Township man, 74, has been officiating sports for decades
BUTLER TWP — Sports have forever been in Bob Cowoski's blood. And he's in no hurry to get them out.
Cowoski, 74, of Butler Township continues to officiate basketball games and umpire softball games. He's been working softball games for 43 years, basketball games for 26.
“I had gained plenty of experience doing basketball as a volunteer official at Butler Catholic for a number of years,” Cowoski said. “I coached youth ball for a while, so I know the game from that perspective, too.
“I hardly ever issue technical fouls to coaches. They're a competitive breed, and you have to let them stretch the envelope a little bit.”
A retired Kelly Chevrolet employee, Cowoski credited his employer “for being supportive of my athletic endeavors. They always allowed me the time off work to get to games.”
Cowoski works high school varsity and junior varsity basketball games, junior high and Butler Catholic games. He works three or four games a week in the winter.
For him, it's all about maintaining an active lifestyle.
“I'm always out and about doing something,” Cowoski said. “I don't work out, but I've been active for a long time. For years, we've had a place in East Brady, and I'm active in the yard during the summer, shovel snow during the winter.
“I'm always outside. I'll scrub the walls at my son's catering business, anything to stay active. If I didn't have my legs, I wouldn't be officiating basketball, that's for sure.”
Cowoski said he played sandlot baseball as a youngster. He and his wife, C. Joan Cowoski, have been married for 50 years and have five children.
Two sons played high school basketball, one daughter was a cheerleader and another daughter, Allysion, scored 1,000 points in her Butler High School basketball career.
“I've always been associated with sports, and I love every minute of it,” Cowoski said. “I enjoy the people involved in sports. They are good people to work with.”As he gets on in years, Cowoski admitted it becomes more challenging to run up and down the court and stay on top of the flow of play as a basketball official.“The game keeps getting faster,” he said. “If they didn't go from a two-man crew to a three-man crew for varsity games in the past couple of years, I probably wouldn't be doing games now.“There's a big difference having to cover a basketball court with two guys as opposed to three. There's a ton of running involved.”Cowoski is uncertain how much longer he will officiate basketball. He limits himself to a couple of softball games per week during the spring and summer.“My basketball tour may be up here pretty quick,” he said. “If my legs hold up, I'll keep doing it.“I've been thinking about going down to lower levels, where the games aren't quite as fast-paced. I may work more of a skeleton schedule, too. We'll see.”Cowoski said officiating has helped keep his mind sharp as well as keep his body in shape.“Staying focused is the biggest challenge of working a basketball game,” he said. “You have to maintain concentration throughout.“As soon as you allow your mind to shift somewhere else, that's when something unusual happens.”
