Jim Joy honoured to “W” Club Hall of Fame

2009 ‘W’ Club Hall of Fame

The ‘W’ Club honours people who have made outstanding contributions to Western’s athletic program as players, coaches or administrators.

Inducted October 2, 2009:  James C. Joy, BA’60 (Wrestling)

James (Jim) Joy was a Canadian Intercollegiate Wrestling Champion at Western, and while it is in rowing and coaching that he has made his life and career, he says it was his Western wrestling experience that helped put him on his path.

“Having both Jack Fairs and Mike Yuhasz as coaches was both inspirational and motivational,” says Jim, who also played Colt football at Western and was assistant Football Coach with Mike Yuhasz for two years. “They provided the important sense of education as a lifelong odyssey.”

Although he didn’t continue on in wrestling after Western, he says wrestling at Western was the beginning of his interest and future exploration into the concepts of Integration and Flow.

 

Rowing was in its infancy at Western at the time and it conflicted with football, so Jim chose to row during his summers and after graduation. From 1958-62, he was a Canadian Lightweight Sculling Champion and went on to coach the sport for a number of years, as well as write several books and manuals on the sport. Today Jim runs the Joy of Sculling Coaches Conference for rowing coaches. Considered the premier conference in the United States, it had more than 300 participants last year.

Jim has three daughters (Christina, Kathleen and Alicia) living on the West Coast, while he and his wife, Cecilia, reside in Geneva, New York. His future goals are to continue offering a high quality Conference to young coaches.