Lew McCorkall (2000)

Lew McCorkall was one of the best-known and most proficient softball umpires and basketball referees in Victoria sporting history. Behind the mask, Lew served for many years as Lower Island softball umpire-in-chief and umpired at the 1994 World Masters Games in Brisbane, Australia. He has been inducted into the Canadian Indicators Club and the BC Softball Walk of Fame. After 50 seasons of service he was named a lifetime member of the Victoria Basketball Officials Association. Lew was also quite an athlete. In his playing days at Oaklands school he was a member of winning lacrosse, rugby and basketball teams. He won the senior boys' high school aggregate championship in track and field as a Grade 10 student at Victoria High and he excelled in cycling, soccer and softball. After playing up to the Senior A levels in several sports, Lew began coaching both basketball and softball. He led his teams to several BC titles, including Morrison Motors, who won a total of six BC junior men's softball titles in the 1960s. Lew founded Victoria's first wheelchair basketball team and as a 75-year-old he won three gold medals at the California senior Olympics.