Miro "Medo" Martinello (born December 6, 1935) is a Canadian former professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

player, coach, and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

referee, born in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Canada of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He is a member of the Windsor and Essex County Sports Hall of Fame, Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the Canadian Government 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal "for outstanding Achievements on behalf of Canada".

Biography

Martinello was born in

on December 6, 1935. He played

from the age of 12, playing in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League with Windsor Joe's Cement in his later teens. He played in the

OLA Senior B Lacrosse League Ontario Series Lacrosse, known as the OLA Senior B Lacrosse League from 1999-2019, is a Senior box lacrosse league based out of Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Many of the players in the league play or have played in ...

in the 1960s and 1970s winning the OLA Sr. B title in 1961 with the Leamington Clippers and later the 1970 and 1971 Canadian National Championship

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

with the Windsor Clippers and Windsor Warlocks. In 1962, Medo played for the Brampton Ramblers of the OLA Sr. A League, then the highest level of the sport in the world. In 1968, he had an 8-game stint with the newly formed professional

Detroit Olympics The Detroit Olympics were a minor league hockey team located in Detroit, Michigan that was a member of the Canadian Professional Hockey League 1927-29 and the International Hockey League 1929-36. The team played all of their home games at the D ...

of the

National Lacrosse Association The National Lacrosse Association was a professional box lacrosse league that operated in 1968-1969 with teams from both the United States and Canada. Due to poor attendance, the league folded in March 1969. After the folding, two teams (the Map ...

, again, then the highest level for the sport in its era. In hockey, Medo played his

junior hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

with the

Blenheim Blades The Blenheim Blades are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Blenheim, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. History The Blenheim Golden Blades were founded in 1 ...

of the Border Cities Junior B Hockey League before becoming a referee. From 1953 to 1955, Martinello was a minor hockey referee. From 1956 until 1960, he reffed Junior B and C in the Ontario Hockey Association. In the 1960s, Martinello reffed in the elite-amateur

OHA Senior A Hockey League The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league in Ontario from 1975 until 1987. The league was sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and competed for the Allan ...

and professional International Hockey League. From 1970 until 1989, Medo reffed all levels of Junior hockey, from A down to C, for the OHA. In 1972, Medo became the first Canadian to referee an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Final, the game was between

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

and

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

. Medo often was chosen to ref international games between NCAA and IHL teams and the likes of Russia and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

and also helped to create the 2-referee system in the NCAA in the 1970s, since followed by most major leagues. As a coach, Martinello led the Windsor Warlocks Jr. C Lacrosse team to OLA and Eastern Canadian titles in 1972 and 1973. He led the 1975 Quebec Caribous of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

to a professional championship. From 1989 until 1992, Medo coached the

Detroit Turbos The Detroit Turbos were a member of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1989 to 1994. They were based in Detroit, Michigan. Led by Paul and Gary Gait Gary Charles Gait (born April 5, 1967) is a Canadian retired Hall of Fame professional lacro ...

of the

Major Indoor Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

winning the 1991 league championship. In 1992, Martinello was honoured by the Canadian Government with the 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal "for outstanding Achievements on behalf of Canada". On November 13, 2001, Medo was inducted into the Windsor and Essex County Sports Hall of Fame as a Founder. He was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005.

Player statistics

Coaching Record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinello, Medo 1935 births Living people Canadian ice hockey officials Canadian lacrosse players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent National Lacrosse League coaches Sportspeople from Windsor, Ontario