Inductees

Joe Rea (2024)

Wheelchair Curling Coach

Joe Rea took Canadian wheelchair curling into the international spotlight and made it shine like gold.

As coach of Team Canada in the early 2000s, Rea was an integral part of three consecutive Paralympic championships. He first led the rink to gold in 2006 in Turin, and then guided Canada to repeat performances in 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi. During that same period of time, he also helped the team clinch world championship titles in 2009 in Vancouver, 2011 in Prague and 2013 in Sochi. Those Paralympic and world championship years were Canada’s greatest stretch of international success in wheelchair curling.

Rea was also a pioneer in the sport. Back in 2002, Curling Canada was making the development of wheelchair curling a priority, and Rea got involved when Curl BC asked him to organize a clinic for wheelchair players. Rea – who was already a successful player and coach in the traditional version of curling – was attracted by the idea of taking the sport in a new direction, without any real instruction manual.

Within Canada, the first national championship tournament hit the ice in 2004. Rea was the coach of a B.C. team that advanced all the way to the final, where it lost to Ontario. That Ontario squad went on to represent Canada at the first-ever world championship, held in Scotland in 2005. Rea was the team leader for the Canadian entry, which played to a 5-2 record but finished out of the medals. The following season, 2006, Rea took the reins of Canada’s national team and got it started on its path to dominance.

At the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, wheelchair curling was making its debut as a medal sport. With Rea at the coaching controls, Canada finished first in round-robin competition with a 5-2 record and then beat Norway 5-4 in the playoff semifinals. In the match for gold, skip Chris Daw and his Canadian crew defeated Great Britain 7-4.

In 2010 in Vancouver, skip Jim Armstrong and Team Canada again finished with the best record in round robin (7-2). In the semifinals, Canada doubled Sweden 10-5, and that led to an 8-7 victory against South Korea for a second consecutive gold medal.

In 2014 in Sochi, Team Canada rolled to a 7-2 record in round robin, good for second place behind host Russia, which went 8-1, its only loss a 5-4 setback against Canada. The Canadians – again skipped by Armstrong – edged China 5-4 in the semifinals and ended up meeting Russia for gold. This time, Canada prevailed 8-3 for the Paralympic three-peat.

In the world championship years, Rea and his Canadian entries beat Sweden (2009), Scotland (2011) and Sweden again (2013) for gold medals.

For his accomplishments at the highest levels as a wheelchair curling coach, Rea was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2019.

“The winning was great,” Rea told the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “But the journey to get to those wins is what really stands out.

“It was a thrill for me to see my players find joy in an activity such as wheelchair curling, and to share that was a wonderful experience.”

Rea was a resident of Prince George from 1971 to 2022.

The Prince George Sports Hall of Fame is honoured to welcome him as a 2024 inductee.