John W. Kawaja (born April 27, 1961 in

Chandler Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

curler. He is a two-time

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Bri ...

and

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Career

Kawaja moved to Ontario as a youth, and became a high-profile skip (he won the 1980 Ontario junior championship), but it was not until his move to the

Ed Werenich Edward Werenich (born June 23, 1947) is a Canadian curler from Holland Landing, Ontario. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter. Career We ...

rink that he finally started to win championships. In 1983, Kawaja won his first provincial championship, playing second for Werenich. The team not only won the provincial championship, but they won

the Brier The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply (and more commonly) the Brier (''french: Le Brier''), is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and ...

and the

World Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...

as well that year. Kawaja is the youngest player to have ever won the Brier (21 years old). In 1984, the team repeated their provincial championship, but lost in the Brier final to

Michael Riley Michael Riley (born February 4, 1962) is a Canadian actor. From 1998 to 2000, he portrayed Brett Parker in ''Power Play''. He has acted in over 40 films and television series, including '' This Is Wonderland'', for which he received a Gemini Awa ...

's Manitoba rink. Kawaja was promoted to the third position for Werenich, and in 1990 won his third provincial title. The team followed up with another Brier and World Championship. Kawaja won two more provincial titles with Werenich in 1995 and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. He and Ed Werenich formed the nucleus of teams that won more money than any curling team in the 1980s and 90s. Kawaja was named to the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2009, Kawaja and his 1983 world champion team (Werenich, Paul Savage and John Kawaja) were inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

. Kawaja retired from curling in 1997. After working with

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to work on a curling shoe design, he moved on to work with

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after retiring from curling. He later became president of the Taylormade golf company. He resides in San Diego, California.

References

External links

*
Ontario Sports Legends Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawaja, John 1961 births Living people Brier champions World curling champions Curlers from Ontario Canadian male curlers People from Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine