Ron Foxcroft

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Ron Foxcroft (born November 5, 1945) is a Canadian businessman, a former basketball referee, and the founder, chairman, and CEO of both Fox 40 International, a company best known for manufacturing whistles, and Fluke Transportation Group, a shipping company. Both companies are headquartered in Foxcroft's hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.

Foxcroft started Fluke Transportation and worked as a basketball referee as a side job. He was the only Canadian basketball referee in the NCAA at the time, and was also a referee at several international games including at the Olympic Games. Foxcroft often became frustrated with the traditional design of referees' whistles, which features a "pea" (cork ball) inside that is prone to jamming, thereby preventing the whistle from producing sound. He is said to have been inspired to create a "pealess" whistle following an incident in an international game (variously reported as occurring at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal[1] or at a 1984 pre-Olympics game in São Paulo[2]), in which Foxcroft witnessed an obvious foul but he could not stop play as his whistle was rendered useless by a jammed pea; play continued and the referees were booed by spectators.[2] Foxcroft collaborated with his sons and a design consultant to design a pealess whistle; they established Fox 40 International in 1987, and the company's whistles were first used at major sporting events at the 1987 Pan American Games. Throughout the 1990s, Fox 40 whistles became the standard whistle for referees and officials in numerous major professional sports leagues; it has also been adopted as a standard by numerous public safety agencies around the world.

Foxcroft remains CEO of both Fluke Transportation and Fox 40. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He also works as a motivational speaker and supports charitable causes in the Hamilton area.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Who We Are: The Fox 40 Story". Fox 40 International. Retrieved 28 August 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Famous, Should be Famous and Infamous Canadians: Ron Foxcroft". Retrieved 2007-02-11. 
  3. ↑ "Hillfield Strathallen Website". Advancement Brochure. 

External links


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