For over 40 years, Abbotsford’s Jim Mitchell has devoted thousands of hours to the sport of wrestling.
The W.J. Mouat athletic director, coach and physical education teacher has officiated at one Olympics, 10 world championships, three Pan Am Games, two Commonwealth Games, and countless international tournaments over his storied career as an official.
Domestically, Mitchell has been a part of 40 Canadian championships. He’s won the Sport BC Official of the Year Award, Sport BC President’s Award, BC Wrestling’s Official and Volunteer of the Year Award as well as numerous other awards.
The latest feather in his cap occurred on Monday, as Mitchell was named to the 2016 class of the Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame as a builder.
Mitchell said it’s a thrill to join the ranks of Canada’s greatest on the mat.
“It is a great honour to be inducted into the WCL Hall of Fame,” he stated in a press release. “I am very pleased to join the awesome group of Hall of Fame builders, coaches and officials.”
In addition to his teaching duties at school, Mitchell also serves as Mouat’s athletic director, coordinating the registration of players, recruitment of coaches and day-to-day operations. He is the head coach of the junior varsity football team, and boys and girls wrestling, a program he has built from the ground up, producing multiple national and provincial champions.
The Wrestling Canada Lutte Hall of Fame was established in 1975 to recognize outstanding achievement and contribution to Olympic wrestling in or for Canada.
There are two categories of membership in the Hall of Fame: the athlete category and the builder category. The athlete category recognizes the achievements of those wrestlers who have represented Canada at major international competitions or Games.
The builder category formally recognizes the contribution, leadership and abilities of those individuals who participate in the development of wrestling. A complete list of inductees since 1975 can be found at wrestling.ca/programs/hall-of-fame.