Longtime referee honored: A half-century of blowing the whistle
CHERRY TWP — Fifty years of football and basketball officiating and counting.
Art Monteleone is showing no signs of slowing down.
Moniteau High School coaches and administrators forced him to at least stop and smell the roses for a while on Feb. 20. The school honored Monteleone, 77, of Butler, with a surprise ceremony prior to the Warriors' girls basketball game against Cranberry.
“I thought the game was at 1 this afternoon,” Monteleone said. “I come out and walked into this. They got me.”
The game actually was at 2 p.m., and Monteleone worked the contest with fellow veteran officials Ray Melder and Mark Farabee. Melder is president of the Butler chapter of PIAA officials.
There were approximately 15 fellow officials — along with Monteleone family members and friends — in the stands viewing the ceremony. Moniteau's girls basketball team looked on as well.“A little lesson to you girls,” Melder joked. “When Dr. Naismith invented basketball in 1891, he needed someone to manage the games. So he called on Art.”Moniteau principal Lance Fox pointed out that the average house cost $25,000, the average salary was $10,600, and a gallon of gas cost 40 cents in 1971, the year Monteleone began officiating.“There is an aura about him when he's working a game,” Fox said. “Art is about respecting people, doing things the right way. His job radiates that.”Moniteau football coach Bob Rottman presented Monteleone with a helmet commemorating the occasion. Basketball coaches Mike Jewart and Dee Arblaster presented him with a basketball.Proclamations were read from the Moniteau school board and Butler County Commissioners. Monteleone even received a commemorative whistle from the school.“I'm grateful for all of this,” Monteleone said. “You ref for this long, you build a lot of friendships. When I was a young official, old-timers taught me plenty. Hopefully, I can pass that along to a few guys.
“I have to thank my family publicly for everything they had to give up with me being gone so often over the years. My wife did everything in taking care of them.”Monteleone works basketball games five nights a week. He does an estimated 150 to 200 games per season.Melder said Monteleone also handles the scheduling of officials for Butler chapter.“He's our anchor,” Melder said. “We count on his abilities and knowledge. And his love of family, faith in God, are second to none.”When Monteleone leaves his house for a game, he makes sure his wife has all of the officiating information for the evening.“I'm his secretary, pretty much,” Peggy Monteleone said, smiling. “He lays out the entire officials schedule on a table before he leaves.“I have all of the officials' phone numbers. I know where they're supposed to be. If a school is waiting for an official, if an official is unsure of what game he has ... they know who to call.”
Jewart said Monteleone “was officiating basketball before I was born; he keeps getting better at his craft. He constantly works at it and you have to respect that.“He's always in position. I can't remember the last time I questioned one of his calls.”Arblaster agreed.“The game has changed so much over the years and he's kept up with it,” she said. “He just does his job so efficiently.”Monteleone coached the Institute Hill Mustangs of the Butler Area Midget Football League for 25 years. It was BAMFL coaching legend Harry Leyland that steered him in the direction of officiating.“We were always looking for officials, and Harry said I was young, that I should look into doing that,” Monteleone said. “I've been officiating ever since.“I've been fortunate in that I've never had any issues or problems with my legs. As long as I can keep up, get up and down the floor, I'll keep doing this.“When I can't keep up with the pace of the game, I'll get out. It wouldn't be fair to the kids at that point,” Monteleone added.So why is his officiating career at 50 years and counting?“Art loves kids,” his wife said. “He'd do anything for them. It's that simple. He's a great father and a great grandfather.”Tack on officiating to that greatness. “He's a true role model,” Melder said. “Nobody does it better.”
