Cleats by Bill Hinds for May 26, 2023

Fountoulakis’ love for refereeing never goes on vacation.

I never trusted those all inclusive hotels. There’s always something that feels phony about them.

I thought he’d at least left the whistle behind.

All joking about referees aside, I highly recommend it. It keeps you in shape. It keeps you young. It pays, and it allows you to pay back all the adults who took their time when you were a kid so that you could play sports. You do need to have a thick skin. I refereed for 20 years and it paid for Christmas gifts and a Family vacation each year. I made some great friends especially among the College Referees I worked with. They are a special and talented group of people. I still see them weekly well into our 60’s and 70’s. So many think that coaching is the only option for them to stay involved, it’s not!

In Canada referees in many sports are NOT paid. They volunteer. Remember volunteering? Used to happen alot. These days when asked to volunteer, people ask “What is in it for me?”

With so any folks badly misbehaving in public nowadays, might not be a bad idea having a few referees scatter about.

Have a wonderful weekend my friends.