This year’s guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Athabasca’s celebrity dinner and auction Oct. 27 said he is looking forward to visiting his hometown.
Jay Onrait, while born Aug. 29, 1974 in Calgary, was raised in Athabasca from a young age after his family moved there to run a local drug store.
“There is nothing quite like coming home,” Onrait said. “I was there a couple of times last year, and I had a little time to myself one Sunday morning. I got to drive around, and I was happy to see the stores as I remembered them. It was just an awesome place to grow up, and I am really looking forward to coming home.”
He said it’s always great to see all of the people he grew up with.
“I still sometimes see the people I went to school with at EPC that are still around,” Onrait said. “Coming to the Rotary dinner allows me to see some of my friends, and spend a little time with them.”
Onrait declined to say if there was anyone specific he would like to see while in town.
“If I mention any one person, I risk upsetting another that I may leave out, so it’s best to leave it neutral,” he said. “I still remember the people, who are genuine and always really supportive of me.”
As for this trip, he said he will not have much time to stay and visit outside of the dinner.
“I will be flying out the day of the event,” Onrait said. “After the dinner, I have to fly back out again first thing the next morning, as I have to work the next day. It’s a real whirlwind trip, but hopefully I can cram in a lot of visiting at the dinner itself.”
Sportscasting
Onrait said he always wanting to get into sports broadcasting.
“I loved watching highlight shows when I was growing up in Athabasca,” he said. “Just the concept of being on TV and hosting a show seemed like too big of a dream to actually come to fruition, and took me until about a year after high school to summon up the courage to apply for broadcasting school and really make a go of it.”
He added that he just loved the style of show that he is hosting now in Toronto.
“I always dreamed about hosting a show on TSN,” Onrait said. “It’s a pretty wonderful thing to imagine yourself doing something like that at a young age, and have it come to fruition for your career.”
Onrait added he remembered playing some sports himself when he was a kid.
“I played both volleyball and basketball,” he said. “I also played hockey up until I was in Bantam, and then I decided I needed to cut something out. Hockey seemed like the natural choice, as I was never very good at it, anyway.”
He said his speech will cover much of the scope of his career.
“I have a new presentation I put together for that,” Onrait said. “This is the first time I will be doing that presentation, so I hope it goes OK. I speak at a lot of events, and I decided I wanted to something a little different for this event. I think it will be a lot of fun.”
Best moments of career
He added that some of his best memories as a sportscaster have been covering the Olympic games.
“I remember going to London, Vancouver, Peongchang and Sochi,” Onrait said. “Growing up, I enjoyed the Olympics, but I was not as passionate about them until after I actually attended one.”
Today, he said it is his favourite sporting event to cover and attend.
“I just love the two weeks, and how intense it is,” Onrait said. “It is still an amateur sport, and there’s something about it that makes it a wonderful event overall. For me, the fact that I had the opportunity to go to a few of them and cover them is some that is really special for me.”
Moving back to Canada
Onrait now lives in Toronto with his wife and three-year-old daughter, having moved there from Los Angeles a year-and-a-half ago.
“My wife and I are also expecting a baby boy soon,” he said. “The timing is actually pretty close to when my appearance in Athabasca for the Rotary Dinner was scheduled. I agreed to do it before my wife and I heard the wonderful news.”
He said it is exciting to be back living in his home country again.
“It’s good to be coving the sports that we enjoy so much again, such as hockey,” Onrait said. “This last year and a half has been a real treat for us.”
Tickets for the dinner —$125 each — can be purchased from Darlene Reimer at [email protected] or 780-675-2977 extension 61202.
