Ron Foxcroft
Ron Foxcroft (born November 5, 1945) is a Canadian businessman and former basketball referee. He is the Chairman, Founder & CEO of Fox 40 International, a company best known for manufacturing whistles, and CEO & Chairman of the Fluke Transportation Group, a transportation, warehousing and distribution specialist.[1] Both companies are headquartered in Foxcroft's hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.
Foxcroft bought the Fluke Transportation Group and built it from 3 trucks to 176 trucks, 475 trailers and 1.3 million square feet of warehousing. Fluke has the well-known slogan “IF IT’S ON TIME… IT’S A FLUKE.” While working at Fluke, Foxcroft also worked as a NCAA basketball referee. Foxcroft is Canada’s only NCAA referee.[1] He has also officiated over 1600 international games in 30 countries.[1]
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 was inspired to create a "pealess" whistle following incidents in international games including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal[2] and the 1984 pre-Olympics game in São Paulo,[3] 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.[3] Foxcroft collaborated with an Ontario design consultant, Chuck Shepherd, to design a pealess whistle;[2] they established Fox 40 International in 1987, and the company's whistles were first used at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis. Throughout the 1990s, Fox 40 whistles became the standard whistle for referees and officials in numerous major professional sports leagues including the NFL, CFL, NHL, NCAA and NBA; it has also been adopted as a standard by numerous public safety agencies around the world.[2] Today, Fox 40 International dominates the whistle industry with thousands of whistles produced each day in Canada.
Foxcroft has received many awards; he received an Honorary Doctorate from McMaster University, was named Hamilton Distinguished Citizen of the Year, and was inducted into the Hamilton Gallery of Distinction, recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal. He was named by Profit Magazine as one of the 10 top Canadian entrepreneurs of the decade and inducted into the Burlington Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame. Foxcroft is also the Honorary Colonel of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's).
Today, Foxcroft remains CEO of both Fluke Transportation and Fox 40 International Inc. He is also employed by the NBA to evaluate the performance of their referees.[1] Foxcroft also works as a motivational speaker and supports charitable causes.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "About Us - Fox 40 Executives". Fox 40 International.
- 1 2 3 "About Us - The Story of Fox 40". Fox 40 International.
- 1 2 "Famous, Should be Famous and Infamous Canadians: Ron Foxcroft". Retrieved 2007-02-11.
- ↑ "Hillfield Strathallen Website". Advancement Brochure.