Jimmy El-Turk Returns to University of Windsor as Assistant Coach with Lancer Volleyball
Former Lancer men’s volleyball player Jimmy El-Turk makes his return to the blue and gold, joining the men’s volleyball team as an assistant coach for the 2023-24 season.
Coach El-Turk joins the Lancers after a successful term as the head coach of the St. Clair Saints women’s volleyball program. With the Saints, El-Turk posted an impressive 92-43 record over seven seasons from 2015-23, including a pair of OCAA bronze medals in 2017-18 and 2019-20. He is a two-time OCAA west division coach of the year (2018-19 & 2019-20) and the OCAA overall coach of the year in 2018-19.
“We are very pleased to be welcoming Coach El-Turk back to our program. Jimmy returns to the blue and gold as a very successful and experienced coach and well-connected recruiter,” exclaimed Lancer men’s volleyball head coach James Gravelle. “We will rely on Jimmy’s expertise at developing players at every position, his strong game planning, and he will spearhead our recruiting efforts. I cannot overstate the importance of this addition to our staff.”
An experienced coach with Team Ontario & Team Canada, El-Turk was an assistant coach with the U16, U18 & U20 youth national teams from 2018-2021, and helped the red and white claim a silver medal at the 2018 NORCECA championships, qualifying Canada’s U16 team for the U18 world championships for the first time in 31 years.
With Team Ontario, he has been with both the boys’ and girls’ programs from 2015-2022 and was named head coach of the girls’ team in 2022 for the Canada Games.
“It’s an honour to be returning to the University of Windsor and working alongside Coach Gravelle,” commented El-Turk. “James, his staff, and the players have built the program into a perennial OUA contender. I am excited to be joining an established program and playing my role in assisting the team in its pursuit of an OUA Championship.”
This is the second time that El-Turk has taken on an assistant role with the Lancer program. The Windsor, ON native was an assistant coach for two seasons from 2013-15 and helped lead the team to their first final four appearance in twelve years in 2015, following a victory over the nationally ranked TMU Bold (formerly the Ryerson Rams) in the quarterfinals.
El-Turk and Gravelle co-founded SKY Volley, an El-Turk has been the vice-president and technical director of the club since its inception in 2015, which has helped land a handful of local recruits to the Windsor Lancer men’s volleyball program.