats for a .098 batting average that included a double and a triple, but she'd walk 32 times, steal seven bases, and strike out 31 times while driving in a career-high 18 runs that year! Peoria would square off against Racine in the opening round of the playoffs as eight teams made the postseason, but they'd fall to the Belles in that opening round to end their season. Donahue would head back to Moose Jaw to rejoin Henschel, who had spent the summer in Saskatchewan, and the Wildcats as she played another season of hockey!

Terry would return to the AAGPBL in 1949 with Peoria once again, and she was back in her familiar #13 uniform for this campaign. At one point, Pat and her boyfriend would come and see Terry play over a two-week span as the Redwings toured the US midwest. On the field, things took a serious step backwards for the Redwings as all ten teams played in one division, and Peoria finished at the bottom of the standings with a 36-73 record. Terry played most of her 72 games behind the plate, and she recorded 14 hits in 159 at-bats that included a double to give her a .088 batting average. She was far more patient at the plate this season as she recorded 48 walks compared to 28 strikeouts, and she added six stolen bases along with 14 RBIs. Peoria would miss the playoffs once again, but things were changing on other fronts as well as Terry and Pat became far more aware of what their relationship could cost them if the wrong people found out about them.

Terry and Pat returned home to Moose Jaw where they proceeded to look for jobs, but they were far more careful about revealing anything about their relationship. Terry and Pat played hockey with the Wildcats once again, and they earned themselves some extra recognition thanks to helping the Wildcats advance to the Western Canada senior girls hockey championship in February 1950. Having their images in the newspaper made them household names!

The two would see their Wildcats face off against a Winnipeg squad called "The Pegs" in a best-of-three series that would have the winner travel east to Port Arthur to play the Thunder Bay champions before advancing out east to play for the Dominion championship. The Donahue-Henschel duo would run into Evelyn Wawryshyn and her Winnipeg-based teammates who were a formidable team, but the previews of the series gave credit to Donahue for being as good as Wawryshyn who was seen as one of the top players in Canada! Would we see these two clubs clash in an all-out battle for the right to head east to Thunder Bay?

Well, not really. Game One went to Winnipeg by a 10-2 score in Moose Jaw as the Wildcats were outskated and outscored on their home ice. Game Two was played in Winnipeg on April 7, 1950, and Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. After 40 minutes, the Winnipeg squad held a 3-1 lead, and the final score would favour the Manitoban team as the Winnipeg All-Stars downed the Moose Jaw Wildcats by a 5-2 to win the series! It should be noted that the Winnipeg Free Press reporter who covered the game, shown above, gave credit to both Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue for their efforts in the contest, so it seemed pretty clear that both ladies made impacts in that Western Canada hockey championship!

With hockey season coming to an end, Terry got a new offer to play baseball in Chicago from the AAGPBL rival known as the National Girls Baseball League! Terry signed a deal to play with the Admiral Music Maids in Des Plaines, Illinois - a suburb of Chicago - as the NGBL played their entire season at stadiums in and around the Chicago area. This allowed Terry and Pat to live in St. Charles, Illinois together where Pat worked at a long-distance operator while Terry played baseball. There are no statistical records that I can find for the 1950 season she played there, but it would mark her last as a professional ball player as she assumed the job of bookkeeper for the interior design business she and Pat ran when the season was over. Both Terry and Pat retired from the interior design business in 1990!

On The Ice

As stated, both Terry and Pat played for the Moose Jaw Wildcats, but they didn't see the same accolades as some of the other women who played in the AAGPBL saw when they were on the ice. Nevertheless, they held their own quite well while on skates, and Terry even seemed to rack up some high praise from opposing sports scribes for her efforts on the ice. Both women represented the Wildcats well, I'd say, and they deserve some kudos for playing as well as they did while keeping their relationship a secret during that entire time from teammates and coaches!

The Movie Review

A Secret Love looks at the relationship situation that both Terry and Pat faced as lesbians in the 1940s and 1950s. There's still considerable pushback from friends and family over the years that they detail, but the love they have for one another endures as we meet Diana Bolan, Terry's niece, who helps them navigate some of the bigger decisions regarding where to live and what to do as they get older and health issues start to affect both Terry and Pat.

Pat's reluctance to move back to Canada and sell their house in St. Charles draws some ire from Diana, but friction seen is eventually smoothed over as calmer heads prevail. We get to see a glimpse into both Terry's and Pat's childhoods as they grew up in Saskatchewan, and we hear a small part about Terry and Pat playing sports. What this movie centers on through all the family drama, the history of the women, and the sports tales is the love that Terry and Pat have for one another and how their 65 years together was lived under the assumption they were cousins or roommates.

I won't give away the ending because A Secret Love should be seen, but it's crazy to see how two women risked everything to be together because intolerance was the preferred thinking of that time. It's very clear that Terry and Pat make a good couple, and they seem to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. What shines through, particularly in the final third of the movie's runtime, is that love cannot be denied and that true love is ever-lasting.

Teebz's Rating: ★★★★✫

The Accolades

Pat didn't play in the AAGPBL, so she didn't garner any accolades for that sport. She did, however, receive the first AAGPBL-PA Associate of the Year award, so that counts for something here!

Terry, though, hit .127 in 287 games as part of the AAGPBL, and she was voted as the outstanding player in the Saskatchewan in 1945. The Moose Jaw Royals won one Saskatchewan senior women's softball championship in 1943 with Terry Donahue as a full-time player, and she was a popular player for the Peoria Redwings. In 1998, Donahue was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame.

Of course, there is one more accolade that I didn't mention yet as the two women were sports stars as proved in the writing above. As you know, Pat Henschel was a solid defender for the Moose Jaw Wildcats hockey team that Terry Donahue played on, and Terry had her baseball career as well. In saying that, they might be the first sports couple to be featured as bobbleheads as the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled limited-edition bobbleheads of Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel on Thursday, December 9, 2021! How cool is that? I kinda want the two bobbleheads that connect at their bases. I'd add those to my bobblehead collecton for sure!

Terry Donahue passed away in Edmonton on March 14, 2019 due to complications from Parkinson's Disease. As seen in A Secret Love, the tremors were already noticeable as the documentary was being filmed, but Terry battled the disease until the end.

I can't find anything updated on Pat Henschel, but it seems she's still living in Edmonton in an assisted living facility. My hopes are that she's doing well without any significant health problems, but I also know she deserves her privacy after she's been through in her time. It's my hope that she's living peacefully without complications in the Alberta capital at this time.

While Terry Donahue spent four seasons in the AAGPBL and one more with the NGBL, it seems pretty clear that she was a solid fielder who was also one of the more courageous women of the era in protecting her relationship with Pat Henschel. The two women didn't find a ton of success on the ice, but they were fearless competitors during the winter when they suited up for the Wildcats and were nearly the best team in Western Canada at one point!

Terry Donahue is now the fifth AAGPBL player in this series and the first to have a movie made about her and Pat Henschel's unique love story, but that's why I'm doing this series. The number of incredible women who were incredible players in the AAGPBL while having ties to hockey is astounding, and they deserve to have the spotlight shone on them not only for their baseball skills, but their hockey accolades as well. Donahue's skills on both the diamond and ice qualifies her for a mention on HBIC this Sunday!

Rest in peace, Terry, and live forever, Pat. Your incredible story of love transcends any sports venue, but Terry's work on the diamond and Pat's support for Terry make them legends, even if those honours came long after they had retired.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!