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Victoria Times Colonist, (by-line, Sandra McCulloch)
Lew McCorkall is really on the ball. The 83-year-old Victoria native has been officiating at sports games both here and in his favourite vacation spots of California and Hawaii for more than 50 years.
The view from the Pandora Avenue condominium he shares with his wife, Pat, takes in his old schools of Oaklands elementary, Central junior high and Victoria high. That's where he learned to play and love sports. "Rugby, soccer, lacrosse ... you name it, I played it," he said. "I went at it seven days a week." He lost his front teeth during those early days when protective gear didn't exist. Growing up was difficult, given the times, he said. "It was kind of tough in the 1930s. Nobody had any money."
Like many youngsters, McCorkall delivered newspapers, both the Daily Colonist and the Victoria Daily Times, to make pocket change.Sometimes, as he worked through his route, the cook at the Royal Jubilee Hospital invited him in for breakfast. He enlisted in the army during the Second World War but didn't go overseas because a doctor said he had a bad leg."But it didn't stop me from my sports," he quipped. McCorkall retired in 1979 after 34 years with Victoria's parks department. His determination is behind his longevity in the sports scene, said Pat."For a man of 83, doing what he's doing, officiating at 200 basketball games this past winter -- nothing stops him, I know."
Not even vacations. For the last 13 years, Lew and Pat have fled Victoria's winters for southern California. "I got involved in doing basketball down there, all levels," he said, And before that, he officiated games while supposedly on holiday in Hawaii. He shrugs off any talk of sports being an obsession. "I was supposed to be relaxing, but that's how much I enjoyed it." Nor did a little heart problem stop him for long. McCorkall had open-heart surgery -- a quadruple bypass -- in March 2003. "But six weeks later he was back into it again, can you imagine?" said Pat.
He has been inducted to the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame as one of the best-known and most proficient softball umpires and basketball referees in Victoria sporting history. A remarkable stint of 50 seasons officiating earned him a lifetime membership with the Victoria Basketball Officials Association. Now it's more like 53 years of refereeing basketball games. "That's got to be a record in itself because I don't know anyone in Canada who is, at my age, running up and down a basketball court," McCorkall said.He umpired the 1994 World Masters Games in Brisbane, Australia.
McCorkall remains a popular official because of his helpful and humorous outlook. He also helps out on the court when the games are silly rather than serious. At one such "clown" game, one of the tall players propped five-foot-five McCorkall on his shoulder."They said, 'We want you got grab the ball and dump the ball down into the hoop.' By that time, I'm up 10 feet. So I did that and scored two points and they said 'Hang onto the rim.' I hung onto the rim and they all took off, leaving me hanging there. "There was no way, at my age, I was going to drop to the floor. I yelled for help and the other team came and got me down."Everybody got a kick out of it."
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