Bermudian referee Mike Smith has hung up his whistle after almost 27 years of officiating and scheduling games in Ontario, Canada.

Smith, who left Bermuda in 1974, became a scheduler and co-ordinator for 256 officials, ranging from 12 to 74, for the Peterborough branch of the Ontario Soccer Referees Association.

“I loved doing it,” Smith said. “I enjoyed seeing a schedule come together and seeing people enjoy themselves and putting teams of referees together — the best referees I could put together doing the best games they could.”

While living in Bermuda, Smith worked at ZFB in their TV master control on North Shore and was a keen sailor along with his father Edward “Gates” Smith at Mid Atlantic Boat Club.

When he arrived in Canada, he started playing for Vimar Juniors in the Kawartha Senior Soccer League. He put his playing days behind him in 1987 when he became a referee and later a match scheduler.

“If someone couldn’t make an appointment it was the scheduler’s responsibility to either do the game or find someone else to do it,” Smith said. “Schedulers don’t usually assign themselves games until the last minute in case they have to fill a spot.”

Smith, who also worked in master control at a local TV station in Ontario, said it felt like the right time to retire.

“I still love the game. I will still watch. I just thought it was time to hand it over to some of the younger people,” he said. “It was a hard decision. I have a good corps of referees in Peterborough and the district. Not only was I a referee and a scheduler but I also taught many of them.”

The former Sandys Secondary Middle School pupil admits it was impossible to always be popular as the man in middle but said he still managed to command respect from the players.

“Some people hated my guts,” Smith said. “I didn’t have a problem with that as long as I went out there and did the best I can do. I had no friends once I started that game. I was there to do a job. I was able to park it when I walked off the field.”

Smith has three grown-up children. Zulema and Justin and Geoffrey.