Owchar, Jules

Year Inducted / Année Intronisé:

2019

Province / Province:

Alberta

Category / Catégorie:

Coach

Biography / Biographie:

Owchar’s coaching career can be defined in a single word: success. At the collegiate level, as the longtime coach at Edmonton’s Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, he has guided school teams to a stunning 34 conference championship gold medals, and two more at the national level.

In men’s play, he coached Kevin Martin’s Edmonton foursome to 12 provincial titles and four Tim Hortons Brier championships, as well as three Olympic appearances, with gold in 2010 and silver in 2002 to go with world championship gold and silver medals.

And of late, he has worked with the Brad Gushue team, winning the past two editions of the Tim Hortons Brier, and world championship gold in 2017 and silver last year.

Additionally, teams he has coached have claimed a mind-boggling 24 Grand Slam of Curling titles.

“This truly is surprising and humbling, because as a coach, I’ve always considered my job to be simply about giving those players the support behind the scenes, but when the game starts, they’re doing the heavy lifting,” said Owchar. “This really is a tribute to the teams and players I’ve had the privilege to work with over the years. I’m truly grateful for this honour, and truly thankful to those players who made it possible over the years.”