UNITY — Minor football and high school football are missing a few faces on the field this year.
Longtime football officials Michael Soloski, Duane Clark, Fred Winterhalt, Gil Meyers and Keith Wilson have all hung up their whistles after serving these programs for more than 15 years.
Retired Warrior football coach, Pat Orobko, says, “We were one of the few communities that had a full crew of officials. They quickly became a great crew working together and we always felt really comfortable when they officiated our games.”
Orobko himself officiated games if teams were really stuck. He began officiating in earnest this year.
Meyers began officiating after he finished coaching and retired from teaching. At times before retirement, he officiated a few games if Warrior season ended earlier than expected.
Clark, Soloski and Wilson have officiated provincial finals in the fall as well as senior bowl all-star games in the spring.
Orobko adds, “I know Doc (Clark) travelled to Lloydminster to officiate Vandals games as well.”
“Having these guys officiate our games, with their veteran knowledge, made the entire football experience more enjoyable and professional. They certainly made life easier when organizing home games and were very accommodating to our schedule. We felt lucky to have such great community members involved in our program,” affirms Orobko
Keith Wilson said he began his involvement in football when he assisted high school coach, Pat Orobko, with development of the football field. Wilson recalls when home games were moved to the Cardinal baseball field for one year while the grass was growing on the high school field.
Wilson added to his involvement by becoming the game announcer, which he did from 1999-2003, including two years perched from the roof of the Unity Composite High School junior gym before a score tower was erected.
Sept. 24, 2004 was the first game officiated by Wilson, along with Duane Clark, Michael Soloski and Fred Winterhalt, at a game in Macklin.
Wilson says, “My main position was head linesman as I had the patience to work with hundreds of different students who worked the chains/sticks.”
Wilson says his favourite place to referee was Macklin, as he had great coaches to work with. He adds he felt the best field to officiate at was Kerrobert’s bowl, while he never enjoyed Plenty because, at times, there were up to six farm semis with air horns as part of the cheering section.
“Some of my best memories include invitations to work provincial finals in Rosetown, Plenty and Eatonia. I am also very proud of receiving the SHSAA referee award in 2018,” says Wilson
Wilson made the decision to retire because of health issues.
Fred Winterhalt is another long-serving football official, and he had many stories to share. Some of Winterhalt’s recollections include fun he was part of on the field including taking a penalty flag Duane Clark had thrown. Four plays later, when Clark was going to call a penalty, he kept reaching for the missing flag then ended up throwing his hat. Clark knew Winterhalt had been involved, as he and other officials were enjoying a laugh at the blooper moment.
While he thoroughly enjoyed football officiating, Winterhalt said with his growing business he was no longer able to commit to this role. He says he certainly missed the post-game meals and social aspect.
“Our officials team had a good chemistry as we did so many games together that we were comfortable with each other, never had to look for each other and we knew our positions well,” he adds.
Another retiree, Michael Soloski, says “My first game officiating was the initial game of Warrior football and my last game was October of 2019.”
Soloski said it is difficult to provide only a few highlights as he says he feels there has been many. Some of the highlights he cited were being assigned by SHSAA to officiate in five provincial semifinals, noting the Unity crew was asked to attend by the two teams involved because of their reputation for calling an unbiased game.
Soloski has also officiated two provincial finals. He was also proud to be presented the service award from west central for contribution to high school athletics.
Additionally, Soloski was selected to officiate at three north vs. south games, two that took place in Regina on Taylor Field and one that was in Saskatoon on the U of S Huskies field.
Officiating football took him to Unity, Wilkie, Kerrobert, Macklin, Provost, Kindersley, Plenty, Eatonia, Rosetown, Outlook, Delisle, North Battleford, Meadow Lake and Lloydminster.
Duane Clark, fondly referred to as Doc, says he had been a football official for 21 years, and it would have been 22 if COVID-19 hadn’t stopped the 2020 season. Clark started in this role in 1999, a year after the football program began in Unity.
“I always enjoyed football officiating and since there is never enough officials around, I was always very busy. I used to do about 25 games per year,” says Clark.
Clark says he was honoured to receive the West Central SHSAA Outstanding Official award in 2009. Another highlight of his career was being asked to officiate the 2014 Canada Cup of football in Saskatoon, which is the Canadian championship for under 18 players representing provinces across Canada.
Clark also enjoyed officiating many north vs. south games where graduating players in Saskatchewan make two teams to play each other. One of those games was at the old Taylor Field. Clark also officiated many provincial championship finals over the years.
“I was actually thinking about retiring in 2020 and when that season didn’t happen, and I survived the shock of that, I decided that it was time. I would like to thank all the officials I had the privilege to work with over the years both locally, and the new friends I made across the province.”
