How Ron Foxcroft built Fox 40 International

“If you need anything, just whistle!” is Ron Foxcroft’s signature signoff. He is the grandfather of the professional referee whistle. His story is a journey of the determination to survive. As a teen, his dream of being the quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was shattered due to a sporting injury.

His ambition shattered; he became a basketball referee, which was a part-time job. It wasn’t enough – he needed a job. Through a long-time friend, he managed a leveraged buyout of Fluke Transport. The company was small and money was tight. Ron would work dispatch in the morning and referee games all over the northeastern U.S. in the evening.

One day, his whistle failed in a high-stakes game in Brazil. “They shoot refs in Brazil,” says Ron, “so I decided to reinvent the whistle.” Easier said than done. He invested $150,000 that he didn’t have and invented the pea-less whistle.

Over the next forty years, the Fox 40 whistle captured the global referee business. Today, he sells 20,000 whistles per day and his trucking company is a thriving success. None of it was a fluke.